Guest Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Been out tonight, here's a string of emails from Zen 7.05Got away in another drifter at 10am. Good start for us and we were in amongst the big boys at Cape Karikari. Good sailing for the first 15 miles but back to no wind with North Cape in sight. The sea here is a brilliant purple blue but no sign of marlin. Lots of dolphins. Luckily we’ve stocked up on drinking water from Roger’s tank. Might need it. No internet here so I’ll send when we come in range. 7.19Just heard about Christchurch. 7.24These are kiwis we’re talking about? Seems unreal. This only happens to people in places we’ve never heard of. Nobody’s told the fleet. Not sure if that’s the right call or not. 7.43We’ve pulled out of the race. Rounded the top into the teeth of a southerly gale. Zen’s forte. Let’s kick some arse. Mark lasted 10 hours before he couldn’t move with his back worries. He’s in lot of pain and can’t even steer the boat. Heading back for Mangonui to sort out what happens next. Hugely disappointing, a lot of time and money to get less than half way. Coming back to a pretty sad and shocked country I imagine. and Nonstop 8.51 Just had a brief call from Pete to say that they are taking quite a hiding at the moment. Big sloppy seas that are knocking the boat around and tiring the guys as a consequence. If it gets too much rougher they may look at heading in to New Plymouth to sit out the worst of the weather. Having sailed that coast in a far larger boat I know what those swells can be like and as the withdrawals start to stack up it's certainly not going to be a leg for the fainthearted. From the tracker you'll see that Nonstop is headed quite a bit further offshore than some of the other boats. The theory behind this is that, when the forecast wind change comes through Nonstop will be sitting on the right side of the windshift and have a far more comfortable passage than some other members of the fleet. At the moment to quote Pete "it's rough as, we're wet and tired and can't wait for things to change". What's not helping of course is the fact that they spent a huge amount of energy repairing the backstay in the early hours of this morning off Cape Reinga. Looking further forward, if the weather forecast is right the guys could have a really tough time of it in Cook Strait as the weather for Saturday isn't looking that great at the moment, in fact it looks plain ugly. Just hope that when they are running a little short on energy they remember that they packed 4kg of jetplanes for just such an occasion. When you're warm and cosy tonight, spare a thought for our lads, they're out there on the briny doing it the hard way. cheers, Duncan Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 From SSANZ (that's why no updates from their blog) 24 Feb 2011 8am Davidson 42 Mr Roosevelt has lost her rig on the second leg of the Round North Island race, and is heading for New Plymouth under motor. This is the fourth boat to withdraw this leg, after Danaide pulled out yesterday afternoon with steering problems, and Zen, The Night Train and Gale Force withdrew earlier. The latter three boats are heading back around North Cape to Mangonui. All crews are safe and well, however. Also experiencing some issues but continuing in the race is Beneteau 14.5 Laissez Faire, which reported some damage to a hatch and had taken on some water. However, they reported they had the situation under control and would continue racing. Wind and sea conditions are forecast to moderate today for the remaining boats, but it will remain a headwind. 'It looks as if the further south they go, the lighter it will get,' says race director David Cooke. Still in the lead is Cookson 50 Akatea, but even she is making slow progress, not much further south than off the Manukau entrance. Ross 45 M1 is second, approximately 20 miles astern, with Shaw 9 Karma Police about 11 miles further back. Yesterday evening Karma Police reported winds of 15-20 knots on the nose and moderate seas. The backmarkers are still off the Hokianga Harbour. At their current rate of progress, Akatea will reach Wellington late Friday or early Saturday. Link to post Share on other sites
Flatkat 1 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Any word on Truxton and Physical Favours who have seemed to miss the sched? Link to post Share on other sites
Murky 1 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Not sounding like fun out there - a lot of combined work has gone into the preparation. The maths in this paragraph doesn't add up to me: Davidson 42 Mr Roosevelt has lost her rig on the second leg of the Round North Island race, and is heading for New Plymouth under motor. This is the fourth boat to withdraw this leg, after Danaide pulled out yesterday afternoon with steering problems, and Zen, The Night Train and Gale Force withdrew earlier. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Agreed, I put "at least 4" n the home page coz I couldn't figure it out either, from SSANZ - guess they are a bit sleepy. Link to post Share on other sites
