At 1941 EST (2341 GMT) on the 7th of June the Clipper fleet started race 12 of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race from New York to Halifax. Gold Coast Australia started on the northern end of the line and sprang off the mark like a coiled spring.

Ten minutes after the start Gold Coast Australia hoisted their medium weight spinnaker along with most of the fleet, and after a short tussle with Singapore we began to lead the pack towards the first virtual mark on the south east corner of the Traffic Separation Scheme.

A beautiful sun set over the rest of the fleet as we watched them astern of us as we broke into watches and half the crew went below to try to get some sleep after the excitement of the start.

It is estimated that it will take us a little over 4 days to race to Halifax, our time expected to be some what determined by the light airs that are expected throughout tonight.

clipper in aust. sailing1.pdf
clipper in aust. sailing2.pdf

I think Dad decided it was easier sailing around the dam at home than sailing around the world so he has built his own “Gold Coast Australia”. I cant wait to build a fleet of them!

At 0126 EST on 27 May 2012 Gold Coast Australia crossed the finish line line in New York in first place in race 11 of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race after a frustrating and tactically “challenging” race from Panama in a total time of 12 days 6 hours and 21 seconds.

This morning at sunrise we were sitting becalmed surrounded by beautiful Northern Atlantic Right Whale and Pygmy Killer Whales. Thirty nautical miles to our east sailed Visit Finland with the other yachts in the fleet catching up fast. The day was warming up quickly and I had a sinking feeling that there would be a sea breeze and we would be too far off shore. As the breeze filled in late morning and swung to the west, our plan could not have worked out more perfectly as we followed the breeze around in a perfect arc towards the finish.

I am elated with winning this race as at different stages in the race it could have been won by any of the yachts in the fleet. The fleet was so close this race the pressure was on the entire duration of the race. Team Gold Coast Australia worked incredibly hard in hot, fluky and squally conditions. Some days we were conducting over 30 sail changes, most of them requiring all hands on deck requiring the crew to get on deck during their off watch time and play the game – which we won!

This is our ninth victory and yellow pendent in the series of races and every win feels so incredibly special. We are working hard and realising our objectives, our goals and our dreams together and the team has really bonded well. I am very impressed with the performance of the boat and crew and the slickness of each sail change evolution throughout the race. Gold Coast has never been sailing so fast and apart from some gearbox troubles, we have finished the race without damage to any gear.

To my crew, thankyou, you have made this a wonderful race. Bring on New York!

START SPREADING THE NEWS.. WE ARE WINNING TODAY.. ITS GOT TO BE A PART OF IT.. NEW YORK.. NEW YORRRKKK!!!

The wind is freshening and Gold Coast Australia is flying along at 8kts towards the finish. Expected finishing time is 0100 EST outside NY harbour. Expected time at Liberty Landing 0700 EST

Gold Coast Australia is now sailing in a light breeze that is expected to build through out the afternoon and into the night.

Our expected finish time at the finish line outside the New York Traffic Separation Scheme is approximately 0200 EST

Due to gear box problems we will most likely RV with Visit Finland at the finish to be escorted in and we expect to be alongside Liberty Landing New Jersey at approximately 1000 EST tomorrow.

Richard Hewson
Gold Coast Australia
1800 EST 26 May 2012

LAT 38 03.57 N
LONG 73 22.62 W
DTF 117 Nm
ETA 0001Z 27 May
SOG 06 Knots
COG 013 degrees

WEATHER Wind 165@10 Sea Slight Swell SE 1.0m, Cloud 2/8 Cl, Baro 1019

The morning was spent rounding Cape Hatteras and experiencing all types of weather, finally it settled down and blew from the SE giving us some nice close reaching conditions. Unfortunately we could not find the Gulf Stream anywhere. After close revision of all available data on the famous current and monitoring sea surface temperatures and comparing our Speed Over Ground (SOG) and speed through the water, it appeared that we had found 1kt counter current rather than the 2-4 kts of Gulf Stream we were expecting.

