GOLD COAST QIN-SAN 140600ZMAR12 SKED

LAT 38 34.9N
LONG 157 41.5E
DTF 3940
ETA 4 Apr 12

Wind 295@28kts, Sea Moderate 1m, Swell W 4m, Cloud 4/8 Cb, Baro 1021.0

Gold Coast has had a brilliant 24 hour run of over 280nm, in one 6 hour period we averaged over 14kts, which for a Clipper 68 is about as fast as it gets! Consistency and speed have enabled us to break away from the rest of the fleet, extending our lead to over 70nm from 33nm this time yesterday.

Whilst conditions are near freezing at night, the crew are dealing with the cold well, taking regular breaks down below and making copious cups of tea to keep warm. A few crew have even taken to keeping hot water bottles inside their foul weather gear while on deck to keep warm.

Whilst our nearest human inhabitants are over 70nm away, we have been joined by other friends, as schools of White Sided Pacific Dolphins come and play with us as we surf down the waves. Their agility and co-ordination makes us look slow and uncoordinated. At one point we had a group of 6 dolphins all jumping in unicen at our bow while others played alongside the boat. A beautiful sight and sign of friendship from our aquatic comparisons.

As the low pressure system to the north of us moves away the wind and sea are abating. At the moment, conditions are too gusty to risk hoisting a spinnaker as we only have one pole to last us to San Francisco, hopefully by nightfall we will have the spinnaker up to make use of the remaining wind we have left and make some good ground to the east before the next low develops to the south of us as we race towards the speed gate at 170E