Race report 3: Lead change and ship blogs
After leading the fleet for most of the way since leaving Sydney on Thursday (10 October), Tecla (Netherlands) has slipped to second place on corrected time (handicap) as Bark Europa (Netherlands) has taken the lead.
Bark Europa is also out in front on the water with 695 miles to go to the finish line. Less than five miles behind her, and coming up fast, is Spirit of New Zealand (New Zealand), with Tecla a couple of miles behind her.
Paul Bishop, Race Director, Sail Training International said, äóìThe racing remains very tight and the strong northerly wind that the fleet is now experiencing is benefiting the larger vessels, particularly those who have chosen a more northerly route. The near gale force is due to back to the south west later today as the weather front clears the fleet to the east. Spirit of New Zealand is showing strong form now and is sailing the fastest at an average of 10 knots, so she could take the lead on the water soon. The focus will soon be on which Tall Ship will be the first to round Cape Reinga, the first waypoint in the race.”
The top three placings on Corrected Times (handicap) are:
1st Europa
2nd Tecla
3rd Oosterschelde
Mick Millis, Sail Training International’ Communications Officer aboard Young Endeavour (Australia) reported, äóìWe currently have a northerly wind of 35 knots which has been gusting up to 40 knots. The occasional sea is coming across the decks, but I can’t believe how perky this crew is – working, singing and full of fun. Roast dinner on menu.äó
Crew log from Bark Europa (Netherlands)
Saturday 12 October 2013
The sun is shining in the Tasman Sea as we sail along at about 7kts with 23 sails set. We are currently in the midst of the Sydney to Auckland Tall Ships Regatta, however that doesn_t stop the endless list of maintenance that’s needed to keep this beautiful ship sailing. The current project underway, which has pretty much been taken over by a group of the voyage crew, under the supervision of the Chippie and Bosun, is the replacement of one of the backstays.
So we have taken over the sloop deck so we can stretch the new cable out in order for us to parcel and serve it. This process starts off with what is known as worming, where we take a thin bit of line and weave it round and round the wire stay so that it sits inside the groves between the individual strands of the wire, for which there are six for this wire. It was decided by the voyage crew to remove one of our fellow members from assisting in this job because he kept getting his bundle of line knotted up, which we have to untangle for him!
Once the wire has been wormed, the grease monkey comes along with his tube of grease to smear all over the wire, this helps the parcelling team who are following behind him, covering the wire with strips of old
bed sheets. The grease helps bond the parcel to the wire. As it is quite a long stay, we are having to do it in sections. Over the next few days, once all the parcelling has finished, we will then be able to cover the
stay with tar, then serve it – which is winding black line overtop of the tarred parcel, which will protect the stay for many years to come.
We voyage crew are having a good time with this project so far, with lots of bante
