Sail-World.com : Ribs broken in stormy Noumea Race

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Sail-World.com : Ribs broken in stormy Noumea Race - fleet reduced to 10 yachts

Ribs broken in stormy Noumea Race - fleet reduced to 10 yachts

'The now dismasted Bullrush at the start of the Auckland to Noumea Race' Royal Akarana YC Click Here to view large photo

The 13 strong fleet in the Auckland to Noumea race have been hit hard by strong winds as they reached North Cape, during the night, with 30kt+ knot winds and big seas being encountered.

Report at 1840hours- Monday 29 June, 2009

The wind is turning west, with winds in the vicinity of approx 25 - 30 knots. Lagoon Ozone reports that they have had occasional gusts up to 40 knots, however tell us that the winds are now easing and that they are comfortable and having a great ride. Lion NZ has reported in, after not being able to send a position report this morning.

Bird on the Wing reports that they are still sitting it out at Mangonui Harbour, but are planning to up anchor and rejoin the race in three hours, so we will have a race position report for them after tomorrow mornings sched.

Bare Essentials and Mustang Sally are also now racing.

From an earlier report:

Bare Essentials was the first to seek shelter yesterday afternoon, under the Karikari Peninsula, followed by Bird on the Wing who sailed into Mangonui Harbour. They both intend to continue on racing this afternoon as the weather settles.

Mustang Sally has completed their repairs to the boat’s steering, and will also rejoin the race after clearing Customs again..

Unfortunately the fleet has been reduced to 10, after Bullrush lost their rig during the night, all crew on board are fine and they are heading back to Opua to refuel bitterly disappointed as they were doing so well, before heading down
the coast. REVS has also suffered mast damage, and will return to Opua.

Antaeus is the Third to pull out with damage to the boat, and the skipper Charles St Clair Brown has also reportedly suffered damage, with possible broken ribs and will head to hospital as soon as they hit land.

All other boats are still racing, with Limit reporting 30knot westerlies, Lagoon Ozone and Route 66 a little further back reporting 30 knot North Westerlies.

Due to the current atmospheric conditions, the GPS unit’s have not been sending positions as regularly as the normally would in better conditions. However, the twice daily radio schedules have positions and these will be manually entered into the Live Tracking system.

Further updates will continue on www.rayc.org.nz as well as tonight’s radio sched with updated positions.

Quotes from On Board:

1500hours - Monday 29 June, 2009

Bullrush and REVS are safely in Opua.

Bare Essentials is preparing to set sail again, the weather is looking much better up north.

1330hours - Monday 29 June, 2009

Bullrush was at the Nine Pin along side REVS at 1300hours today.

1220hours - Monday 29 June, 2009

Antaeus has arrived in Opua safely, and the skipper has been taken off by ambulance.

REVS is reported to be just off the Nine Pin, approximately 2 hours from the Opua Marina.

Navitrac are manually updating the boats positions from the radio sched positions, so although due to atmospheric conditions we are having problems with the tracking devices sending positions, there will be updates twice a day.

PredictWind prognosis as at 1500hrs on 29 June 2009 showing strong winds in the race area

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PredictWind prognosis as at 1500hrs on 29 June 2009 showing strong winds in the race area -

PredictWind prognosis, 24 hours later, as at 1500hrs on 30 June 2009 showing strong winds easing and swing SW

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PredictWind progmosis as at 1500hrs on 30 June 2009 showing strong winds easing and swing SW -

Wind readings at cape Reinga for the past 48 hours showing a peak gust of 52kts at 0300hrs this morning

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Wind readings at cape Reinga for the past 48 hours showing a peak gust of 52kts at 0300hrs this morning -

PredictWind five day prognosis on 29 June 2009 showing strong winds easing and swinging SW

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PredictWind five day prognosis on 29 June 2009 showing strong winds easing and swinging SW -

by Richard Gladwell and RAYC Media

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1:47 AM Mon 29 Jun 2009 GMT

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