ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

Back to racing.

As the breeze returns to the fleet, various tactical options are now available, depending on where you are on the track and the pace your boat can achieve. Clearly, Scarlet Runner has skipped away to a commanding lead, although it is less than they previously held. TevakeII, a Radford 13.7, is only 60 miles behind and done a great job of separating herself from Samskara, who used to be in second place. They now lie some 45 miles astern of TevakeII. Turbo is another vessel clearly enjoying the ability to fly a kite in a decent breeze, for the Adams 12 now occupies fourth place comfortably, ahead of our friends on the 'we're not really racing, just cruising' 51st Project.

My dark horse, Garisenda. Should I apologise now for putting the hex on them? Pic © Steb Fisher, taken just before Sunday's start.

Sixth is The Secretary, which is a great effort, considering George Shaw and Robyn Brooke are doing it all two-handed. Mind you, the previous M2V and the odd M2O (Melbourne to Osaka) should have taught them a thing or two... My dark horse for handicap honours, Garisenda, lies in seventh. Despite her size, I like the way they have gone about their stuff and now regularly pray that I have not put the hex on them with the wand of death from these pages. Behind them are Slinky Malinky, Mirrabooka and Ingenue (both the latter are Jenneaus). You may remember Mirrabooka won the start and quite possibly the bragging rights of first kite up, once out the Heads. The last four yachts are certainly quite tight, there's like a four mile gap between each of them and in reality, the relative placings can all change now that the lottery of the 'doldrums at 38 degrees South' are a thing of the past.

The race leader has covered over 1/5th of the distance now and at the evening sked on Tuesday, they were adjacent to the very picturesque, Narooma. They would not have seen that wonderful spot on the NSW South coast, however, as they have begun their veer to the East, in order to get well into the Tasman Sea and set up for the run into the South Pacific. Just after dark, we heard from them and this is what her owner, Rob Date, had to say, "Blew the A4 (spinnaker) today, doing 20 knots up the NSW coast. Now headed out on 45 degrees. We used the A3 for a while and now we're onto the JT" (A JT or Jib Topper is a headsail with the foot cut very high and used for reaching, when the boat is heeled over a little, but not pointing as high as it can into the wind and powering through waves). "Pushing current for another hour, then I think it's with us - Rain and squalls occupy our time presently."

At around 0800hrs on Wednesday, I received an email from Scarlet Runner's owner who indicated that they were "135nm off Sydney reaching with jib topper and staysail in 15-25knots. All is well and all too tired to do emails. Sorry. It’s sailing, then bed POS. 35.0.335S and 153,31.71E." I think we can safely say that in that, they will be fast and if the rain showers in any squalls haven't wet them yet, the waves over the bow are bound to have got a few!

TevakeII is adjacent to Merimbula and still close in shore. Samskara, Turbo and The 51st Project will have all cleared Gabo Island Tuesday night and the balance of the fleet will do so on Wednesday. Now it was always going to be a case of keeping a weather eye, given the time of year and the very variable nature of some of the systems around the continent at the time of the start. In fact, this and the Tidetech analysis of the Tasman Sea, were points that ORCV Rear Commodore, Simon Dryden, made during the pre-race briefing.

PredictWind provided this model for what is expected on Wednesday.

All in all, that sounds like a good segue into analysing the new breeze systems and for that, I went back to Simon to see what he thought. "It should be high-speed sailing for the next few days, but strategy is going to be critical. Do they go close to the coast and follow the deepening low up the coast or make a run for it and try and get on the other side of the low? Get it wrong and its headwinds for ages, followed by no wind. Get it right and it could well be a nice elevator, straight into the desired area. The safest strategy would be to travel up the coast and then move off the coast, following your barometer and making sure you don’t get too close to the centre of the low pressure system. Currently, with the way the weather is shaping up, the timing of things for the smaller boats looks better. Many thanks to PredictWind for the wind models."

PredictWind provided this model of what they expect the scenario to be on Saturday.

With all of that done, one is reminded of the old adage that 'It is not over, until it is over' and there are many miles to go yet, in Australia's longest Cat1 ocean race.

To see where the fleet are located and to look at the sked positions, please go HERE.

By John Curnow

ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

And they thought they were 'Cruising'.

Phil Coombs bought The 51st Project bought to go cruising, after having had a heap of racing boats over the years. Seems good habits die hard.

"This afternoon we have had a steady 10-12 knots and have been cruising along under symetrical kite doing 8-10 knots... Sunshine and plenty of good stories... Hard to believe the weather we have had so far. Peewee and Chris have put a roast lamb in the oven in the oven including roast potatoes and are currently discussing the gravy they intend to produce.... oh did I forget the mint sauce???" Yeah Yeah, talk it up Cheryl. I know it was you doing the last email out.

