ORCV Melbourne to King Island

"You do it...

... because you love it." That was how Rob Date put it to me when his RP52, Scarlet Runner, had crossed and taken Line Honours in the 2011 Melbourne to King Island race.

Rob got into one of the legendary steak sandwiches PDQ.

The crew was really happy to get amongst the action, as well.

Scarlet Runner had barrelled out of Port Phillip Heads and into Bass Strait at 16 knots. A mile later they were doing seven and a short while after that, barely four, on their way to seeing a whole a bunch of doughnuts for some time, before really getting underway again at around 0600hrs. They had done just 14 nautical miles in the first five hours of the race, so the record went off the menu about as fast as their pace went down. It was wonderful to see the big red kite appear from around Bold Head just after 1800hrs and they crossed the line in delightful Autumnal sun at 18:49:40, around 25 minutes ahead of second place, Gusto (19:14:52).

Steaming in for the win and everyone just loved the spectacle.

Over at Bold Head, The Runner gybed and we were right there to catch it.

Moments before the finish.

Scarlet Runner has packed up and is coming in on the leads as Gusto two sail reaches in to the line.

It might have been second place, but the gold was undeniable. Sorry about the grain, but the light had virtually gone...

We are still waiting on third place, which is likely to be eXtasea, but the breeze has closed down for a while, so let's hope it is not for the entire evening. Of the 25 starters all are still coming, except for Spirit of Freya who has calculated that they can be back at the Heads for Slack Water at 0800hrs, when they were looking like 0700hrs here at King Island. All are well, it was just maths for them.

If you're not sailing, you may want to see where the boats are during the race on the ORCV's Tracker, which is HERE.

© John Curnow, ORCV Media

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	Councillor Island on the left, as seen from the plane... Remember the currents!!!!