ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

Tevake II and Turbo.

TevakeII now has a commanding hold on second place in the 2010 M2V epic. Yesterday, Turbo, also from HBYC, went out on a mung bean flyer as they passed Gabo Island (which the 51st Project kindly reminded me stands for Got a Bit On). We had hoped they would be the young pioneers and show a great result from their efforts, but this morning's sked shows them back in the fold, so to speak, and heading North having lost a spot to The Secretary (well done Robyn and Geo). Now it's true that they are the most Easterly of the middle bunch, but it's not as wild a strategy as we had previously seen.

Why rave on about these two boats. Simple. Turbo is an Adams 11.9 and like all Adams, somewhat purpose built for passage work on a L  O  N  G reach. TevakeII is a Radford 13.7. Graham Radford has been marvellously helpful to me with getting some info correct about boats from the late 70s and 80s. He was working with Joe Adams at the time, so there is your link. Now it is no real surprise that TevakeII also loves to reach and with these magnificent SE Trades blowing, that is exactly what the pair of them are getting.

All of which is a sensational way for me to get a segue into displaying some © Steb Fisher pics of the pair from the start on Sunday.

You'd have to know the boat or the kite, but this is TevakeII coming over the wave. Pic © Steb Fisher.

The stripes on the topsides are now visiblt too. Pic © Steb Fisher.

Magnificent. They don't call it dry weather gear, now do they! Pic © Steb Fisher.

The boat's Skipper on the wheel, Angus Fletcher, who won the Tidetech prize at the last seminar before the race. Pic © Steb Fisher.

Pre-start adventures above and below. Pics © Steb Fisher.

1884.999999nm to go! Pic © Steb Fisher.

Slipping along nicely in the soft breezes that were out there on Sunday. Pic © Steb Fisher.

Cheers for now. Have a cocktail on the beach for us! Pic © Steb Fisher.

So now we have Turbo, as seen here making her way to the turning mark off Shortland Bluff. Pics © Steb Fisher.

Appearing out of the Heads, with Point Lonsdale behind, stretching up to Drysdale. Pic © Steb Fisher.

A true 'Steb' image - the man of the bow wave. Pic © Steb Fisher.

Setting up for the kite. Pic © Steb Fisher.

Note to self - send this link to Jono, Mark and Rob at McConaghy! Pic © Steb Fisher.

Go the hoist. Pic © Steb Fisher.

Fare the well, Turbo. Have a blast. Pic © Steb Fisher.

 

To see where the fleet are located after the latest sked, please go HERE.

 

 

By John Curnow

 

 

ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

Ingenue heads North.

Ingenue have untangled their spinnaker, sock etc and it's now all stowed away nicely. "Remarkably, the tapes are intact!, said Rosi Colahan. "I think I can salvage the remnants and do a good enough repair. A job for when we arrive in Port Douglas!" She also went on to add that she, "Learnt well from Mark Rimmington, see those long distance seminars are what you need. Oh yes. There was also the kite repair in the 2006 M2V when we got to Vila." (Ed. No one is counting Rosi, so you'll be fine.)

David James added for us, “We have cleared up the remnants of last night and been visited by Customs, as we cleared the country on Saturday and all is fine. Departed Eden now and heading up the East Coast - in a more leisurely fashion.”

"I'm sorry I didn’t get any photos for you, John, but it was kind of busy! However, I think we will make the Guiness Book of Records, as the only boat to fly a kite from the halyard for 50nm, in 25-30kts with 2-3m seas!" Ordinarily David, I would say no worries - get it next time, but for this one, I actually hope there isn't a next time!!!

Still heading to warmer climes up North - Ingenue. Pic © Steb Fisher.

 

To see where the fleet are located after the latest sked, please go HERE.

 

 

By John Curnow

 

 

ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

Giddy Up!

Over half way through the 1885nm course and with a revised finish time of Sunday @ 23:47:31, I would say it is now game on for Scarlet Runner!!! As a reference, it wasn't that long ago that the ETA was in fact Thursday, next week...

We know that Rob Date, the boat's owner is very competitive and was delighted with their recent efforts at Lincoln Race Week, in addition to maiden win in her maiden race last year. The reason I'm so excited, is that if Sunday is achievable, even early Monday morning for that matter, then we have a new record. The current record of seven days, seventeen hours and six minutes is under threat - provided they can continue this sort of pace. There's a long way to go and it is filled with many hurdles and a couple of speed bumps, but our fingers are crossed. Lord help me if I have put the hex on them.

