VinaCapital Hong Kong to Vietnam Race 2011

3:43 AM Fri 21 Oct 2011 GMT

'VinaCapital Vietnam Race 2011 - AUDI ultra first round the windward mark' Guy Nowell/RHKYC Click Here to view large photo

After over 30 hours on the water, the nine boats competing in the VinaCapital Hong Kong to Vietnam Race continue to make good progress. Earlier this afternoon, Ludde Ingvall of AUDI ultra filed a report detailing her experiences, noting that 'after a careful start, she settled down offshore and the crew has been seeing a lot of bird life, a lot of reefs and a lot of fishing boats'. Ingvall went on to say went on to say what a great experience the young Singapore sailors on board were having, with one, Sam, admitting that it was the first time he had been sailing out of sight of land.

The longest offshore Category 1 race in Asia is a true test of AUDI ultra's mettle, with Ingvall reporting squalls of up to 26kts overnight, and an average boat speed of 23kts, one blown spinnaker and a little damage to the bow which cost them around 8 minutes.

Looking at the latest position at 1800hrs HKT tonight, that will not deprive the super maxi of a new race record as she has 185nm to go to reach the finish line travelling at around 17kts. However, the crew still faces the challenge of the early morning gybe towards the Vietnam coast, which may offer a flat calm as daylight dawns.

70nm behind AUDI ultra and running west of the rhumb line, FreeFire is piling on the pressure in her quest to lift the IRC Racing Division 0 title on corrected time, having built up a significant cushion over Hi Fi. In IRC Racing Division 1, Zanzibar is, in theory, just over half an hour ahead of EFG Bank Mandrake on estimated corrected time, but the tactics employed as they near the coast will influence the final outcome.

EFG Bank Mandrake is virtually on top of sister Mills, Ambush, with only 1nm between the boats after 310nm on the water. Sell Side Dream is a further 40nm back, with El Oro and Cutting Edge marshalling the fleet with 400nm to go.

The finish line has been laid and the race team is keeping careful watch on the fleet's progress so that it is 'on station' to welcome AUDI ultra to Vietnam - and a new record - in the morning.

Yellowbrick tracking is on board all the competitors, updated at 30 minute intervals, and can be viewed at live.adventuretracking.com/HKVN2011

The leaderboard, showing ETA and estimated corrected times for all the fleet can be viewed at live.adventuretracking.com/Leaderboard/HKVN2011

by RHKYC Media

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