ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

Pipes.

He's got a pretty handy set of pipes in him and does more than a tidy rendition of Nessun Dorma (Time to say goodbye) too! He is Neville 'Nifty' Rose and he co-wrote the ditty below as part of the 2001 Brisbane to Gizo (Solomon Islands) race aboard Bill 'Captain Raw' Rawson's Helsall II.

Being an Adams20, that boat just L  O  V  E  D to reach and if I am not wrong, still holds the Brisbane to Gizo race record. She set a GPS logged, speed record under Captain Raw's ownership of 31knots, in the Darwin to Ambon race... Her new owner has her undergoing serious conversion (new deck, continuous and level sheer, etc) to a high-speed cruising vessel.

Here's Nifty driving Helsal II in the 2006 M2V and I reckon that's John Donati who was on Scarlet Runner for the 2010 edition of this great race...

Now all this has come about because M2V entrant, Samskara, are currently working on their Coral Sea version of Hotel California, of which we saw the first few verses the other day...

Before the start day in Brisbane, 
Many things to do, 
Warm sun of Queensland, 
And 16 eager crew. 

Up ahead in the distance, 
Yachts assembling there, 
Our boat was ready and our spirits high, 
But little breeze in the air.

There we were at the start line, 
Hoping all would go well, 
We were thinking to ourselves, 
This could be heaven or this could be hell. 

Then they fired the start gun, 
And we showed them the way, 
Then appeared an Aircraft carrier, 
Before we left Morton Bay. 

Welcome to the Brisbane-Gizo Yacht Race, 
Such a healthy pace, 
Such a healthy pace, 
Such a lovely race. 

Plenty of miles in the Brisbane-Gizo Yacht Race, 
At this time of year, 
At this time of year, 
Bring wet weather gear. 

Our minds are definitely twisted, 
Salt water in our veins, 
We've got a lot of pretty pretty crew, 
We call names. 

How we bathe in the cockpit, 
Soap on a rope, 
When the rain squall gets here, 
Be quick or no hope. 

When we call up Race Off…ice, 
Please hear us this time, 
They said, we haven't heard Helsal's voice, 
Since the Brisbane starting line. 

And still the winds keep blowing, 
From faaaaar away, 
Watch continues in the middle of the night, 
Hope we get there okay. 

Welcome to the Brisbane-Gizo Yacht Race, 
Such a healthy pace, 
Such a healthy pace, 
Such a lovely race. 

We're living it up in the Brisbane-Gizo Yacht Race, 
What a nice surprise, 
What a nice surprise, 
The sun starts to rise. 

South of Gizo Harbour, 
The finish line in sight, 
We were, cautious of the reefs both sides, 
If only it were light. 

In the navigator's station, 
We plot-ted our approach, 
We're happy that the wind's not strong, 
There's no risk that we will broach. 

Last thing we remember, 
We had, crossed the finish line, 
We have to find an anchor spot, 
In a place we will be fine. 

Relax said Race Office, 
We have tender to receive, 
You can anchor anywhere you like, 
But you may never leave. 

We'll have Samskara's posted here, as soon as it is finished...

Please remember, that if you want to find out where everyone is in the chase for the container that APC Logistics sent to Vanuatu, then please go HERE. Sked times are 4.30am and pm EST.

By John Curnow

ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

Sneaky Cat.

Kim McKee, aka Kimbo the Ship's Cat, seems to be pretty happy with herself as her ETA into Port Vila (she'd chosen Friday) looks more doable than ever. Did she know something? Seems the prize is now the focus of crew discussions... Interesting.

"Another day sails by with a respectable 180 nautical miles covered in the past 24 hours. We have completed 1265 nautical miles of the 1885 mile trip and are maintaining consistent speeds, so the finish line is becoming a more discussed topic."

"We have some decisions to make about which route to take around New Caledonia. The lead boat, "TevakeII" is  enroute to leave New Caledonai to starboard, meaning it is going around the Northern end and then across to Vanuatu. The other options are to leave New Cal to port and either slip through the pass between the main island and The Isle Of Pines, or leave them all to port then shoot Nor'east to Vanuatu. The passage between Isle of Pines and main island of New Cal looks the most scenic, but more reading and research will have to be done before we understand the tides and currents. There would be nothing worse than parking in there for a few days, no matter how scenic it may be!"

"Once we clear New Cal, it is about 260 nautical miles to the finish. Contrary to the forecast, the breeze has swung more South for us, which allows the sheets (ropes fixing the bottom and leeward end of the sail to the boat) to be cracked a bit more and enjoy some fast beam reaching with the number 2 headsail. Unfortunately, we have had to keep a roll/reef in the mainsail since our outhaul issue the other night. The roll takes the load off the fitting and acts as insurance that it wont come away again. We are still maintaining an average of 8-9 knots boat speed, which is a happy thing in these conditions. We have clawed back at a few of the other boats, which is very exciting." (See - and you thought she was just a sit on your lap and look lovingly at you kind of cat).

Smaskara as she departed the Heads - pic © Steb Fisher.

