Melbourne to Stanley - Placings, Retirements and Weather
by John Curnow on 30 Oct 2010
Goldfinger with crew hiking - Melbourne to Stanley 2010 John Curnow
A fleet of 32 vessels were at the area adjacent to Drapers Reef off Queenscliff near Port Phillip Heads for the start of the 2010 Melbourne to Stanley race. 31 vessels ended up getting away for their Tasmanian destination at 0045 on Saturday morning.
The significant high pressure system South of New Zealand has continued to play a major hand in the weather over Bass Strait, despite strong fronts mounting up to the West of Tasmania.
As a result and depending on where you are inside the area of operation, the wind could be coming from anywhere at modest strength or in the case of Magazan53, nowhere at all!
Mostly though, you are experiencing some rain. At the destination itself, the wind is around 22knots and from the East with the gusts making 30 knots.
The leader is Peter Blake and Kate Mitchell's Farr52, Goldfinger, some 5.5 nautical miles ahead of the TP52, Calm.
Goldfinger is over half way down the 152nm course, so the record is well and truly safe. It stands at around 14 and a half hours and they have been at it already for 13 hours. Presently, the last boat is Phil Spry-Bailey's Magic and she is just on one quarter of the way through, so the separation amongst the fleet is quite large at 38nm.
The first to retire was XLR8 and this was before the start. The had a rudder bearing issue and were already leaking, so they have made it back to their pen. Chikara Outlaw was well placed prior to motor/electrical issues and so have headed back, as well.
Two boats that found the slow going just a little bit to challenging for their weight and overall timeframes, have also retired at the midday radio sked. They are Pretty Woman and Celdonia.
Accordingly, 28 boats are still racing, including Addiction, who are back doing their first race since the grounding at Apollo Bay and subsequent repairs that had to be affected. It is great to have this dedicated racer back out in the mix.
Next sked is at 1805hrs and we expect to see the leaders further extend and hopefully make landfall before midnight.
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