Light airs start for the 3rd Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel
by Suellen Hurling on 1 Aug 2009
09 Brisbane to Keppel Start - Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Tropical Yacht Race Suellen Hurling
The yachts racing in the 3rd Club Marine Brisbane to Keppel Tropical Yacht Race started the 348 nautical mile race under spinnaker in just over 4 knots breeze from the south west.
When the warning signal was made the majority of the fleet aimed for a pin end start to ensure they captured the last of the morning westerly. On Y Va John Moore), GOA (Colin Loel) and Escape (David Moran) were over the line at the 1100 hours start and were required the battle the tide and lack of wind to the return and re-start.
High profile entrants Black Jack (Mark Bradford) and Evolution Sails (Ray Roberts) managed to fight their way through the smaller boats and were clear starters on the gun. Evolution sneaked ahead of Black Jack and claimed the clean air and an early lead. However it wasn’t too long into the race when Black Jack took the lead of the Cookson 50 as they headed off into the distance.
The yachts that chose to start at the pin end of the line have now made good distance and are heading out of Moreton Bay however those who picked the boat end were becalmed just minutes after the start.
Amongst those who have their work cut for them to catch the fleet before night fall were Sweethart, Blunderbuss, Southern Cross Yachting, and Sanity Clause.
'This is going to be a very very long day,' said Sanity Clause crew member Peter Elkington. 'We may not make it out of the bay until tomorrow if the breeze doesn’t come in!'
The current ETA for the first yacht to arrive at the finish at Keppel Bay is approximately 1900 hours on Sunday 2 August.
Stay up-to-date via the official race website – www.brisbanetokeppel.com
The first Radio Scheduling Report from yachts is at 1505 hours today.
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