Limit first home to Noumea but on tenterhooks for major trophies

4:39 AM Thu 2 Jul 2009 GMT

'Limit (Alan Brierty) seen here in the 2008 Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, has taken line honours in the 2009 Auckland Noumea Race' &copy Rolex/Daniel Forster

Limit crossed the finish line this morning, in 25+ degree's but very light winds. V5 was 100 miles behind at this morning's radio sched, with the rest of the fleet around 100 miles further back.

The reports from the boats is that the middle of the fleet had very little wind this morning, but the tail end had reasonable breeze and were making good speed.
Limit's crew reported that the race was a tough one, but the worst part was not the 50 knot winds, short and sharp waves, and the banging and crashing as they left the top of New Zealand and headed west to try and get around the back of the big low.

But the 30 miles they travelled over 12hours as they neared Noumea, and the last few hours prior to finishing, when the wind died to almost nothing proving to be frustrating as the crew could see and smell the land, but was exceptionally slow going to the finish line.

As of this morning's radio sched, Limit looked good to take out most of the top honours, but the Wild Card who has been sailing extremely well are a close threat as they have sailed around Lion NZ during the night, to be 10 miles ahead this morning.

PredictWind light headwinds prevail for the first finishers in the 2009 Auckland Noumea race

PredictWind light headwinds prevail for the first finishers in the 2009 Auckland Noumea race - PredictWind.com

PredictWind light headwinds turn stronger for the bulk of the fleet in the next 24 hours

PredictWind light headwinds turn stronger for the bulk of the fleet in the next 24 hours - PredictWind.com

by Tash Paget

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