LAT 33 42.8N
LONG 145 09.2E
DTF 4400
ETA 04 July 2012

WEATHER WIND 030@9KTS, Sea Moderate, Swell NE 3m, Cloud 3/8 St/Cl, Baro 1012.4

In what has been described by some round the world crew members as some of the strongest winds and biggest waves in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race so far the last couple of days have been quite extreme.

Yesterday afternoon saw the storm at its peak with one wave noticeably higher than the first spreader and with wind gusts up to 48 kts. As the evening went on the winds began to abate, and this continued throughout the morning as we have taken down the storm sails and gradually changed thought our sail wardrobe to finally being sailing in 9kts of wind with our Y1 SS and full mainsail up.

There are also a few cuts and bruises that need to be seen to from over the past few days as people were smashed by waves and knocked down to the deck as Gold Coast was jostled around. There have been a few mighty falls, however apart from bruising no serious injury, and thanks to everybody wearing harnesses, life lines and always being clipped on everybody is safe.

Inside and outside of the boat is saturated, and this afternoon we have seen our first blue sky and sunshine since Qingdao. The deck of Gold Coast now looks like a Qingdao laundry and is covered in mattress, sleeping bags, wet weather gear and clothes. The crew shred layers of damp gear and try to make the most of the sunshine to air out their skin. Every body is cheerful and deservedly proud of their achievements so far in the race as we continue to lead the fleet to San Francisco.

Over the next 24 hours the wind should strengthen and veer as the next low pressure system approaches. This means some long awaited down wind running with the spinnaker as we weave our way through the currents along the great circle route to the 42N limit where we will play the weather systems all the way to Francisco