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2011 SSANZ RNI Leg 2


splashprincess

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Just chatting with one of the Naki Rig supply boats. He reckons anyone out there in a yacht will be having their ring-piece getting bounced all the way up to the region of their tonsils. Rather lumpy and a nasty lump it is. He also used the phrase 'f**king knutter yachties!!' :)

 

Wind knot too bad just evil seas, very evil.

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Was a bit bouncy. I'm tucked up in Whangaroa helping Danaide with her rudder problems. Expecting Gale Force shortly so we can have a committee meeting. Cam, Jon and I. So that's all the committee members out of the race.

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Wind knot too bad just evil seas, very evil.

That is quite a concern. Evil seas make crews tired rather quickly, and make sleep difficult. And with only two on board that can lead to compounding problems rather quickly. I hope everyone out there is okay.

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We did the west coast in very similar winds in our Lidgard 42 Regardless design. We basically followed the coast as far as Kaipara and then went to sea for 100 miles on the port tack when the wind switched to the SE. This part was more bumpy with the wind change and to cut down the strain on the boat and crew we reduced sail by quite a bit.

We tacked back onto stbd the next morning with with the change back to SW

A total time of approx 3 days on the west coast to Nelson and no real issues.

The secret to not wrecking the boat I think was letting it stand up by reducing sail - a bit different when you are racing I suppose although often you go just as fast.

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As the wind eases, so the swells subside for our guys coming down the west coast. Still plenty of potholes out there for the council to fix though. As many of you will be aware, the trouble with the wind easing is that with it goes the power to drive through the waves so the 'washing machine' effect still continues. Dreadful news for Mr Roosevelt, losing their rig and having to retire from the race, scary to think that the same could easily have happened to Nonstop with that broken backstay. The heavier boats with longer waterline length are starting to show out but with Nonstop headed for the familiar waters of Cook Strait there could be some advantage to be gained through local knowledge in the next day or two. Once again I'll sit back in my comfortable chair and plot positions as best I can from the 1800hrs sched when that comes through, I'm quite happy to be dry and warm at the moment, the Tasman Sea is a very unfriendly place to be at times so spare a thought for the lads.

 

cheers

 

Duncan

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From what I heard before Andar has a keel issue they are alright and heading to New Plymouth could be a bit of a congregation there.

 

Sarah said the Karma lads were all well this morning the phone and pretty supprised at how well they were going with the big boats as they don't get the others positions as they are on sat phone.

 

So go the Karm and hope the others keep safe

 

Cheers

 

gappy

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Yes Andar has a keel issue. They are motor sailing at about 4.5 knots towards New Plymouth. Due early afternoon at this stage.

 

They are being monitored regularly by maritime ops.

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Good to see Mixed T Motions doing OK. She's only 8m and at the 6.00 scheds she appeared to be only 60-65 odd miles behind the Valium, if the positions are correct. She was certainly well prepared though. Swell looks like it will hold at the 2m+ level all week, according the Windguru.

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Some quick and dirty analysis of the co-ordinates at the 1800 sched paint an interesting picture. With Nonstop the most westerly of the boats there's the potential for big gains or big losses in the next 24 hours. If the forecasters have it right (check out metvuw website) the boys have made a smart move. By my interpretation Nonstop is currently third on the water in Div 4 behind Open Country and Pepe. While Open Country is also significantly west and placed to take advantage of the westerly change forecast for early friday morning, Pepe and the bulk of the fleet will have to go hard on the wind to sail back out to the rhumb line. If you're not sure what the rhumb line is, it's basically the shortest distance between two points on a curved surface. If you need a more complex explanation, google rhumb line. Simply put, as the wind goes westerly (from the sou'west) it will enable the boats furthest to the west to ease sheets and therefore generate greater boatspeed whilst saiiling the rhumb line route to Cook Strait. The majority of boats are sailing a route inside the rhumb line meaning they are currently sailing at a better angle to the sou'west wind direction. As this shifts to the west they will have to come hard onto the wind to avoid ending up on that big lumpy thing they call the North Island. Still can't raise the guys on the sattelite phone so for now the spot tracker remains off, hopefully it will be turned back on so we can get a regular fix on Nonstop rather than just the radio scheds. If metvuw have it right the wind is set to ease as it shifts to the west, this will make it even more important that the guys are able to sail a reach generating more boat speed. More in the morning.

 

cheers,

 

Duncan

 

 

 

 

Just got a note from Sally, Pete gave her a call very recently and she said he sounded very positive abouit the day.

 

It's been a lovely day!!! that's his words. They are 150km west of Auckland, had a nice southerly ~ 20kts. sea's calming down.

They are on a lay line from where they are to New Plymouth. ~ 24hr to get there.

Currently had 2 reefs and #4 up.

At least this call sounded a lot better and more positive than last night's one.

 

Also, Sally asked about the the spot tracker and it appears the sattelites may not be in the right spot at the moment as they're sure the unit onboard is still working so keep an eye out, it could start talking to the sattelites again anytime.

