GOLD COAST 080600ZJUN12 SKED – NY – HALIFAX

LAT 39 50.9N
LONG 069 10.6W
DTW 35.9nm
DTF 361.0nm
ETA 1200 EST 11 Jun 12
SOG 8
COG 077

WEATHER Wind 230@15kts, Sea Mod, Swell SW 1.5m, Sky 1/8, Baro 1016

Gold Coast Australia has had a fantastic day of sailing in mostly perfect conditions. The day started with very light and fickle winds, so much so that the windseeker was bought to the deck in preparation to peel in exchange with the spinnaker. The mere threat of the windseeker being on deck caused the wind to increase, and throughout the rest of the day the breeze increased and first veered to the west and then backed to the south west.

The team onboard are working very well together, and we have been coaching the new crew members since we left New York to bring them up to speed for the remainder of the race. The mild conditions create a fantastic training platform and everybody remains fit to enjoy the sailing.

Gold Coast Australia led the fleet for the majority of the day, but when the wind first veered to the west the majority of the fleet gibed to the north and disappeared from the radar. The next sked revealed that yachts further to the north sat higher in the rankings and appear to be sailing a more direct route to the rhumb line, however we have confidence in our tactics and will hopefully win back the places with the next wind shift which seems to be somewhat delayed.

At present our speed is below what we would have expected and the yachts to the west of us are sailing faster. Despite adjusting trim we can not seem to get any more speed and suspect that we may have some weed around our keel but will have to wait until daybreak to inspect with the GoPro. Stopping the boat to get the weed off would mean dropping the spinnaker and unless we can confirm there we would loose too much ground to make it worth it.