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A tense night ahead

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  • 30 Jul, 2017 09:57:00 PM
A tense night ahead

A tense night ahead

With around 150 nautical miles separating the fleet which extends from near Woodburn to near Tuncurry, there is a lot to race for heading into the second night of the Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race 2017. Another 24 hours of upwind sailing is expected before a big shift which will bring the smaller boats right into contention for the overall honours.

Although the separation remains minimal, for the first time in the race Black Jack has just edged ahead of Wild Oats XI in the battle for line honours. It's an exciting showdown with the two Reichel-Pugh 100s trading blows since they departed the heads around 34 hours earlier.

Further back and the CYCA Yacht Tracker shows a clear split between the first main wave of boats such as the TP52s, and that of the back group, the latter hugging the coast as they set themselves up for another upwind night.

The lead TP52 remains as Ichi Ban, last year's overall race winner, but the crew onboard are taking nothing for granted as they work hard to maximise their time with a substantial wind shift expected in the next 24 hours.

Although the faster boats would expect to be home and hosed by the time the race turns downwind, that shift will bring the smaller boats right into contention for overall honours.

It's been many years since the line honours have been so close and the upcoming conditions stand to blow the race wide open in what should be a thrilling conclusion over the next few days.

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