Mr Kite and The Fork in the Road in Bruny Island Race duel

9:52 AM Sat 6 Feb 2010 GMT

'2010 Bruny Island Race start' Peter Campbell &copy

Tasmanian ocean racing rival yachts Mr Kite and The Fork in the Road tonight are tonight locked in a duel for line honours in the 89 nautical mile Veolia Environmental Services Bruny Island Race, Australia's oldest long inshore/offshore yacht race.

Less than a sea mile separated the two yachts as they sailed through the Friar Islands, a collection of rocky islets off Tasman Head at the very southern tip of the elongated Bruny Island, south of Hobart.

The Fork in the Road, skippered by former Olympic sailor Gary Smith, held a narrow lead from Mr Kite, skippered by champion one-design yachtsman Andrew Hunn. In their past two clashes, the canting keel Mr Kite has narrowly
out-sailed the conventional keeled, but bigger The Fork in the Road, taking line honours in Tasmania's two other long races, the Maria Island and the Launceston to Hobart ocean races.

The 84th Bruny Island Yacht Race is turning out to be one of the slowest in years, with the leading yachts not rounding Cape Bruny at the southern tip of the elongated island until early this evening after a frustrating sail down the d'Entrecasteaux Channel.

With most yachts becalmed at some stage as they sailed slowly down the inside of Bruny Island, it took nine and a half hours for the first yachts to reach Cape Bruny.

They averaged only 5 knots in a light and flukey south-easterly breeze and, although once around Cape Bruny and Tasman Head they should have a spinnaker run out in the Tasman Sea, the leaders are unlikely to finish back in Hobart until late tonight.

The lead changed several times during the day with Tony Lyall's Elliott 13 Valheru leading the 24 boat fleet past Dover and towards Cape Bruny, only to be overtaken once she rounded the barren headland by Andrew Hunn's
Cape/Barrett 40 Mr Kite, Gary Smith's Bakewell-White 45 The Fork in the Road and David Creese's DK46 Dekadance, sailing in her first Bruny Island Race.

Close astern came the veteran yacht Doctor Who, skippered by Rod Jackman, Tony Fisher's Helsal III and David Bean's Auch, which recovered well after ripping her headsail soon after the start.

Mr Kite and The Fork in the Road rounded Tasman Head, appearing to sail between Bridge Rock and Big Friar Island, shortly after 7pm.

At 7.10pm The Fork in the Road's satellite tracker reported on www.oceantrack.com.au as having 42.9 nautical miles to sail to finish the 89 nautical mile race while at 7.20pm Mr Kite's tracker reported her with 43.1 nautical miles to finish.

Once around the headland they should be able to carry spinnakers on an even faster run in the Tasman Sea up the eastern coast of Bruny Island and into the Derwent.