Air Niugini Coral Sea Classic update
by Rob Kothe on 9 May 2001
Colin Scott's Harrier closing on Racketeer Al Constable
Leader in the Cairns to Port Moresby fleet set to finish on Thursday morning.
In the 454 mile Cairns to Port Moresby race, the lead boat at two am. is PNG’s Laurie Needham’s API Midnight.
The Royal Papua Yacht Club sloop, winner of the Hahn Premium Race Week Performance Handicap title at Hamilton Island in August last year, is 100 miles north of Osprey Reef, in 10 knots, east south easterly breeze.
She still had 160 miles to sail before reaching the finish line off the Royal Papua Yacht Club marina in Port Moresby’s Fairfax Harbour. Her current ETA is around 1am on Thursday morning.
Queensland catamaran Saloon Bar was in second place, with an 8am Thursday arrival time expected.
Local PNG Racketeer boat stepped up the pace late last night. At 2am Racketeer was 50 miles north of Osprey Reef. Three miles back is Townsville’s entry Clive Scott’s Harrier. These two Farr’s are expected to finish around 2pm Thursday.
On handicap, Port Moresby boat Steve Woodcock’s steel hulled Coriolis II was leading from API Midnight with Andrew Thompson’s Racketeer in third place.
The position of all the yachts in the fleet is being tracked by the Star Track satellite-tracking units provided by the official website Sail-world.com Click on http://www.sail-world.com to see all the latest positions and news updates.
The wind is picking up at the fleet moves north. As they approach the coast, if breezes continue to increase, the fleet could arrive some hours ahead of the current forecast.
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