ex Elly

"A 10.6m launch crashed into a moored yacht near Devonport last night before running aground." http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11823951 It can be pretty hard to see those moored boats at night!

Correct. But the photographer probably deserved it. Not that I condone that sort of thing.

Not sure why you think Ben Ainslie isn't a nice guy. He was a nice guy when he was part of ETNZ, so what's changed?

Meanwhile in the other race Rigmarole and Ilex are engaged in a slow match race doing about 1kt, while Cool Change is leaving them for dead doing 6kt at Tolaga Bay.

Looks like Guarantee took the scenic route alongside Waiheke, allowing Spearhead to get past. Oracle and Arbitare having a close race out there. Nowcasting says 8kt at Slipper, and 30 at Mercury. Vela Via are on the move again. Have left Port Charles, but could be motoring?

From Sunfast FB (Booboo) 1 hour ago: "Tough going out here but all is well on the Sun Fast. Still hard on the nose in 20-25kts with a very lumpy sea. Blink just overtook us so back to 4th on line. Only 28nm to east cape. Making good progress. Sorry for the poor quality video, was trying to drive and record at the same time."

From SSANZ FB 5 hours ago: "Update on Leg 4 so far. After a postponement of nearly an hour, the RO managed to find just enough breeze to get the boats across the start line in Napier and 23 boats headed slowly across the bay. Zenith and Squealer both turned right to head back to Nelson. Wedgetail had issues before the start but managed to get things sorted on the travel lift and started nearly 2 hours behind the rest. They've caught up to the fleet now. Celadon have since withdrawn from the leg and headed to Gisborne to wait out the coming weather and maybe go fishing. Jet are on their way b

Looks like 2 or 3 more heading into Gisborne now

So after some light legs, looks like they are going to get some strong winds. The bad news is it could be on the nose the whole way!

Do you think you can find a 12m berth to rent? I don't think there are many sitting around empty...

Back of the fleet are all doing around 1 knot, front of the fleet 8+ knots! Blink are way back.

Yes a front coming over Tue/ Wed giving strong northerlies Tue, followed by strong southerlies Wed. However the start is Sun 18:30, so hopefully they can all make it to Napier before the worst arrives. Looking light n Monday though. Series results are here: http://www.ssanz.co.nz/results.html?id=120

Looks like Oracle got home with a tide assist. Ilex may have broken something - spent the night in the Marlborough sounds. Jet still not finished. Not sure why they are going so slow - Rigmarole sailed past them pretty rapidly last night.

Lots of updates on the SSANZ facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/ssanz.inc/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED

Getting rolled may be more likely than you think. According to the scientific tests a yacht can be rolled when hit side on by a breaking wave of more than 30% the boats length. Do we get breaking waves of 3m or more from trough to peak in the Hauraki Gulf? The article is here: Dangerous waves and your boat http://www.oceannavigator.com/Ocean-Voyager-2011/Dangerous-waves-and-your-boat/

Results are here: http://ssanz.co.nz/results.html Scroll down to see the combined divisions results. Well done to Rigmarole and Oracle, both who had major issues getting to the start line, and both rewarded with top finishes. Also of note was Provincial Cowboy. The top places were taken out by the smaller/ slower boats who were favoured in the light conditions. If these conditions continue the small boats could dominate the overall results, just as they did in the inaugural race 40 years ago.

Well looks like it has been sold for $360K. Hopefully sold for real this time... http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/boats-marine/yachts/keeler/auction-1261578061.htm

Is that Stuff story wrong? Cause Trade Me ad says the auction closes Sun 19 Feb, and the current bid is $170K...

Did anyone get the name of the boat?

I have seen a mast put in at Pier21 recently, with the boat in the water. Was a pretty big crane though.

A small boat that played a big role in New Zealand's maritime history has been lovingly restored to its former glory. In 1966, at the age of 17, New Zealand yachting legend Sir Peter Blake started to build his first keel yacht in the backyard of his family home in Bayswater on Auckland's North Shore. With help from his brother Tony and good friend Crawford Duncan, the yacht, named Bandit, was built and modified over the next three years. http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/central-leader/87465646/Sir-Peter-Blakes-first-handmade-yacht-lovingly-restored

It's ok, they were only tendering in to Oneroa from a launch, after eating scallops in Manowar bay.

"The question remains as to what O'Coineen will do with his wounded IMOCA 60. One option is to ship it back to Europe alongside Paul Meilhat's SMA, another to refit it and sail it home. He's even had an offer from a Kiwi sailor to buy the boat in its current state. “I haven't made any final decisions yet,” he said. “I'm not in a massive rush – my family don't expect me back for a while! It's tempting to get a mast and try to sail the boat home but that's a huge logistics effort in itself. So I really don't know – the ball is in the air.”"

Another option is the next bay northwest, just around the headland: Whale Bay. There is good fishing off the rocks there.

We have stayed in the little cove on the southern side just inside the entrance. It was very pleasant in settled westerly conditions.