LAT 11 22.0N
LONG 111 47.2E
DTW 827
DTF 1622
ETA 0600 21 FEB 12
WEATHER WIND 010@20kts, Sea Moderate, Swell NE 1m, Cloud 6/8 Cl, St, Baro 1013
A poor 24 hours for Gold Coast Australia with a poor performance loosing over 30nm overnight. After a decision to
prioritise making the scoring gate we unfortunatly lost sight of the overall picture of the race and as a result
stayed on a tack that would lead us to the closer western end of the gate rather than focusing on our race plan which is to
head east. This poor decision has cost us a lot of miles, however the good news is that we still have a long way to go and
a lot of tactical decision to be made before the end of the race which will allow us to windback the miles.
Given we had such good boat speed at the start of the race I am unsure why we are not on the pace at the moment. With the
wind forecasted to lighten off over the coming few days I will most likely take a dive to check the keel and rudder for
fishing nets as there is a high chance that we may have run over a line or some nets which are often lost or discarded by
fishermen in the area and left to drift aimlessly around the ocean, not only continuing to catch fish but also boats as
well. Until the wind dies off and the opportunity arises to have a look over the side all we can do for now is to focus on trim and continue sailing the boat as best as we can.
With our current position and speed it is unlikely we will make the scoring gate in first place and so during our crew brief
today decided to discard the gate and focus on the remainder of the race. With some luck we may squeeze through the gate before the other yachts who are fast catching us up.
The last GRIB file received paints a different picture on the race tactics over the next few days as lighter winds are
expected across the entire course. Analysing all information available will be critical in use making up ground that we
lost overnight and hopefully we can catch Geraldton and DLL who now lead us by 8nm.