GOLD COAST QIN-SAN 260600ZMAR12 SKED

LAT 40 52.7N
LONG 142 20.1w
DTF 950
ETA 0600 31 Mar 12

WEATHER WIND 250@40-55kts, Sea Rough 2m, Swell 6m, Cloud O/c, Baro 1000

Gold Coast Australia continues to charge down wind with mainsail and polled out Y3 headsail in some strong but variable winds and large sea and swell.

At times the wind will abate to 25 kts and it feels like we are in a big lull and there is no wind at all. It would be easy to mistake such a lull as the weather completely abating and it is very tempting to hoist a spinnaker, however, with a barometer falling 1mb/hr for the last day, we know that it is just the calm before another storm and utilise the time of lighter winds to check sails and fix any repairs (such as broken hanks) as required before the next session on wind.

The wind this entire race has been relentless and it seems that it is always blowing over 30kts from one direction or another in the North Pacific. Thankfully at the moment the wind is behind us, but the conditions are still harsh, ruggered and strangely beautiful.

With a large low moving to the north of us the swell has picked up to about 6m, and on top of this the wind creates a sea of about 2m. Occasionally a set of waves will come through that can only be described as massive, and if you are unlucky enough for one of these waves to break over the boat the situation can get quite messy. One such wave broke over the boat today without warning. A huge crest of foamy water covered the deck as the boat broached and was knocked over. Thankfully there was no damage to the boat, and only a few bumps and bruises suffered by crew members who were briefly suspended in mid air as they fell from one side of the boat to the other.

One of the problems with such a long race as this one is managing stores and provisions. We are lucky enough to have a well organised provisioning teams, and our head man Nick Woodward keeps a close eye on our daily usage down to every roll of toilet paper. It may sound extraordinary but it is better to be warned in the first week to slow down on toilet paper consumption than have a rather embarrassing ending to the race. While our food and toilet supplies are still plentiful, once store that we are quickly running out of is hanks. On the entire fleet Yankee headsails are hanked (as opposed to running up a track as some racing yachts do). The benefit of this is the sails are a lot more durable, the disadvantage is that if the sail flogs or backs the hanks can break. We are now down to our last 3 hanks, hopefully they will last us the rest of the way to Oakland.

For now, wind has picked up as we approach speed gate giving us very windy conditions that should give us a good time for the ocean sprint, now im rushing back on deck as the wind is picking up a lot…