LAT 39 32.8N
LONG 179 51.0W
DTF 2700
ETA 4th APR 12
WEATHER WIND158@25, SEA MOD 1M, SWELL E 3M, CLOUD O/C, BARO 1039
Gold Coast Australia continues to battle to windward under storm sails making surprisingly good speed as we sail towards San Francisco in race 9 of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and at this present point of time we are officially one day ahead of all the other boats in the fleet.
Today is actually yesterday, and at 1710 (0510 UTC) on the 20th of March (or was it the 19th of March, in position 39 32.6N 180 00.0E/W Team Gold Coast passed a major mile stone as we sailed across the date line 180 degrees east and west sending us into the order of the golden dragon. As we pass this meridian today becomes yesterday, and its about as close as most of us will come to Dr Who or Michael J Fox and going Back to the Future. This major milestone was celebrated with a few cans of assorted beer and a few cheers, and a short speech.
Whilst it is fantastic to go back a day in time I very much hope tomorrow morning is not a repeat of today?s when a large wave this morning at watch change over that unfortunately resulted in an injury that has temporarily incapacitated another valued crew member crew member Nick Woodward as he was thrown across the crew accommodation and into an aluminium pole that normally holds life jackets and other equipment. Nick was immediately seen to by our duty nurse Deb Miller and we got him into bed as soon as possible and have continued observations to confirm that he is ok. Once again Falmouth Coast Guard was excellent in their medical advice and we thank them for their support. Hopefully Nick will be back into the watch rotation soon.
Some good news is that with the reduced water over the deck over the last couple of days the boat has slightly dried out down below and our electrical equipment is now once again showing signs of life. I have managed to get all electrical devices working again with the exception of the two keyboards which have a short circuit. Consequently documents need to be typed using the on-screen keyboard or if conditions allow on a laptop computer and then transferred across.
With our mainsail still flaked away on our boom, and only our trisail set due to the strong winds, Singapore has been gradually eating away at our lead. While Ben and his team can ?smile with Glee? today (quote Bens blog 19/3/12), his speed advantage will hopefully be obliterated as soon as the weather enables us to hoist our mainsail and trial our magical solution. Team Gold Coast will continue to fight for victory and history has proven we have the discipline and endurance to sail fast until the finish. Team Gold Coast Australia will not stop until we are under the Golden Gate Bridge.
Richard Hewson
