http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Brisbane-to-Gladstone-Yacht-Race---Another-Easter,-another-Gladstone/108010
Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race - The Big One certainly delivered again for all fleets sailing on a really nice stretch of SE Qld coast this year. The predicted light wind start made us all work hard to get out of the bay before the tide turned, and in a premonition of the finish, Rob Dean on CutSnake showed his transoms to all of us at the start to set the pace for his team’s entire race.
From then the predicted SE change came through in the early afternoon to push the fleet north, and although the wind rarely got above 20 knots, the black skies and often heavy rain made it difficult to pick how much sail to hang on to, and which angle to maintain. The first night always sets the tone for races like this, and performance depended upon how carefully sails were chosen for the squalls that on some occasions remained stuck to us for hours. Some cells were wet, some were windy, and some sucked the wind out of our sails. Most boats reported speeds in excess of 20 knots and quite a few got to the magic 25 as we surfed down some the long swells.
The southeaster stayed in for a lot longer than predicted, and it wasn’t until most of the boats broke away from Breaksea Spit that the breeze clocked towards a soft northeaster. That then slowed the race down for the afterguard who had to downwind tack from Lady Elliot Island. As usual, the entrance to Gladstone Harbour slowed us all down for hours, and steering through the bright lights of shipping and industrial entrails burnt out every helmsman’s night vision.
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| Boss was powered up early with screacher unfurled - Allyacht Spars Brisbane to Gladstone Multihull Yacht Race - Peter Hackett |
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