12:07 PM Sun 27 Dec 2009 GMT
Tactical navigation is proving a vital factor tonight as the fleet in the Sargisons Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race sails rather slowly across eastern Bass Strait in light winds towards the notorious Banks Strait that divides
the Furneaux Islands from the north-east tip of Tasmania.
Banks Strait is noted for its fast-running currents and eddies that can kick up steep seas as well as its treacherous reefs.
In a tactical move to gain first advantage of a developing north-easterly breeze, Hobart yachtsman Andrew Hunn late this afternoon steered his Cape 40 north of the rhumbline course from Low Head to Banks Strait while most of
the fleet elected to sail directly along the north-east coast of Tasmania.
At 9pm this evening, eight hours after the start from Beauty Point in the Tamar River, Mr Kite was 9.2 nautical miles north of Waterhouse Island, having sailed 55 nautical miles since the start at 1pm.
But according to the Derwent Sailing Club's yacht tracking system,
www.yachtrack.com.au
, the move has cost Mr Kite the lead, measured in miles to go to the finish in Hobart.
The tracking system placed arch rival yacht Fork in the Road, skippered by Gary Smith, also from Hobart, two miles ahead Mark Ballard's Stomp 40, 42 South, with another two miles to the state-of-the-art Hobart yacht Mr Kite.
Mr Kite bounced into the lead at the start of Inspection Head wharf at Beauty Point and then led the 35 yacht fleet out of the Tamar River at Low Head and into Bass Strait.
Skippered by Andrew Hunn, the Cape 40 revelled in the light winds prevailing after the 1pm start, with these conditions forecast to continue for 24 hours as the yachts head down the Tasmanian East Coast.
Mr Kite features a carbon fibre hull and rig and a canting keel that enables her to outsail similar sized boats to windward. At the same time, she is exceptionally fast off the ind.
Well placed in the fleet this evening were the two Beneteau 40.7s, Blue Sky (Richard Fisher) from the Tamar Yacht Club and Blue Chip (Stuart Denny) from Bellerive Yacht Club, duelling for fourth place in the fleet.
Also close astern of the leaders was Whistler (David Rees) whose crew includes young teenage lasses Lucy Rees (13) and Zoe Bak (14, along with an experienced team of adult sailors.
Enjoying the light conditions were 2007 race winner Host Plus Executive (Jeff Cordell), a Mumm 36, from Bellerive Yacht Club and the lightweight Kingsmeadows Capital Chemist (Sebastien Verbeeten) from the Tamar Yacht.
Hobart yacht Pisces, skippered by David Taylor again had a disastrous start to a race from Beauty Point, running aground on mud flats off Sandy Beach just minutes after the start. The crew managed to free her as the tide
ebbed, but the Sydney 36 was at least half an hour astern of Mr Kite when she finally reached Low Head, dead last in the fleet.
Earlier this year, Pisces ran aground on Shag Rock in the middle of river, north of Beauty Point, after the start of the Three Peaks Race.
by Peter Campbell
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Sailing
