GOLD COAST 110600ZJUN12 SKED – NY – HALIFAX

At 05:31:22 UTC (02:31:22 Local) on the 11 June 2012 in position 44 05.94N 063 28.46W Gold Coast Australia coasted accross the finish line for Race 12 of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race from New York to Halifax in light and variable winds.

Gold Coast Australia has had another brilliant day of sailing up the mystical coast of Nova Scotia accompanied by whales, dolphins and flocks of sea birds.

Shortly after sunset the breeze began to die away, and was a far cry from the predicted 16kts from the north west. As the evening went on the wind further reduced to five knots, varying from northerly to easterly direction and some sever choppy seas created by the wind over the tide. We were almost stopped in the water only 15nm from the finish. Occasional gusts of wind enabled us to finally get the boat moving with some momentum to carry our way to cross the line.

With a successful game plan that calculated the maximum use of the tides, and also the wind veering to the east Gold Coast Australia has managed to extend our lead over the rest of the fleet as we power towards the finish in Halifax.

This race has been a fantastic shakedown for the crew who joined the team in New York, as there have been a variety of conditions and subsequent sail changes in fantastic conditions to enable a more forgiveable learning environment than the next leg across the Atlantic. All evolutions so far this race have been very sleek, as the Gold Coast race team get into gear for the remaining races towards Southhampton.