Mild Southerly to SW winds pushing Audi Sydney Gold Coast fleet home

12:29 AM Tue 28 Jul 2009 GMT

'AFR Midnight Rambler' Andrea Francolini &copy

The predicted south/sou'westerly winds have arrived and are helping the remainder of the fleet arrive in Southport. At 0830hrs 49 boats had arrived in Southport, with the remainder of the fleet expected to arrive steadily over the course of the day and into the night with the last boat expected to cross the finish line tomorrow around noon.

Included in this morning's arrivals were Anthony Paterson's Tow Truck, Ed Psaltis and Bob Thomas' AFR Midnight Rambler and Murray Owen and Jenny King's Mahligai.

Currently leading IRC Overall is Ed Psaltis and Bob Thomas' AFR Midnight Rambler. "We have had a really good race. The boat has undergone some modifications since Hobart and this race was the beginning of a new campaign," said Bob Thomas

"The first night was moderate and the second night was tough going but we held the boat to the course we chose to take advantage of the breeze shift Monday morning. We were constantly keeping and eye out for our nearest rivals, Tow Truck and this time we have finished ahead of them after they had beaten us in Hobart and the Audi Offshore Newcastle Yacht Race."

"We have one of the friendliest rivalries in the sport between ourselves and Tow Truck. They were true to their word when they arrived onshore, they paid their bet by buying us six jugs of rum."

"The crew did an excellent job with three key crew members that were integral to making things happen - Ed Psaltis, Shane Guanaria and Tom Barker. This is the first race that this crew has been together for an ocean race but they are all experienced ocean racers. We are very happy with the current standing but we will await official confirmation before we really begin to celebrate," concluded Bob.

Brett Filby, navigator of Tow Truck said conditions meant that they had gone further offshore than they had planned, just to try and get some favourable breeze. "It feels like we have done a Hobart when we were only going to the Gold Coast with the additional miles we put in. We knew if we were able to stick close to AFR Midnight Rambler, we would finish strongly and maintain our friendly rivalry!"

Current PHS Division 1 provisional leader Murray Owen and Jenny King's Mahligai were very happy with their race. "It was a pretty tough and long race with great crew work. We had a few crew onboard that were undertaking their first big ocean race and they performed really well. At one point we were 75 miles offshore with lots of waves coming over the bow and some short and sharp conditions. We are very happy with our current lead in PHS," said Jenny.

Geoff Lavis' UBS Wild Thing is currently placed second in PHS Division 1 with Bruce Mackay's Wasabi third.

For Paul Clitheroe, owner of Balance, he was happy with how his 'new' Balance performed. "We stayed inshore pretty much all the time. I am happy with how the boat performed and for us to finish 31st across the line in our first ocean race in this boat, it's been tough but terrific."

PHS Division 2 provisional results show Phil King's Zora 1 currently holding first place ahead of Andrew Wenham's SES Inch by Winch in second and Michael Martin's Frantic third.

The fleet's progress has quickened today thanks to the moderate southerly breeze which is pushing the remaining boats up the NSW far north coast and into Queensland waters to the finish line in reasonable time.

by Jennifer Crooks

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