Preparing today's roast were Chris and PeeWee (and what a great sailor he is too).

"Spent most of today in shorts (yes in July going across the Paddock known as Bass Strait)... last night a little frustrating with very little wind, kicking in again around 4am this morning and the code zero working hard to get us at least 6knots on the dial... Morning brought a building breeze from the south to the west and the picture is even brighter..."

So you see, despite the crusing pretentions, they're out there trying and very watchful of the speedo, the skeds and the tracker.

Good stuff Racers. Keep at it.

Pic © Teri Dodds

To see where the fleet are located and to look at the sked positions, please go HERE.

By John Curnow

ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

Gone Drifting...

Samskara have experienced the very fluctuating and no doubt incredibly frustrating conditions that Bass Strait has produced for the starting sector of the M2V. They too have got into the food caper and are almost as deeply concerned about that element of the trip, as the iPod and the lack of tracks there on, so it would seem...

"Good morning all. It appears that Tevake has sneaked through on the inside of us during the night, from the map on the ORCV site after this mornings sched." In fact Tevake has about and 18nm lead over them now...

The green arrow shows where the boat was at 09:09 this morning and all onboard were OK!

"Another day of light conditions are expected with the breeze building from the West this eventing, so it is hoped that will translate into a great spinnaker run through Wednesday night when we should be around the corner of Gabo Island and into the Tasman Sea proper."

Just after lunchtime on Tuesday, Smaskara came in with a bit of an update on the scenario they are now facing. "48 hours of our journey complete and we are reassessing our finish times and dates. We covered a mere 74 nautical miles over the past 24 hours, with a day and night of fickle breeze, which often dyed out to nothing at all. Flat seas are making the good ship extremely comfortable, but certainly not fast! We are all still looking for the Palm Trees and margaritas! It was a cold night with clear skies allowing the milky way and a small moon to light the sky and give us some steering reference (unlike the eerily black night the night before)."

Hello - pic © and with thanks to Steb Fisher

"During many moments of drifting with the current, we were visited by pods of dolphins, who never seem to tire of playing on our small bow wake. The phosphorescence in the water makies them look like fluro dodgem cars, driven by teenage boys, as they play chicken and whip and weave with each other and us. Two seals were also given a sharp awakening this morning, as Samskara ghosted up to them and woke them from basking in the sun - they were not happy!"

"The sailing conditions are not ideal for making progress, but are certainly conducive to clearing the saloon and enjoying a super civilized, sit down, cutlery and serviette team dinner of delicious spinach quiche with home made pastry (ala Caroline Stoopman) and some not so successful rice (first attempt using the pressure cooker - not so flash!) cooked by me (Kimbo). Think primary school clag glue... thank god for soy sauce and chille flakes to mask the taste. Oh well, it has provided the source of many a joke since!"

"The evening was passed with a few card games, with James winning two out of the three games. Guitars strummed by Mike, Leon and Fo serenaded us over white castello cheese, salami and crackers at sunset. We are lapping up the good conditions while they last, as we are all aware of the changing conditions we are likely to face! It would be unheard of to do a passage of this length and not get a hammering at some point...." Point to Mecca and continue the absolutions, team...

This is Samskara, as she slotted out of the Heads in 2nd place. Not so now, they will have to work to get it back in the current conditions - pic © and with thanks to Steb Fisher

"Current status of The Crew: Leon steering, Mike, Stoopy and Fo on deck giving morale support and telling jokes - possibly tweaking some strings from time to time. Rick bunked in aft cabin reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". Jesse in saloon making a new play list on his ipod (we might find something later than the 80's!), James in starboard aft catching some zzzzz'sss. Me writing this update, must be having computer withdrawals from work - NOT!!!"

"The Ship: Still looking after us well, a gas alarm this morning created some scratching around in cupboards, not sure if wires have been cut or the issue fixed, but the alarm has stopped and no-one including resident plumber James is showing too much concern."

"What we have forgotten: Spare guitar strings. Oh dear! (Seems to me that extra iPod tunes is another item gone AWOL...)"

"Special Thanks To: Lisa Wheatley for the ships library - the books are being well read! Caroline, Louise and Megsy again for the food - more is certainly better than less with these conditions! Darren for routing our emails and updating our friends and families - you're a champ!"

That wonderful Steb bow wave again... - pic © and with thanks to Steb Fisher

"As I have begun to type the wind has picked up to around 10 knots and we have launched the big spinnaker and are finally making some way and averaging 8.2 knots - yippee! The last sched confirmed we had a shocker of a night, but it seems most of the other boats have had the same aimlessly drifting run, lets just hope they are having as much fun as us! Gotta fly, the Foo Fighters version of Kung Fu Fighting is on its 3rd time round on the iPod, need to try find some new tunes to suit the new conditions.. Will know more tomorrow about arrival times and dates when this weather pattern settles in, standby..."