smithy09 50 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Mr Roosevelt: Bugger! Looked like a well prepared campaign. Sorry to see it end that way. I hope the damage is not too severe and that you recovered as much of the rig as possible. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 looks like things are heating up............. looks likke 7 boats have pulled out now....out of 36 ... thats almost 25% after 2 days of ..... "Shaw 9 Karma Police about 11 miles further back. Yesterday evening Karma Police reported winds of 15-20 knots on the nose and moderate seas." surely our good old kiwi boats are made of sterner stuff?... damn....i should be out there on Oracle....she would be loving this weather.... Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 oops....i counted waka in that 7....should be 6.. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 if the scheds are correct on ssanz.....then .....Go....PEPE...... they looks to be going hard...for a couple of young fella's ...in a little old R930.....admittidely turboed... but they are in front of many larger yachts including overload...! and andar.. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I was going to wait, but you brought it up , 25% attrition, is that acceptable? Highest windspeed I've seen reported 25kn, big sloppy seas though. What would happen if they got a 50kn westerly? Link to post Share on other sites
Murky 1 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Think it will come down to the usual answer: Were they capable of surviving out there if they had to? Probably a universal yes. However, given that they had a choice of turning back while they were closer to what is the home port for most, rather than carrying on down a coast with fewer options... It is a choice and as usual, if it turns out that you are not going to be racing, you may as well make a start on whatever else that it was that you had to do - get the boat home, work, family commitments etc. Link to post Share on other sites
B00B00 310 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Just got off the Phone to Damon on the Valium, they are taking a beating. He said its pretty henious, not the wind so much just the sea state thats the big issue. He has done many offshore miles and when he says its henious - then its henious..... Another thing, he had not heard about the earthquake, and his wife is from Chch with all her family down there too. Link to post Share on other sites
ex Elly 197 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 From the Mr Roosevelt blog: Curerent update at 8am. Mr R motoring towards Manukau Harbour now with diesel supplies too limited to get them to New Plymouth and very slow progress. Coastguard Manukau will assist them in getting into Manukau Harbour . ETA 17 hours away (some time tomorrow) . Will do in daylight . Guys OK but gutted and tired. Posted by cath on 24/02/2011 6:21:36 AM Link to post Share on other sites
B00B00 310 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I would think Pepe might have made a mistake with their sched report...... Bad luck for Mr R, the guys had put alot of effort into this race. Also Danaide, I hope they made it back with no Dramas, and to the others who have withdrawn. maybe this leg will put a few people off so there migth be a chance for me to fill in someones spot for the last half of the race! Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 strange that Josh, i was thinking the same on both those counts.... interesting that some boats have gone offshore even though it looks like a lifting breeze in the next couple of days... Link to post Share on other sites
Farrari 4 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Just heard from Ken Fyfe that Truxton are heading to New Plymouth due to an injury. The details are very sketchy. Link to post Share on other sites
Flatkat 1 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 yeah, one of the boys on Truxton is injured but don't know who or how at this stage. They are heading into New Plymouth and were about 170 miles off New Plymouth this morning. The details were passed by Andar so little info until they get closer to shore If it's not Chris - Booboo, wana finsih the race with skins? Link to post Share on other sites
Murky 1 Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Well done Kat, you are turning into a sterling yachting widow! No detail on the injury status but already focused on nailing down the good replacement crew. Link to post Share on other sites
B00B00 310 Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Yeah i could be up for that. Actually funny you ask cos I had alread sent skins a text along those lines just in case he got into cell range soon. Call 021 2222 143 or josh@nz.northsails.com if you have any more updates. I hope everything is OK on board. Link to post Share on other sites
Flatkat 1 Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Thanks Booboo My aim is to be the best shore crew ever Will wait for the boys to get in before we figure out a plan to get the boat back to Auckland if it is skins that's injured. I hope that all is ok on the boat too Link to post Share on other sites
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