Auckland Noumea Race gets underway in fog - strong winds ahead

6:55 AM Sat 27 Jun 2009 GMT

'Limit (AUS) prior to the start of the Auckland Noumea Race' Royal Akarana YC

A dense fog surrounded Auckland and the Waitemata harbour all day, which lifted just before the start of the 2009 Ocean Race - just in time for both the Race Committee onboard HMNZS Resolution and the competitors to make out the entire start line.

It must of been arranged for the fleet from someone above, as shortly after the start, the fog set back in again with only 200 - 300m visibility. This plus a light breeze meant that smart sailing was in aide after the start if you wanted to get into a good position, and Route 66 the smallest boat in the fleet had done very well to be in the front half of the fleet just three hours after the start.

REV'S the Ross 40 from Opua had a 'blinder' of a start and was leading the fleet past Rangitoto Light. But at 1715hours, without knowing where Limit is due to the tracker not switched on yet, V5 is well ahead with Lion NZ in second currently, and Bare Essentials in third. (SW: Since this report Limit has reset their tracker and is off Kawau Island alongside V5.)

Auckland to Noumea race positions 1755hrs on 27 June 2009 - Royal Akarana YC Click Here to view large photo

Live Tracking which can be accessed through www.rayc.org.nzupdates each yachts positions every 15 - 20 minutes, along with their current speeds. Messages from the yachts competing will also be updated on this website, along with the predicted results and time of finishing after each radio schedule at 0640hours and 1840hours every day.

PredictWind,comnow shows the fleet can expect strong headwinds as they get closer to the northern tip of New Zealand, over the next 24 hours. This pattern is fast developing and is a little uncertain at present. Current projections show it passing through the fleet quite quickly, however this prognosis may change as further data becomes available.

PredictWind for 1900hrs on 28 June showing strong headwinds around the north of New Zealand - PredictWind.com

Current News From the Fleet:

1633hours - Saturday 27 June, 2009

Lagoon Ozone - ' It's gone very light out here, but the fog has lifted, and we can see Bird on the Wing and Mustang Sally behind us, REV's is having a blinder! Lion is just in front.'

1600hours - Saturday 27 June, 2009

Route 66 - ' we are drifting along quite nicely in about 1 or 2 knots of breeze, can't see any boats around us, except Limit a short while ago who we are now ahead of'

1522hours - Saturday 27 June, 2009

Lagoon Ozone - 'Well after a conservative start, we are now back in the games, everyone has their big kite's up and battling to get depth with 2 knots of wind speed. We had good visability for 20 minutes off rangi light, but now it's down to 300m, all pretty close out here.'

1400hours - Saturday 27 June, 2009

The fog lifted in time for start to get underway, all lining up in a light breeze, V5 in clear air by the HMNZS Resolution, and Route 66 the smallest boat in the fleet getting a good start at the other end. After about 10 minutes or so of sailing the fog came back in, with a large container ship looming that no one could see, but could certainly hear the fleet were set off towards rangi light, with no more than 200 m of visibility.

by Event Media