Finally in the forenoon the tides changed, and we had up to 3kts of current with us and making some fantastic SOG towards New York. At lunch time a large squall passed to the west of us and the wind swung to the north. I tried to work out Visit Finland’s expected position, and hoped that they would not be on the other side of the squall getting 30kts from the south.

The midday sked came, and Visit Finland had out sailed us, making 6nm on us from the previous sked. How they did it amazes me, as they must have been flying giving our speeds over the previous six hours. I look forward to chatting to Olly tomorrow evening and asking him about the currents that they experienced inshore, as they were not forecasted but were obviously stronger than the currents offshore.

Everybody has been workign very hard to keep the boat going as fast as possible. We are still getting more than our quota of sail changes in every day, and the majority of them are going almost perfectly which is a credit to everybody onboard. I will be lookign at giving team Gold Coast Australia an A for sail changes on this leg, though the final examination is yet to come, and we almost have another furious 24 hours of racing before us.

The weather this leg has been quite unpredictable, and it seems that you need to have lady luck on your side. There is 4nm distance finish separating us and Visit Finland, and they are 20nm closer inshore. This race will basically come down to who is the luckiest tonight and ends up on the right side of the squalls that pass through randomly without warning. Obviously its not all about luck, and normally the squalls require a sail change, and this is where the our sail changing skills will be more important than ever, as a bad change could possibly cost us the race.

LAT 31 27.2N
LONG 075 18.8W
DTF 530
ETA 0800 EST 27 May 2012
SOG 12kts
COG 030

WEAHTER WIND 180@22kts, Sea Rough, Swell Confused 1m, Sky 6/8 Cl Cb, Baro 1014

What a fantastic day in the office! Today was a near perfect day of high active, good adrenalin and well thought sailing.
A day where everybody worked their guts out, performed well, got little sleep, without a whisper of complaint for tiredness or hunger.

The day started for Gold Coast Australia in moderate conditions with the wind blowing from the south west. We were sailing
along nicely towards the NW with the kite up aiming to get into some good current. In the morning watch the wind near
dropped off completely and then swung to the East. By the forenoon the wind had picked up in strength and we were reaching
along nicely under full main, Y1 and Staysail. The weather was so nice it afforded us to do some maintenance on the deck, replacing a few chafed sheets and end for ending the vang.

At happy hour we were sad to find that for our efforts we had not made any miles on Visit Finland, but put the challenge up
to work hard and try to win back some miles over the next 24 hours. During the afternoon watch it all went crazy. We were
sailing along in fantastic conditions when a squall came, sending the wind to the south. Up went the medium weight
spinnaker, but before too long the wind was gusting in the mid 20’s, so we pealed to the heavy weight spinnaker, all the time the rain bucketing down on giving the boat and crew a welcome shower.

As we are reasonably light handed on Gold Coast Australia spinnaker peels and sail changes require all hands on deck, so
this means the off watch crew have to get up on deck as quick as possible to help with the change. One watch in particular
(The Orca’s) were woken four times today for sail changes and did a great job. With only a few days left in the race, we
can aford to burn the midnight oil a little bit, but the entire crew are doing a fantastic job on very little sleep whilst dealing with squally conditons on deck.

Another squall approached and the wind backed, so we hoisted the Y1 and dropped the spinnaker, before the wind veered
shortly after, promoting another hoist of the spinnaker, before the wind backed and again up went the Y1.

Some excitement while writing this blog (at 2am local time) when I heard a bunch of commotion and squealing on deck, poking
my head up to see if everything was ok it all looked in order. Annelise Nelson (aka fish head) had been trimming the main
sheet when a flying fish jumped out of the water hitting her in the face, and then backflipping into the hood of her foul
weather jacket. In the hood it carried on like a fish just out of water, until crew-mate Taz came to the rescue and flipped
it out of the hood and back into the deep blue where it will no doubt terrorise future yachties.

We are now charging towards Cape Hatteras assisted by 1.5-2kts of current flow and with some pleasant wind from the south.
Cape Hatteras is famous amongst sailors and is known as the Cape Horn of the east coast, producing some exciting weather due
to strong winds over fast currents. With our current speed we are making up for lost time amongst the islands, and
hopefully also overhauling our competitors to the East as we race towards the finish in New York.