GOLD COAST 120600ZNOV11 SKED

LAT 43 40.3S
LONG 135 29.8E
DTF 2340
ETA 1800 24 Nov

WEATHER
Wind 308/25 Sea 5 Swell 260@4m cloud 4/8 stratus, vis good, baro 1009.2 falling 1mb/hr

Gold Coast Australia is celebrating their victory in winning the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Whilst we are now making
arrangements to lengthen our snakepit to accommodate the swimming, and building a track around the gunwals for the marathon
the decision where we should have the grand opening ceremony is undecided, however the city of Gold Coast Australia seems
the perfect location.

Not only have we just won the Commonwealth games but we are also very pleased about our performance so far in Race 5 of the
Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. Earlier in the race we thought we had mad a bad tactical decision by heading too far
north, but it has all seemed to work out well as we sail under heavy weight spinnaker towards the Tasmainan Gate and we are
sailing better than every with the last few spinnaker hoists and drops being even slicker than normal.

As we sail in the Southern Ocean we are accompanied by some beautiful feathered friends of a number of different species, in
particular a Grey Haired Albatross which fly circum polar around the Antarctic and breed as far away as Cape Horn and we
will endeavour to send the photo to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds ( RSPB) to help them with their research.
With all our rare bird sightings in positions so remote from human inhabitance our team are now compiling photos and
positions of various birds which we will email to the RSPB when we get ashore at each stopover

Whist we are sailing very well our joy is somewhat hampered by the news that Singapore has lost her steering and the offer
of assistance went out this morning if it was required. I have been busy trying to contact people in Hobart to see if they
are able to help and possibly meet the boat outside of Hobart to save Singapore some extra miles and time. Ben and his crew
really don’t deserve their bad luck and we wish them all the best in their recovery. A big thanks to all the Tassie crew
who have helped out so far, Im sure Singapore will be well looked after if they make the deviation towards Hobart. BT