"Last night we endured a sloppy sea state, but it seems to have abated a bit this morning and we are enjoying riding the long, wide rolling ocean swells. We have two lures trailing out the back, as we are still in search of Mahi Mahi. We would even settle for a tuna today. (take the tuna - nicer eating anyway...awesome sushi with cold sake too!!!!) We passed three floating bouys this morning, which we think may be long line fishing nets. Seems a long way in the middle of nowhere for these, but no real other explanation could be made. Unless they are drug drops ready for a ship to pick up? We are fortunate we did not catch one on our keel or rudder, as we scooted past it early this morning, sharks or drugs hanging off the end. We do not need either of them or the hassle of unhooking it!" Good kitty - we are a family show here...

The Tucker: 'Easy Foods' lamb shanks has had rave reviews from all the crew, since they were served with mash potato, carrots, corn topped with rosemary and red wine sauce last night. Well done Mike and Stoopman. This has been a real highlight and the effort to serving it up while walking on walls was just outstanding!

Notable moments: The remaining smelly people treated themselves to showers this morning and more undy ceremonies performed. Crewmember number 4 did number 2's, which resulted in an emergency evacuation of the saloon. Sadly our canary, who was left inside, has perished! (remember Kimbo - we are a family show...)

Right here right now: Rick in saloon in quarter berth enjoying his new found love of reading, Jesse in the galley washing up the brunch dishes, oh and Rick has just jumped to his assistance... Nick is steering, Mike in the cockpit reading, Stoops, James and Leon all catching zzz's. Leon has again been continually maintaining the good ship. He has fixed the leaking windows, so we are now not taking on buckets of water, the HF radio has been pulled apart, repaired and reset, so we are now transmitting and receiving on cue rather than randomly, he had the sail repair kit out yesterday and re-sewed a tear in the number 2 headsail. Champion effort!

"That's about it for today, we are all settled in as we will be on this heading for about the next 40 hours or so. Let's hope the wind God (Huey) stays happy and keeps spitting the 15-22 knots of breeze on the beam for us, so we can continue to maintain this speed. Not only because it is a more comfortable bouncy castle like this, but it is making my estimated arrival time looking pretty good! I better start talking up the prize for the winning bid!"

They have 432nm to travel, as of Tuesday morning, so three days (she'd chosen Friday 0900hrs) is quite in the realm of possibility for them. Insider trading, there are some possibilities Kimbo could be getting an extra day of tropical cat before she returns to working cat!

Please remember, that if you want to find out where everyone is in the chase for the container that APC Logistics sent to Vanuatu, then please go HERE. Sked times are 4.30am and pm EST.

By John Curnow

ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

David.

Is most famous for that effort with Goliath. Bill Feore and crew may be a on a smaller vessel than the others near them, but they keep having a crack at Goliath and as of this morning, hold second spot by about 7nm over the 51st Project.

Race leader, TevakeII are now some 245.4nm (454.5km) WSW of Port Vila, showing 7knots of boat speed, a heading of 072deg and positioned at 18.548S and 164.092E. In summary, they are 1658nm down the track with 226nm to go.

The Tracker image below is for Turbo (gold), 51st Project (green) and TevakeII, who are over the top of Noumea.

By way of contrast, The Secretary is 150nm (277.8km) SSW of Noumea, also doing 7knots, heading 050deg. Position 24.715S and 165.859E.

So then, this morning's boards are, firstly, overall standings (line honours) with Tevake a clear 150nm out in front of Turbo. Samskara continue to chip away at The Secretary:

IRC looks like this. Most interesting aspect here is Tevake's efforts yesterday have catapulted them into second...:

And PHS is as before (Talking Heads): -

New PredictWind charts (thank you team) will be here a bit later in the morning for all us armchair sailors, so we'll get to see who's the smartest Naviguesser of us all then. And won't that be fun...

Please remember, that if you want to find out where everyone is in the chase for the container of humanitarian aid that APC Logistics sent to Vanuatu for us, then please go HERE. Sked times are 4.30am and pm EST.

By John Curnow

ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

It's good work when you can get it.

Race leader, TevakeII has had a great day and put a 156nm buffer between them and the 51st Project. Mind the gap all right!!! Well, we did say that there had been and likely to be even more twists and turns in this event, so much so that it would resemble watching the surfers battle it out at Bells...

They are now some 265.8nm (492.3km) NW of Noumea, showing 9.7knots of boat speed, a heading of 028deg and positioned at 19.640S and 162.645E. In summary, they are 1578nm down the track with 307nm to go.

The Tracker image below is for Turbo and TevakeII and the Brass have been very quick to mention that "Like all races, it's not over until you're tied to the quay. There are some interesting currents around New Caledonia. The land effects, sea breezes and the whole box and dice come into play. If it goes light up the top for TevakeII and they have to run down with wide gybe angles, then the others could well be on a nice Tradewind reach and close the gap, dramatically."

By way of contrast, The Secretary is 246.6nm (456.7km) SSW of Noumea, doing 8.1knots, heading 032deg and at position 25.964S and 164.472E.

So then, the leader board is as thus:

IRC Looks like this:

And PHS is so: -

New PredictWind charts (thank you team) will be here in the morning for all us armchair sailors, so get your virtual models out and shuffle the fleet and see who's the smartest Naviguesser of us all!

Please remember, that if you want to find out where everyone is in the chase for the container of humanitarian aid that APC Logistics sent to Vanuatu for us, then please go HERE. Sked times are 4.30am and pm EST.

By John Curnow