ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

It's tough at the top!

Overnight was a very tough time for getting anywhere and there's no mention of it from the fleet, but it would have been dastardly cold, so sleep may have been hard to come by, as well (no heaters on racing boats). Out at the Eastern edge of Bass Strait, race leader, Scarlet Runner had firstly a very frustrating night and then this morning, an array of great diversity has hit them.

02:53 EST (Eastern Standard Time) the report was "Have just spent the last 6 hours, 20 miles South of Gabo Island. No wind to speak of - It’s a very quiet and difficult night."

This is the Navigation Desk aboard Scarlet Runner (where they prepare and send the emails you're reading here), so at least if you're in this spot, it's reasonably comfortable. The latest generation of TP52s have you sliding into a cradle type seat, feet first pointing forward, with your nose just a few centimetres from the main deck above you...

On Tuesday 6/7/10 at 7.30am, they reported their position as 37.22South 159.13East and were still on about the conditions being experienced. "A very unusual night. The wind strength was from zero to 25 knots (around 50km/h),  from all directions through 275 to 130 degrees. It's currently from 70 degrees or ENE at 4 knots. We are near Green Cape."

To find out who's where in the chase of the container full of humanitarian aid: Go to the Sked information (Radio Schedules are when the fleet radios in to tell us where they are etc.), which is HERE and Tracker (the plot of their positions), which is HERE.

By John Curnow

ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

So what does 0.7 of a knot look like?

To find out who's where in the chase of the container full of humanitarian aid: Go to Sked information (Radio Schedules are when the fleet radios in to tell us where they are etc.), which is HERE and Tracker, which is HERE.

By John Curnow

ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

Race leader charges in towards Gabo Island.

Straight off Scarlet Runner this afternoon comes this report, "Nearing Point Hicks at 5pm. Sunny but cold. Beating into a 9 knot SE. Will be at Gabo (Island) before midnight. Most asleep and dinner soon."

Pic © Teri Dodds.

Earlier on in the day, we received this information about a good run overnight and a lot of sunbaking during the day!

"38 deg 01min Sth, 248 deg 27min East coming up on 3pm, Monday 5th July. Beautiful sunny day out in the Paddock today, very flat, not a lot of breeze.  Spent the first half of the day sailing through the oil rigs in a dying Westerly. Almost no breeze for a couple of hours now heading towards Gabo in a 5-10kn breeze with a lot of south in it – will be pretty chilly tonight. All well on board, not much sleep had last night but there’s been some catch up time in the sun on deck today. Looking forward to turning the corner (Gabo) and heading North."

"Morning - We are at. 38.28.196S and 147.36.755E. Great night with up to 20 knots wind. Surfing all the way. Now off Paynesville. Out to sea in oil rigs. Doing 4.9kn in 4kn pressure from 333degrees."

To find out who's where in the chase of the container full of humanitarian aid: Go to Sked information (Radio Schedules are when the fleet radios in to tell us where they are etc.), which is HERE and Tracker, which is HERE.

By John Curnow

ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

Getting warmer already!

Just in from The Secretary is this comment "JC. Off the Prom in straw hats and sandals!" and this pic: -

From onboard, Robyn Brooke also tells us, "Although I was thinking of somewhere like Vanuatu when I said, 'take me somewhere warm George', you certainly can't complain about 15 degrees at 6pm in Bass Strait, in the middle of Winter. As expected, we have a diminishing breeze and a very sloppy sea, both heading the same way we want to go, so it's a little bit rock 'n roll and very slow.  Thank goodness for the boom brake, (also known as a preventer), which is stopping any accidents."

Getting back to their Masterchef Division race with Ingenue, Robyn added "I whipped up some Kiev medallions for lunch, with a japanese red cabbage salad -  nice and light, so looking forward to a good italian fettucini with meatballs and shaved parmesan for dinner (and maybe a really nice glass of red)."

"It was a fun family night at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron on Saturday, thanks to everyone who came down and the great send off from Portsea yesterday. It was wonderful to see such a big crowd."

Also abeam of the Prom (Wilsons Promintory in Gippsland, SE Victoria) earlier this morning, was Mirrabooka. Chris Tyshing sent this info and the pic through from husband Ray, who's onboard David Bingham's Jenneau. ".. the crew were thrilled to hear they had made it to the website news as winners of the start! They are all very upbeat – light conditions and a good spinnaker run."

If you find a term you don't understand, sorry - unintentional. However, you should fin all the definitions you could need HERE, at this great glossary I found.

As of Monday morning, Scarlet Runner leads the chase of the container full of humanitarian aid, from TevakeII and Samskara. Sked information (Radio Schedules are when the fleet radios in to tell us where they are etc.) is HERE and Tracker is HERE.

By John Curnow