Westcoaster - Melbourne to Hobart update

by Jennifer McGuigan on 28 Dec 2005 After a night of strong winds in Bass Strait the ‘Westcoaster’ fleet is stretched out from the northern end of King Island to Hunter Island north of Stanley. During the early hours this morning the wind moved to the southwest and the fleet are beating into winds of 30 to 45 knots.

They also have three metre waves with a one metre swell. Most will be on a starboard tack as close as possible to the rhumbline and whilst they are all having fun they will be working hard constantly climbing waves, requiring high levels of concentration and observation. The combination of wind direction and wave activity makes for wet conditions on board and wet people. Helsal II has made good progress after some initial difficulties at the start of the race and currently leads Gusto by nine miles. Tevake II is another six miles behind followed eight miles later by the Tasmanian yacht Quetzalcoatl. The wind direction makes a race record harder to achieve though the current wind strength is a distinct advantage.

For full details of the positions please visit the website at www.orcv.org.au .

The next regular schedule call is at 15:05 this afternoon.