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2011 SSANZ RNI Leg 2


splashprincess

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Nonstop

 

1000 this morning and leg two has started from Mangonui in very light conditions. As with the first leg it's a bit of a lottery but having experienced this sort of racing in 2008 Pete and Mark are well equiped with a code zero headsail to make the most of the extremely light conditions. Pete's predicting the breeze to build to no more than 15 knots later in the day but early on it is essential that every effort is made to stay toward the front of the fleet as the run down the West coast looks like being most suited to the longer and heavier boats and this is where Nonstop will look to minimise losses should other boats get away. Predictions are still for the fleet to take most of the daylight hours left to round the top and set sail for Wellington. Communication will be less frequent as the boat moves outside cellphone range and into sattelite phone only range. I'll keep you updated as often as possible however it is likely that satphone updates will be a maximum of twice a day.

 

cheers

 

Duncan

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Mr Roosevelt

 

Tuesday 22nd February, 2011

RNI Leg 2 - Waiting for the start

 

We've got out early and we're waiting for the start. There isn't a breath of wind.

 

We take the anchor of the bow and stow it below so we always give ourselves a bit of extra time.

 

The forecast is light for today and we may get a bit of southerly breeze tomorrow on the west coast. It doesn't look like we'll get anything hairy. Some breeze would be very welcome!

 

Everything is good otherwise. We're stocked up on chocolate, peperoni sticks and some other food. We're looking forward to seeing everyone in Wellington.

post-3043-141887174502.jpg

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And Fineline

 

Fineline is motoring out for the 10am start of Leg 2. Only 1 knot of breeze at the moment so they're expecting another long day getting up to Cape Reianga before the wind fills in down the West Coast. Hoping to reach the Cape around midnight and Wellington 3-ish days later (if the current weather forecast holds).

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22 Feb 2011

3pm

The second leg of the Round North Island race is underway - but even the leading yachts haven't got very far in very light winds.

Race director David Cooke said the fleet got away cleanly at 10am today, hard on the wind in a 5 knot northwesterly. The wind is forecast to swing around to the west, then the southwest, so it looks like an all-upwind leg and the boats round Cape Reinga and head down the west coast to Wellington. However, at least they will be spared the wrath of Cyclone Atu, which looks set to pass down the east coast.

At 3pm the leading boats - Akatea, M1 and Karma Police - were off Great Exhibition Bay northwest of the Karikari Peninsula, heading for North Cape.

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From Sarah Ell (who is doing all the official press stuff)

22 Feb 2011

3pm

The second leg of the Round North Island race is underway - but even the leading yachts haven't got very far in very light winds.

Race director David Cooke said the fleet got away cleanly at 10am today, hard on the wind in a 5 knot northwesterly. The wind is forecast to swing around to the west, then the southwest, so it looks like an all-upwind leg and the boats round Cape Reinga and head down the west coast to Wellington. However, at least they will be spared the wrath of Cyclone Atu, which looks set to pass down the east coast.

At 3pm the leading boats - Akatea, M1 and Karma Police - were off Great Exhibition Bay northwest of the Karikari Peninsula, heading for North Cape.

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1735hrs just got a call from out on the water. Nonstop is currently in Pete's words "playing with all the big boys with flash kevlar sails". After losing ground to be around 4th from last in the fleet earlier this afternoon, the lads headed inshore on the basis that they believed the wind would come in from the West. The bulk of the fleet headed out to sea but as the westerly did in fact arrive, Nonstop suddenly gained momentum and is currently making excellent progress inshore with full main and #1 headsail eased. The current angle of breeze has them almost on a reach but it looks unlikely that the wind will free off enough to allow them to hoist a reacher. With the first radio 'sched.' at 1800hrs, expect a pretty healthy position report from Nonstop. One of the keys to this leg is to be early around the top as it is virtually impossible to make up the gap betweeen wind patterns once the journey down the west coast is underway. Cross your fingers, it all looks promising at the moment, it could be an exciting time over the next 36 hours.

 

cheers,

 

Duncan

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Hi all!

 

First off, I hope that any of you with friends/family in Christchurch have reassuring news. The media here in UK is devoting a sizeable chunk of time to reporting. So very sad.

 

Second... I hope some of you have seen that Sailonline (www.sailonline.org) and SSANZ are buddied-up for this year's Round North Island race. One SOLer is sailing his own yacht Open Country in the real race and we have his track on our game screen. SSANZ is letting us know the official start times so we are mirroring them!!

 

If anyone here has posted pics or comments that they would be happy to see used by SOL (Sailonline) please would you sing out? We don't write much in our updates but it is always great to have original footage/commentary!!

 

Ciao for now

 

RainbowChaser

SOLgoddess (Races)

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Rainbow, everything on the forums is owned by Crew.org.nz (read the fine print) so feel free to take what yo uwant, A link back to Crew.org.nz would be nice - let them know they can follow the real race here.

