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

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.

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.

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 high 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.

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.

We held the Y1 as Gold Coast Australia charged towards New York, the boat now riding about 1kt of current adding to our speed over ground. At midnight watch change, the wind backed again to the south and dropped off, so again up went the spinnaker.

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 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 with the heavy weight kite up on a broad reach assisted by 1.5-2kts of current flow and with some good 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.

Go Gold Coast

Richard Hewson

WEATHER Wind 330@8kts, Sea Slt, Swell NE 0.5m, ESE 1m, Sky 5/8 Cl, Baro 1014

As Gold Coast Australia sailed through the Bermuda Triangle things started going haywire, and we seem to “disappear” from the Race Viewer in strange circumstances. Gold Coast Australia has entered stealth mode and dissapeared off the face of the earth in a bid to bemuse the other yachts in the fleet about our whereabouts and our tactics.

Thankfully Gold Coast Australia not only came out of stelth mode and the Bermuda Triangle safely, but we also mangaged to claw back some milage between us, Visit Finland and Edinburgh Inspring Capital and at the same time extended our distance on the rest of the fleet.

Gold Coast Australia had their best days run for what seems like a long time yesterday while in stelth mode with fair winds and sunny sky we sailed on a course and speed past the Bahama Islands and towards the American Basin. The crew are working hard to catch the boats ahead of us and with the fresher wind there are less sail changes.

Just when we thought the weather had settled, this morning suddenly it dropped off again, and we were back to the old routine of sail change after sail change trying to keep the boat moving in the right direction. With sunset the wind seems to have “settled” a little, but we still only have a painfull 8-10kts of wind to push us along, leaving the sails flogging in the occasional heavy Atlantic swell.

WEATHER Light and Variable, Sea calm, Swell NE 1/2m, Sky 1/8, Baro 1009

Another day of light and variable winds as Gold Coast Australia sails past Long Island. With numerous sail changes every watch, we are just trying to keep the boat moving and hoping the boats to the west wont gain too much advantage before we get some wind back.

Its almost like we are stuck in a vortex, and with our daily run being so small and so variable it is very hard to determine the best way to sail to get the wind as fast as possible. All we need is one good days run and we will be home free, but at the moment we suffer with the manotonous slap slap slap of the mainsail as we drift over the swell that seeps through the islands from the Atlantic.

WEATHER WIND 015@8, SEA SLT, SWELL VAR, SKY 8/8 RAIN, BARO 1007

Gold Coast Australia has spent another day trying to make the most of light fluky winds as we race towards the Crooked Passage. At times today the sea was so glassy and flat it resembled a mill pond. The all too familiar thud thud thud of our sails as they flop from side to side in traces of Atlantic Swell that made its way between the islands is almost haunting.

A frustrated GCA crew are doing a fantastic job at keeping focused and the mood onboard is very happy and positive despite the hot windless conditions. The intense heat below brings people on deck between watches for a chat and a laugh, and our recent happy hours have seen some interesting antics as we blast the Stereo so loud that no doubt De Lage Landen would have been listening to some high class Reggae for a few hours every day.

In the last 24 hours we have had no less than thirty sail changes as the wind picks up to a few knots, changes direction and then drops back off again. Changing between wind seeker, Y1, Staysail and light weight spinnaker is a full time job throughout the watch, and the deck regularly resembles a the floor at the end of an Italian dinner party, covered in a spaghetti of sheets, lines and halyards and sails.

Our instruments are not holding up to the light winds and appear to have lost calibration so the helmsmen need to concentrate even harder to maintain our course in these light and fickle winds. Other electronics are also feeling the heat and need to be shut down occasionally, cooled and re-booted before they regain their function.

Our goal at the moment is to get north as quickly as possible and hopefully into fresher more consistent breeze. Only then can we begin to focus on reigning in on Visit Finland who seem faster in light airs and have come out of stealth an amazing 40nm to our north.

Our progress is a lot slower than expected for this part of the race and its anybody’s guess when we will reach the more predictable winds. The constantly changing light airs, and scattered islands and reefs in the area make it very hard to get the boat in the position that will best benefit us with the future predicted winds. GRIB files pay much resemblance to the conditions we are experiencing, and will no doubt be of little use to us until we are free of the Bahama Islands and into the American Basin.

WEATHER WIND 090@5kts, Sea Calm, Swell Low Var, Cloud 4/8 Cl, Baro 1007

As Gold Coast Australia excitedly rounded the western end of the scoring gate we hoisted our light weight spinnaker and bore away to reach towards the Bahama’s.

The wind gradually died off and before sunrise we were left drifting on a flat sea, sails drooping from the mast and lifeless. The spinnaker was exchanged for the wind seeker but Gold Coast Australia only crept along at 1-2kts at best on port tack.

By mid morning apart from the occasional “gust” of 5kts, Gold Coast sat lifeless in the mill pond. To our horror we watched De Lage Landen and Derry Londonderry charge up with spinnakers on starboard tack with about 12kts of wind, and bringing the wind with them. Team GCA prepared the spinnaker again so when the wind hit us we were fully prepared. As De Lage Landen screamed alongside with the new wind they suddenly ground to a halt, their sails backing under their own momentum before settling to rest in the same mill pond as us.

There was not long to wait however for new wind to come from the North East, and before too long we both had our Y1 headsails up on port tack and the race was back on. We have been racing along ever since.

The light winds offer a good chance to get any maintenance tasks done, and today was plumbing day. Nobody likes playing with plumbing, it is messy and smelly, but our grey water tank pump seemed to be straining so I took the pipes apart to investigate the problem. Not thinking that the grey water pipes were linked to the heads, things got rather messy when a crew member went in to used the heads and flushed it. I guess it could have been a lot worse as it was only No 1′s but the thought of what was happening and my near miss still made me gag. The problem was found to be a collapsed pipe and wont be fixed until NY, but at least it has been found and the system is back to normal again.

For the last 12 hours we have been in a close battle with De Lage Landen heading towards the Bahamas’s, and sailing for best speed wherever the wind takes us. It has still not been decided weather to head north through the crooked passage or west through the old Bahamas channel, this will ultimately be decided by the wind.