GOLD COAST 200600ZAUG11

20 AUGUST 2011

LAT 09 57.3N

LONG 25 23.1W

DTR 2234

COG 170

SOG 8.5

It has been a momentous 24 hours for Gold coast Australia as we have passed

through a variety of conditions and tactical

decisions.

Gold coast Australia has gone from sailing fantastically downwind from Cape Verde

to the ITCZ, where we had planned to cross

at “the bottleneck” of the wave, in hope that the next wave would pass over us

quickly.

As Gold coast neared the ITCZ we were expecting the wind to start to back around

as an indication, but rather it stayed from

the north affecting out speed as we could not sail the angles we planned.

Regardless Gold coast pushed on, changing from

our trusty heavy weight spinnaker to our light weight. Within an hour of

changing to the lightweight, the wind dropped out

altogether, and all we could do was to pole out our windseeker in hope that

it would catch the occasional puff of wind.

Becalmed and being thrown round by the confused residual sea and swell that was

coming from the north, south, east and west

does not sound like a lot of fun, but the Gold coast Australia team made the

most of the quiet patch, throwing on the deck

speakers for a bit of music, and taking the opportunity to all have a bit of a

swim. With our two Pamela Anderson

look-alike lifeguards on duty, Wayne and Barry, the crew were allowed to jump

in from the bow one at a time and drift down

the side of the boat to be recovered by our lifeguards at the stern. All those

involved had a fantastic dip.

After only a couple of hours, there was a whiff of breeze and it was all hands

on deck to change to the Yankee 1 and get

sailing again. When the next watch came on, one person asked when we would

cross the ITCZ and if this SW wind would last

for very long. I quickly explained that we were over the ITCZ and the doldrums

and on our way to Rio… This caused

disappointment for some as they had slept through their entire doldrums

experience. Gold coast Australia could not expect to

be blessed any more than having such a short time without wind in the doldrums,

and I believe our offering to King Neptune

of girls in Bikini’s defiantly helped the situation.

Now Gold coast Australia is experiencing moderate wind from the SW and is

sliding her way south nicely powered up with a full

main, Yankee 2 and Staysail. One more tack and we should be in Rio.. even if

it is a 2000nm tack! BT