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Fineline late last night

 

Fineline Yacht Racing

Via Juha: Message from Fineline 22/2 6pm. They are again stuck in a calm spot east of North Cape. But leaders are close this time. Crew is looking for some wind. There should be some more as soon as they get north of the Cape. Go Fineline

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More from Sarah Ell

 

 

The Round North Island two-handed fleet are mostly around Cape Reinga and heading for Wellington, into a forecast 15 knot southerly, rising to southeast 25 knots this afternoon. The outlook is for winds from the southerly quarter for the rest of the week, meaning it could be a long upwind leg.

Leading the fleet at the 6.30am sched was Akatea, nearly off the entrance to the Hokianga, followed by M1 and Karma Police. M1 has taken a more offshore course than Akatea and Karma Police.

Among the smaller boats, Edlin 8 Mix T Motions was off Cape Reinga at 9.30pm.

The first boats are expected in Wellington late Friday or early Saturday.

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Nonstop 1000

 

Those who have been following the progress of Nonstop on the tracker will, like me, have been puzzled by the loop the loop performed in the early hours of this morning. My interpretation of it was that the breeze had died completely and they were drifting around with the tide. Following a very recent call I can sayhat was not the case, in actual fact what has happened is that the backstay has broken. Fortunately the rig is still in one piece and following a quick trip up the mast and a heap of work, the backstay is once again intact and the team are back into race mode. Ellen is currently calculating positions from the 0600 sched and it seems that Nonstop is still well placed despite the overnight parking. At the 0600 sched Ilex looked to be ahead of Nonstop but the rest of the Div 4 fleet were not getting any great advantage. At least now we know they were drifting in circles for a reason and not just because someone found the rum bottle.

 

cheers,

 

Duncan

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I just heard a rumor that its pretty gnarly out there and some boats including gale force have turned back to seak shelter. Anyone else heard any storys?

I can imagine there could be a nasty sea state with the currents up there.

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From Facebook (Shaw site) Night train has sprung a leak, from SSANZ site Zen and Gale Force are returning to Monganui....

 

3-4m SW swells not like like to abate for a few days. Not the fun place for smaller lightweight yachts you would hope for.

 

Pleased you are not on the Waka Boo Boo ?

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Come ON Booboo! (not trying for thread drift here) but glory is forever? where did you get that from? You're in sales - you know that you're only a hero until someone else does it better then you're forgotten - same in sailing I'm sure. :wink:

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Updatess off the SSANZ site

 

23 Feb 2011

 

At 1516 hrs The Night Train/ZM2850 informed radio control in Wellington that they were pulling out of the Round North Island two-handed race. Farr 46 The Night Train, sailed by Mike McDermot and David Molen and based at Kapiti, had sprung a leak and was returning to Mangonui, ETA unknown. Both crewmen were well and no assistance was required.

 

 

23 Feb 2011

 

Rough seas off the west coast of the North Island have caused two yachts in the SSANZ Round North Island two-handed fleet to turn back, on the longest leg from Mangonui to Wellington.

 

Zen, a Bakewell White 35, has withdrawn from the race after crewman Mark Winters injured his back, and the team aboard Elliott 1050 Gale Force (David Mason and Cameron Thorpe) has told race organisers they are heading for shelter from the rough seas.

 

Zen is returning to Mangonui, and Gale Force may also have to go back around Cape Reinga, as there are no easily accessible safe harbours on the west coast. At the 6.30am sched this morning both Zen and Gale Force were both a few miles south of the cape.

 

The forecast for the Kaipara sea area in which the yachts are racing was for seas becoming rough for a time, with a northerly swell rising to 4 metres for a time north of Cape Reinga and a southwest swell of 3 metres easing. The swell is not expected to subside for several days.

 

The remaining 35 yachts are currently on the wind, heading down the North Island west coast. At the 6.30am sched, Cookson 50 Akatea was in the lead, followed by M1 and Karma Police. The lead yachts are currently off the Hokianga, with the tail enders off Ninety Mile Beach. The first yachts are expected in Wellington late Friday or early Saturday.

 

 

 

 

23 Feb 2011

 

9.30am

 

The Round North Island two-handed fleet are mostly around Cape Reinga and heading for Wellington, into a forecast 15 knot southerly, rising to southeast 25 knots this afternoon. The outlook is for winds from the southerly quarter for the rest of the week, meaning it could be a long upwind leg.

 

Leading the fleet at the 6.30am sched was Akatea, nearly off the entrance to the Hokianga, followed by M1 and Karma Police. M1 has taken a more offshore course than Akatea and Karma Police.

 

Among the smaller boats, Edlin 8 Mix T Motions was off Cape Reinga at 9.30pm.

 

The first boats are expected in Wellington late Friday or early Saturday.

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