Signing off on behalf of the Samskara Crew was Kimbo, The Ships Cat.

Goodbye and fare the well - pic © and with thanks to Steb Fisher

To see where the fleet are located and to look at the sked positions, please go HERE.

By John Curnow

ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

Masterchefs' Division.

Now having talked about all this food, it seemed only fair to review one of the crews that originated this now very popular category for the 2010 M2V. From Rosie Colahan and David James aboard their Jenneau Sun Odyssey 40, we received the following encapsulation of their weeks leading into the event and the last two days of sailing.

Our very good hearted and jovial friends Rosie and David - pic © and with thanks to Steb Fisher

"Well, we finally made it to the start line for the M2V Race! After a couple of anxious weeks, with the boat in the yard for the replacement of of our through hull fittings and the mast out elsewhere for servicing and replacement of wire, the weather conspired against us and an intact yacht was looking doubtful. Finally with three days to go to the start, the mast and hull were reunited, followed by a flurry of activity to reconnect instruments, radar, nav lights and integrate new gear." Something I can tell you has meant that certain instruments don't like talking to others directly and David has arranged a system for getting all the necessary info from different sources and displayed on deck via an array of panels...

"Then came the mammoth task of loading up and stowing water, food, diesel, clothing, charts, safety gear and the increasing amount of electronic equipment that you need to go to sea these days! Mavis, Kathy & Alan did a great job ferrying and stowing our gear aboard. Briefing, farewells, Customs & Immigration clearance early Saturday morning and we were off with the 'Sicilian Mammas' (Mary and Venny) aboard to help us sail the boat to Blairgowrie."

I think we get it - pic © and with thanks to Steb Fisher

"Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron hosted a lively farewell dinner for all the crews along with their families and friends. Exhausted, we had an early night and the best sleep we had enjoyed in weeks! Sunday dawned with a light westerly breeze and an overcast sky. After a final weather briefing on Sunday morning at BYS, David and I challenged George Shaw and Robyn Brooke aboard ,The Secretary, to have our own 'Masterchef Division, in lieu of the 'Two-Handed Division', which had been officially abandoned due to lack of entrants (we were the only two boats this time around...)"

"Off to Portsea for the start, where we were farewelled by all those fantastic people watching from the pier. Being short handed, we timed our run for the start line to minimize our need to tack or gybe and get there before all the bigger boats, which would have gassed us with their bigger rigs. Unfortunately our enthusiasm saw us OCS (On Course Side) and having to return, in order to restart."

"The fleet had to beat across to the turning mark at Shortland Bluff and thenceforth we were out Port Phillip Heads, where it was not long before the fleet turned south east, cracked sheets and hoisted kites. The light westerly winds and the competing SW/SE swells kept us rocking and rolling and made it difficult to keep the wind in the kite. By nightfall the wind was dropping, as we drifted slowly towards Wilsons Promontory."

Sailing past the gang on the Portsea Pier after their restart - pic © and with thanks to Steb Fisher

"By Monday's dawn, we were traveling comfortably with day breaking over Skull Rock and revealing the Prom in all its awesome splendour. A steady 8knot Northerly carried us past Rodondo Island and then died completely after passing SE Point. The sun shone, the dolphins arrived to play and a few curious Pacific Gulls trailed us, so as to check out the daily specials."

"What a great place for a picnic!"

"The cockpit table was set and a hearty roast pumpkin and capsicum soup was served with sour dough bread and King Island Lighthouse blue/brie was enjoyed, as we 'parked' in this magnificent place. The afternoon passed on a glassy sea with no wind. Yes, the doldrums had moved to latitude 38 degrees South!  At twilight, the setting sun shot shafts of pink, gold and silver over the oily sea, a fitting finale to a fabulous day."

Cheers - we'll keep you posted on our health and wellbeing, especially our diet - pic © and with thanks to Steb Fisher

"The evening brought with it a star studded sky and a light Northerly land breeze, which picked us up and moved us along again. Arab beef with root vegetables was served, with couscous and a spinach salad for dinner, warming us for the cool evening ahead."

Needless to say that with the Bass Strait tourist brochure weather, our distance made good for the day was very poor, but so it was the rest of the fleet. How lucky we had been to spend a stunning day in the paradise of the Prom. Hopefully we will be amongst the oil rigs on Tuesday and heading for Gabo Island." We do to, guys and thanks for the update from the galley, I mean boat...

To see where the fleet are located and to look at the sked positions, please go HERE.

By John Curnow