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5:53 AM Sat 25 Oct 2008 GMT
The 14 boat fleet in the Hempel 35th Gosford - Lord Howe Island Yacht Race got away to a perfect start this afternoon with Broken Bay sparkling in brilliant sunshine and a freshening north-easterly seabreeze.
Former race director David Slingsby fired the gun to send the fleet to sea from a line set between Barrenjoey headland and Lion Island. Only a couple of miles to seaward his son, Olympian and double Laser World Champion Tom Slingsby, was sailing as tactician aboard Transfusion in a Farr 40 One Design Regatta.
Joining the fleet as they neared the Terrigal mark north of Broken Bay was a pod of three whales, prompting race director Mark Greenward to make a special radio call to the fleet warning them of the whales.
Conditions were in marked contrast to the galeforce winds and rough seas off the Central Coast only two days ago - and the forecast is good for next few days as the fleet heads across the Tasman Sea.
The fleet for this 414 nautical mile ocean crossing to World Heritage listed Lord Howe Island ranges from the 50-year-old timber yawl Sanyo Maris to the 80ft carbon-fibre maxi yacht Andrew Short Marine-Shockwave 5.
Outside of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, the Lord Howe Island is the only Category 1 ocean race held each year in Australian waters. Ten of the 14 starters have been nominated for this year's Sydney Hobart.
With the nor'easter freshening from 10 to 14 knots, the fleet hit the line as a pack, most of them, led by Andrew Short Marine-Shockwave 5, skippered by Andrew Short, taking a long starboard tack to Box Head on the northern shore of Broken Bay.
Ian Kiernan in Sanyo Maris and the Newcastle boat One for the Road, skippered by Kym Butler, chose to tack away on port out to sea but later tacked back to the join the rest of the feet.
Andrew Short Marine-Shockwave 5 gave an early indication of her line honours and even race record prospects within the first 40 minutes as she sailed past Killcare and Maitland Bay to round Cape Three Points, making 10 knots to windward.
She was a good sea mile ahead of the record-holder Getaway-Sailing.com, the Volvo 60 skippered by Peter Goldsworthy.
In third place in the fleet at this was stage was Occasional Coarse Language, Warwick Sherman's Cookson 12 which won this race at her first start in 2001.
Sailing on the 80 foot rac leader is Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Commodore Matt Allen while another prominent competitor is Roger Hickman, President of Yachting NSW and a two-times Sydney Hobart Race winner.
The fleet must sail up the Central Coast to round a mark off Terrigal before heading out to sea and setting course to the north-east and Lord Howe.
However, tacticians probably will call for the boats to continue sailing up the NSW coast before tacking out to sea to make the most of the northerly breeze.
ASM-Shockwave 5 rounded the Terrigal mark at 2.29pm, with Getaway-Sailing.com reaching the mark at 2.47pm, immediately changing down to a smaller headsail, losing speed but pointing higher.
In third place at Terrigal was More Witchcraft, skippered by CYCA Rear Commodore John Cameron at 3.05, with two minutes to Occasional Coarse Language, with less than a minute to Patrice Six, skippered by Tony Kirby.
The first sked with the fleet will be at 1905 hours this evening.
by Peter Campbell
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