Heemskirk Consolidated Melbourne to Hobart -All night long...

7:56 PM Mon 28 Dec 2009 GMT

''Spirit of Downunder' is still part of the Westcoaster equation. - Heemskirk Consolidated Melbourne to Hobart' Teri Dodds &copy

.they came in - like mossies to the zapper. So it is fantastic that all but one of the Kidder Williams Melbourne to Launceston fleet is now occupying, the hitherto empty berths, at the Tamar Yacht Club.

Still out there is the S&S30 'Avanale', who are due in just after lunch today. First to arrive last night was 'Extasea' at 18:39hrs, then 40 minutes later Akatea crossed over the finish.

Belle made up a lot of ground, but was another hour after that and then Schuss and Caledonia arrived to finish the midnight watch. The DK46s always rate well and feature on the scoreboard, but it was the Cookson40 'Akatea' that took IRC, whilst first-timers 'Caledonia' won AMS and PHS. This fleet now has their TasPorts Cup inshore race today at 13:00hrs, to look forward too.

Morning two in the Heemskirk Consolidated Melbourne to Hobart x 2 brings to life the battle between East and West for first in to Hobart. The Westcoaster leader, 'Icefire' has now completed just under half of the allotted 440nm, whilst the Eastcoaster leader, 'Ocean Skins' has completed some 63% of their 460nm requirement.

The game of catch up is not unexpected, as the Westcoasters had to contend initially with a very flat Bass Strait and tack into Southerlies for a lot of the time. Now that the breeze for them has a good dose of West in it and is more consistent, they will be able to head more directly to their waypoints and also accelerate somewhat, as the sheets get eased and the bow cuts a bigger wave in the swells.

Now speaking of accelerating, on the Eastcoaster, 'XLR8' have missed the last sked on HF. They came up on VHF a little later, so stay tuned there, I guess.

Leading the Eastcoaster by more distance than ever in the last 36 hours, is 'Ocean Skins', then 'XLR8', 'Veloce', 'Dream', 'Outlaw', 'The Secretary' and our sponsor aboard 'No Fearr'.

'Ocean Skins' is leading. Just what Tony Fowler wanted. - Heemskirk Consolidated Melbourne to Hobart - Teri Dodds &copy

Still holding the triple of IRC, AMS and PHS is the mighty little 'Godzilla'. Starting to claw their way back up the lists is 'INSX'. These are a very competent group of sailors, so if, as predicted, the winds get flukey and the tides become a major factor for this fleet, they may do well in the game of snakes and ladders those conditions will bring.

Overnight, 'Fantasy of Man' retired after hearing something in the mast when they went for a spinnaker hoist at dusk. They have pulled into the delightfully visual Deal Island and will inspect as light increases. All are well onboard. 'Fantasy of Man' was competing in the two-handed division.

It is still very much a close-knit affair over on the Westcoaster, with just 12 nautical miles separating the top five. As mentioned, the Mummery45, 'Icefire' leads, with 'Jazz Player', 'Tevake II', 'Spirit of Downunder' and 'Audacious' making up the group.

'XLR8' had to revert to the VHF this morning. - Heemskirk Consolidated Melbourne to Hobart - Teri Dodds &copy

It seems like every radio sked brings a new leader, which is great to see it being so competitive. If the breeze hangs in and reaching conditions continue, you would expect that the longer boats like 'Icefire' and 'Tevake II' will get a small break on the others, but then again, Westcoasters don't tend to follow any rule book at all.

From onboard 'Audacious', we learn that they are getting some pace on finally, as the boats speeds up a little to 8knots or so. All the usual activities like charging the batteries off the diesel, which doesn't aid sleeping, are occurring and they enjoy good food on that boat. Last night it was chicken risotto.

From onboard, Greg Clinnick says, 'It went down a treat, our only disappointment was the lack of a glass of red to wash it down!' Still all is good on there and the boat is all as it should be.

Should both Heemskirk Consolidated Melbourne to Hobart fleets arrive simultaneously, then I'd say we may well be in need of a few cans of Mortein.

by john Curnow