 

cheers, Duncan

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#

Fineline Yacht Racing

From our weather expert Juha: "The sea should be moderate by now and sailing is much easier. But as soon as they are in the Tasman Bay, they are going to hit by 25kn southeasterly (Friday late or early Saturday). I hope the guys get some rest before that."

11 hours ago

 

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#

Fineline Yacht Racing

The latest news via Fineline's sat phone messaging... "We are all ok. Just a bit sea sick. Quite rough"

12 hours ago

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From the Mr Roosevelt blog:

 

as at @2pm Thursday. Latest update is guys are making slow progress but are still heading for Manukau. Coastguard and our insurance company have been great and have organised a tug boat to meet them at 7pm tonight. They wont be able to attempt getting into manukau harbour until the following morning however when the tide is in (around 10am) but the tug boat will sit with them all night out at sea so at least they have company. Forecast is for 20knot W and a 3 metre swell running into the harbour however so there is a possibility it will be too risky to attempt this crossing . If so they will be given diesel off the tow boat and will have to motor for 2-3 days down to New Plymouth which is not ideal. Ironic but start praying for no wind people!

 

~AND~

 

latest update on Mr R situation @10pm Thursday. Tug boat unable to rendevous with them as planned as too rough to get across kaipara harbour bar. I have spoken to Matt and they are under control and will sit out and wait until the morning when they will be met by another boat at manukau harbour where they will attempt harbour bar crossing (weather/swell permitting). 50:50 call. Also running out of diesel fast so thats the next priority in getting assistance to them

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Update

we are now motoring toward the Cavalli's

 

What happened,

after rounding cape Reinga our steering started to lockup and by mid afternoon we could only steer by auto helm as we had dropped a bearing in the steering somewhere but the thought of having to sail 300nm+ on auto pilot in thou's seas or return the 40nm back to the top was a no brainier, the really bitch being that I had the steering rebuilt just before the race.

 

But our dramas weren't over as after rounding north cape and banging into the southerly we were both rooted and very dissapointed.

At 4 am I made the call to find an achorage for a couple of hours sleep and decided on Maitia as we could see anchor lights in there

Getting in wasn't a problem, dropped the pick in 5m water and managed 3 hours sleep even though there was a 2m swell in the bay.

Left at 7am as on exiting the bay at 6kts trying to beat the swells rolling in we got dropped onto a rock in the trough, next swell picked us up and we motored out.

Checked keel floors and no water !!

Then we realized the steering was alot worse

we had landed on the rudder and its smashed the top bearing holder and pulled the tube 40mm out the bottom and the rudder is also bent.

We are taking on water so we setup the electric pump as the bilge dosn't connect into this area.

Pump handles flow easily, running it for 3min every 15min so we head for Whangaroa, There we catch up with Zen and rebuild the top bearing holder as best we can,

then its find somewhere to haulout but there are only piles up here and they are too shallow for us to get to, then Rolly the harbour master comes to our help and we work out that we can tie to the wharf out front of the pub. With the soft bottom we only get the boat about a foot out of the water so with some epoxy putty I seal between the hull and the tube.

When we are floating again we move back and stay tied to the wharf for the night to allow the epoxy to harden and no more water is coming in.

So our plan is to try and get the boat back to Akl or at least Opua

As we motor down the harbour it started to leak about half as fast as yesterday so if it dosn't get any worse we will head for Tutakaka tonight and Akl tomorrow fingers crossed.

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Checking the messages going with the latest radio sched it appears some boats have take a bit of a hiding in the last 36 hours. Nonstop is maintaining her course while many other members of the fleet are hugging the coast. Open Country continues to lead the Div 4 fleet from Pepe and Nonstop but while Pepe has maintained her course, Open Country has moved significantly inshore in the last 12 hours. The wind continues to ease and it looks as though Pete and Mark will spend most of today in conditions of around 15 knots. Like any race it's a case of keeping an eye on the opposition but sailing to your own race plan. Still no signal from the spot tracker so it's a case of waiting for the next radio sched at 1800hrs today unless the satellites wake up in the meantime. It's also quite possible that satellite phone contact will be made at some time of the day and updates will follow any such call.

 

cheers

 

Duncan

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Just about to go for a bike ride and the phone rang, Nonstop on the line, a very cheerful Pete reporting the wind trending souwest at about 25 knots and everything great onboard. Currently "smoking along with cracked sheets on a reach with the #4 headsail and a single reef in the main". Translation for non-sailers, they are making good boat speed in a stable sailing mode that doesn't place huge demands on the crew. This means they are in a stable 2 hours on 2 hours off cycle and trying to keep as well rested as possible. They are 93 miles short of Cape Egmont and as you can see on the SSANZ website, holding to the current course that sees them clear of Cape Egmont without any manouvering required. I also had a chat with Pete about the tracker and he'll have another crack at it later today. They expect to be off Cape Egmont by dark and are looking at an early Sunday morning arrival in Wellington (at the soonest).

 

cheers,

 

Duncan

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