We all feel for Gusto at this time, too. Jeremy Walton, Gusto's spokesman, said to me just now "We're all watching it unfold, that's for sure. We wish them all the best at cracking it!" So do we pal, so do we...!

Ride 'em cowboy! Pic © Steb Fisher.

 

To see where the fleet are located after the latest sked, please go HERE.

 

 

By John Curnow

 

 

ORCV Melbourne to Vanuatu (M2V)

The Ship's Cat.

We first got introduced to the The Ship's Cat, Kimbo, who is aboard Samskara, in the piece entitled Gone Drifting. Here then, is another wonderful tale of yesterday's activities for us.

Samskara departing Port Phillip Heads on Sunday. Doesn't that seem like a long time ago... Pic © Steb Fisher.

"Samskara's crew are excited to report that we have done ‘the jump’, after hugging the coast for most of the previous evening, we decided to bear right, just North of Goalen Head at around 0600 this morning (Wednesday 7/7/10). This has instilled an element of excitement and a buzz amongst the crew, as that liberating feeling of the start of a true ocean passage sets in. After our benign, previous 24 hours, Huey the wind God has decided to give us a little more puff to push us up the coast - perhaps he actually appreciates the undie ceremonies?..!?" (Ed. See below – if you dare).

"A consistent 15-20 knots, mainly from the Sou’west, has seen us moving at an average of 8 knots, which is a marked improvement on our previous 1-2 knot average. Other than a few hours of a very confused sea state, where Bass Straight meets the East Australian Current (think of Nemo) and which gave  us the feeling that we were cruising the coast on a pogo stick, the conditions again have been exceptionally comfortable."

"Right now the big kite’s up, with the main eased we are steering Nor’east towards warmth - yippee! Averaging 8.3 knots presently and most of the crew are on deck, enjoying the sunshine and eating freshly cooked popcorn courtesy of Mike. Nick Fo has just entered the galley, arcing up the jaffle iron for lunchtime toasties. His comment, ‘They will take awhile and they won’t be pretty, but gee they'll taste good!’ The first one has been served and I am unsure whether Mike's other comment about whether he can obtain carbon credits is a compliment or that indeed that burning smell has seeped through the iron...Legend effort I say Nick. Any galley action is good action!"

Notable achievements today:

* Nick Fo - speed record thus far @ 12.7 knots

* Most useful crewmember - Carolyn Stoopman (again) - Vege Pie was great. I even managed to compliment it with pasta that held its shape, but have not gone back near the rice and pressure cooker - for the moment. (Ed. Pretty good work for a cat, when you think about it).

* 6 out of 8 crew have had an undie change day - ewww! (Ed. What about the other TWO? Huey will not be happy!)

Hallucination of the day:

Leon mentioning to watch out for Cruise Ships out of Shepparton... mmm??? (Ed. Shep is in rural, central Eastern Victoria, just off the Hume Highway between Melbourne and Sydney and must be at least two and half hours from any real body of salt water.)

"The weather pattern for the next few days is looking good and if anything a little light. (Ed. Look at post coming up today team, for a little update to that scenario.) We are still in the hands of the weather to determine our arrival time, but a quick calculation with approx. 1450 nautical miles to go and if we keep an average of 7-8 knots = 8 days. This is a very rough guess and we will keep the ceremonies going to keep Huey the wind God all excited!" (Ed. Changed our minds – we do NOT want to know too much about undie ceremonies…)

"A good sleep catch-up, after watch this morning was the order of the day and so now it is easy to put down the book and enjoy every moment of days like today. Watching the land disappear behind us, the feeling of sailing into the big blue yonder is hard to describe, but somehow it puts perspective back into everything. With so much time for the simple things, it also makes you realise and reflect on how lucky/privileged we are to be in the position to be able to undertake a journey such as this - a humbling feeling and genuine appreciation, which is certainly not lost on any of the Samskara crew!"

"Must fly and enjoy the fun on deck!"

Pic © Steb Fisher.

 

To see where the fleet are located after the latest sked, please go HERE.

 

 

By John Curnow