ORCV Melbourne to Apollo Bay (M2AB)

We know where they are.

... is so true on two fronts.

Firstly, Addiction is right here on the hardstand at Apollo Bay after her unfortunate incident whilst returning from the recent M2PF.

Here she was, firmly wedged in the sand, just to the West of the entrance, after touching the bottom on the way in, stopping as a result and then being carried away.

Here she is this morning and she does look a little lost.

Secondly, we know precisely where the fleet is, as the sked has just been done and they all had to skidaddle out of the way at just after 0300 to allow the shipping through (one in and two out). In fact, the ships have been a critical element in the whole equation, with another ship causing a delayed start to 0145hrs. There has been zero to nine knots of breeze from the Sou'west.

Your team for the race is Caitlin Poulton and Andrew Roberts and yes, it is that cold.

Sunrise at the delightful little harbour and to the left, you can see the clouds that extend back up the coast, yet we're in fairly patchy, thin cloud here.

All rightey then, just where are they? As you could imagine, with little breeze and mainly a bunch of tide, they are quite close together. Boats that have done well, thus far (which is an important caveat) are Alien, Escapade, Extasea, Chikara Outlaw and the Secretary. Bombora and Myuna, both a little further back, are punching well above their weight, however. As mentioned, Remedy are worth noting, as they are up there and no doubt lead the smaller boats and have a good chance of doing well. Chikara Outlaw are the furthest South, but are a little further East and when your SOG is just 2.5knots, the extra distance will be hard to recover. They have covered 10 miles of the course, thus far. The most furthest East at this time is Beyond Outrageous and that will not put them in good stead for holding some of the leaderboard positions and striking on others where they were well placed. Putting momentum to good use are the heavier boats like Caledonia and Bacardi. They have Schuss riding shotgun with them.

As we said, it will be interesting and there is a lot riding on the outcomes from this race.

By John Curnow