The wind has gone south again so back to the grind.   News is that Sled is in the lead followed by OP and KD with charlotte close behind.   Just north of Mindarie so not long now.   ETA now pushed out to probably 6pm.

The tracker is working again and they have been pushing hard this morning with a more favorable wind.   Have made great time up and are now south of lancelin.    Looks like OP and KD are up there with charlotte a few miles back, but where is Sled and Glee?    They should get in around 4pm this afternoon if they can keep this up.   But will the seabreeze come i again and slow them?

Sue sea must have a problem as they have pulled out and gone into jurien bay.

Good morning, sorry I fell asleep.   This armchair racing is hard work.

The winds went East early in the evening and the winds have moderated to what would be now more enjoyable and looking at 15-20 knots and currently fading.   Hopefully this will help any crew that was quezy regain their footing and push hard during this morning.   They should be in go fast set up, probably hopefully with enough east to be able to reach at a nice angle and putting on the miles while they can before the wind turns south again later this morning.     They are around Cervantes at the moment so still a fair way to go after the pounding they received last night.    The tracker on Charlotte has stopped working again so well will have to wait and see and guess where they are exactly but I would assume they are between OP and Sue sea somewhere based on where they were last night.

Sorry about the wind last night fellas, could have been the nuts I had with my beer.   Gosh this is almost as tough as being out there! 

Good news.  It looks like the easterly has come in early and the boys are well placed to take advantage of it.   Cracked sheets now? and the boat has picked up speed.   Heading south and should now start to put on the miles.    Doing well with OP in the lead and Charlotte close behind.   Just dont know where Glee is as their tracker has stopped working.   again.   

News is that Walk on the Wildside have blown their mainsail and headsail out and therefore retired.  Wild One have also retired due to crew seasickness.   Charlotte, OP, Knee Deep,  Sue sea and Sled are up at the front still pounding and eagerly waiting for the easterly, but there is some east already.  Here in my armchair the wind has dropped completely and there is no seasickness to worry about, I'm glad I stopped eating those beans.   It should not be long now before the boys get some respite.

Geralton Return Live Here (click this header)

The race started this morning and the boys look like they are getting a bit of punishment.  The wind has gone southerly and the current does not seem to be playing fair with nothing obvious from any of the boats way out west.    Based on this it look slike Charlotte has decided to head for the coast probably in the hope of finding flatter water.   The boys are not doing too bad up there with Knee Deep , Sled,  OP and Sue Sea.   OP tracker seems to ahve stopped so lets hope it comes back on so we can see how the boats compare.       I expect the boys will head for the coast to get the Easterly that will hit just before midnight.

Walk on the wildside must have had an issue as they have stopped at port denison for some relief.   I can guarantee it would not be that comfortable out there at the moment with many on board feleing a bit quezy pounding against that southerly.    Hopefully none too bad so they keep focused on set the right sails and keeping the boat moving until easterly kicks in and provides some relief.    Oh well keep watching it all unfold by clicking on the tilte link.

Navibroken out for now

Results

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Geraldton return

For those interested. The longe range weather gribs are showing a 25-30 knot south Easterly for the return trip from friday through to Monday. Breeze gradually fading over the three days. But it could change. yesterday it was showing 30-35 knots but still from the South east. I'll keep you updated.

Charlotte is safely at geraldton. The news is that at around 730pm last night the boat went faster than the wind down a wave which caused the spinnaker to wrap around the forestay. bad wrap that took several hours to free during the night. This meant that they were travelling with only staysail and main most of the night but we still humming along quite well. Without this the boat would have been up with OP in in a tight finish. Oh well there will be more chances. Top boat speed was only 20-21 knots. Also blew out the head out of the stay sail. Guess we need to build it a bit stronger. Overall one shreaded kite one shreaded stay sail, two destroyed halyards but all well and the rum is starting to set in nicely.........

News at hand is that General Lee finshed with line honours with a new race record of 18 hours and 18 minutes. OP just beat Knee Deep across the line. Charlotte should be able to see Geraldton now and will be in within the next hour. Can they hold out Windows until the finish?

Not far now, they are near port denison. The boys have had some trouble I guess with a kite as they have been left behind. They could have damaged a kite/s but are still travelling quite well. There are at least 2 yachts ahead ;OP and knee deep , but could be 4 yachts. Glee and Sled could be ahead, putting the boys in 3rd or 5th position with Windows close on there heels and gaining. Hard to predict an ETA but they will be in well before lunch, probably close the original estimate of 9-10am. They would have had some great rides earlier in the night but now have slowed with whatever went wrong. Nav out for now.

All was going well with Charlotte neck and neck with OP but something went wrong and Charlotte slowed. Looks like kite trouble and it cost them a lot of time. Lost nearly an hour to OP. whatever it was they have recovered and are now steaming ahead after OP. Overall they are still doing well, second behind OP though there are two yachts whose trackers are not working that we expect to be up there and could well be in front of OP. The plan appears to be working with the boys sticking close to shore. The plan was to be on the beach at midnight but it looks like the easterly came in an hour early at 11pm. This means they are a little further offshore than planned so lets hope they are in enough breeze. They look like they are doing well against the other boats that went out west and came to a crunching halt once they hit the Current out in deeper water. A few have now jybed back in and are moving well again but those that stayed out are still struggling. At this rate they will be in ahead of my estimated finsh time of 11am. In fact at this rate they could even be in for breakfast.

Well the start went well with charlotte fourth around the first mark behind Knee Deep, sled and OP. Since then they have been progressing well sitting on an average 13 knots of boat speed and at 8pm around a quarter of the way there just north of Guilderton. They would be getting a great ride out there in the gusts. I wonder what the top speed is now. Hot on Charlottes heels is OP, looks like the two are going to play cat and mouse and Sue Sea the other Marten out west. The winds are good and it looks like the boys are sticking close to shore.

Navibroken out for now. be back soon

Geraldton Race (click this to watch live 1330hrs Friday 21Oct)

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The weather is looking great for the first leg of the 220nm Geraldton Race due to start 1330 on Friday. The instruments were calibrated on the weekend and all is looking good for the race. I'm still broken so will sit this one out and watch from home but the rest of the crew are looking pretty excited. Charlotte has been named "City of Geraldton" and will represent the host city for the race . Up against us is Optimus Prime named "City of fremantle" for the race. Overall there are a number of contenders this year for line honours so the race will be a good one to watch with general Lee and a revamped Sled and Knee Deep in the running, but dont forgeet about WOTW (windows). Go get em fella's (and Bec) Watch the race live by clicking on the this blog title from 1330hrs on friday. I expect Charlotte to arrive around midday based on the current weather forecast but that could change ( since when was the forecast ever right!) Navibroken out

The George Law apparently went okay. Naviguesser was out injured and was unable to race so I can say much about it. I hear Charlotte was second over the line behind Optimus Prime and a good day was had by all. On handicap we finished 6 on both YAH and IRC with General Lee taking the honours. We have work to do boys! Meanwhile preparation is underway for the Geraldton race on Friday 22nd.