ColorTile Protest
The
crew survived the traditional celebratory drinks
that went way into the early hours of this
morning. We all fronted at the boat this morning
to find that a protest had been lodged against
Colortile for an incident near the first turning
mark and the protest was heard by an
International jury. Kim dropped Bucko off at the
Royal Tasmania Yacht Club. Multiple boats were
nominated and the principals from each boat were
required to front the jury. So Bucko was in the
jury room for about 40 minutes as the protest
was heard. A relieved Bucko came out with the
news that Colortile was exonerated with the
hearing continuing on.
Colortile Celebrate
Ar the finish line it was a 1 - 2
finish for Cronulla Sailing club. After 3 days
22 hours of racing, Colortile passed Wasabi in
the final hours of the race to finish on line
honours in 42nd place followed minutes later
by Wasabi. The crew had a great race in very
light sailing conditions, and would like to
thank their sponsor Colortile for all their
help, RMYC Port Hacking and Cronulla Sailing
Club for their support. I am now with Tony
Galwey and the crew at the bar Celebrating the
finish. Thanks Bucko
Colortile finished in 4:00:01:10
Congratulations to the crew for a successful race, Enjoy the celebrations
Day 5 - Look out Wasabi here we come
Hi Guys I received a text from Brandon at 6:30am. They are 10 miles off the point to the Derwent averaging 10kts with the big kite up.Wasabi are less than 1nm ahead.
Day 4 - Here comes the Southerly
I just spoke to Bucko they are now out of Bass strait heading down the East coast of Tasmania
wind has been from the west most of the night and the boat speeds have been around 10kts now in 48th place on line honors and 9th on IRC.
All crew are well there is a southerly change expected around 5pm this evening until then expecting more westerly
winds
Estimated finish time at this stage is 4am tomorrow morning
Day 3 - Which way out of the parking lot
I just got off the phone from Scott and Bucko they were at Lat 38.34 149.53. They are into Bass Strait conditions have been very light 10kts of breeze but in the past hour things have improved They are currently doing around 8kts. All crew are well they have just changed down to a smaller head sail as wind is picking up and crew are back on the rail the winds for the next 12 hours are quite complexed expecting to be 10kts SE, then NW 10-20kts, then WSW 15-20 then S 15-20 and then back to S 5 kts
I just got off the phone from Scott. Conditions are overcast they have 6kts of breeze. Yesterday they got caught in a hole for 4 hours and were drifting in circles. All crew are well but frustrated with the light conditions. Todays forecast doesnt look promising very light conditions again. Lets hope hewy brings the guys some luck with the wind.
Current Status - No news from the guys since mid morning yesterday. I just tried their Sat Phone and the on board phone but no connection was established. Looking at the latest data from CYCA they are 17nm east of the rhumb line and 32 nm south of Gabi island so they are offically in Bass Strait. The wind overnight has been very light. For their sake I hope the weather is better than Sydney. For those following the feeding of Buclos dog their appears to be another twist, the dog may actually have been double fed. Cassie has also been feeding the dog when she arrived to feed last night the dog was already eating a meal.
Day 2 - Do we go in or Out
Do
we go in or do we go out, that’s the million dollar
question. We went wide last night out to about 50nm then
started making our way in towards Gabo today to try and pick
up a northerly then early onto the anticipated sou wester.
Pretty calm conditions < than 10 knots of breeze, with the
light number 1 up trying to maximize our speed. Watching
some of the boats out wider go slowly past us, then we get
abit more pressure and start to catch them albeit slowly.
We had got up to being 35th now sitting at
44th, with the standings changing with every
update. For those that have been following us you will be
glad to know that Bucko’s dog did get fed last night. As for
us now that is calmer we are eating and catching up on
needed rest before the next weather system comes possibly
late tonight. Some of the crew are looking forward to their
first crossing of the Tasman, but is good to know that we
have some experienced crew who have crossed it many times
between them.
I just spoke to Tim via Sat Phone they are now 45 Nm offshore. Just north of Batemans Bay. Wind is still SE all is going well but no internet access from that far out so no photos or videos sorry. If you check the Sun Herald this morning Colortile crew member Brandon is featured on page 5. He proposed to his girlfriend Aukje prior to the race start. Congratulations to Brandon.
Boxing day
Hi World
Scott
the navman.
Safety sail past completed main is now up. Small diesel spill downstairs while refueling makes for a typical start.
The day has finally arrived. I just spoke to the guys,
they have just completed the pre race briefing and are
currently packing food downstairs and like the start of
every big race the big question is where do you put all this
food??. The crew are also doing last minute safety checks.
Scottie Toolin said he is planning to upload some video
footage of the start. Brandon will be wearing a helmet
camera and another camera is mounted on the back of the boat
so hopefully later in the day we will get some footage up
here. Colortile are planning to leave the wharf around
10:30am. I just spoke to Col Haywood he is on his way to the
city and will be out on a spectator craft for the start, he
is going to send some footage later if he is lucky enough to
be in the right spot
Phil
Xmas Eve
Today xmas eve we will re pack all spinnakers and
headsails. The boat will be reloaded with all sails
required for the run south. Looking at the weather reports
this could mean all Working running and heavy weather
sails. Double doses of sea sickness tablets, have been
acquired. To lose part of your crew to sickness,means other
crew have to cover you which is not good over a 3 to 4 day
period.
The weather even at this stage is very unpredictable
and even the weather Gurus are having problems coming up
with a race plan due to the strong influence of the West
Australian cyclone affecting our weather system. ( It looks
to be very ???? up to race day) Looks like plenty of rain .
This morning we have a compulsory race brieffng and
weather forecast at 9.00 am.
Kristy will finalise food and water arrangements
today along with Corinne. We are to carry 2.5 ltrs per crew
daily so plenty of water will be required.!
Cheers and have a great Christmas to all our
supporters and family out there,from the Colortile Crew
Colortile off to CYCA
Another big weekend on Colortile and preparations are now
almost completed. This weekend we finalised the HF radio,
Mounted a Webcam and tested the Internet access and computer
gear, Installed Safety lines and overhead rope hand holds,
new covers on steering wheels
Today the boat is sailing up to the CYCA on the way up we
plan to do our compulsory Radio checks to Newcastle. Only 5
more sleeps
Bucko
Final Preparation Begins
With now only 9 days
to the starters gun/cannon we have been extremely busy
.Kristy and I have had some late nights on the yacht
sometimes arriving home at 11.00pm for dinner.
We are very happy with
our progress and will definately, be all ok for Boxing Day.
Colortile and crew will have our final working Bee on the
weekend before sailing up to the harbour,and birthing at the
CYCA.
Safety is paramount
and a couple more chocks and non slip tread will go down on
sunday,before our final safety check by the CYCA Safety
Auditor.
Food is all ordered
and catering mate John Mealey has prepared us some fine hot
meals. Kristy will do a "mad" shop on Christmas Eve to
purchase all the remaining snacks and food/drinks.
Our rigger Tony Dillon
will do a final rig inspection on our new rigging, and some
minor work on Halyads etc.
Our Motor has had a
full service with belts filters and impellors all replaced.
Thanks to Clay , Kristys Brother.
Our navigator Scotty
Toolin is methodically plotting and following the currents
and wind patterns.
We are blessed to have
a great all round crew with most off us able to work in all
positions on the yacht. Phil Rogers our long time sailing
Buddy is our shore base contact.and computer wizz who has
built this site in just a couple of weeks, unfortunately out
with an injury.
Our 12th man is now
onboard and we welcome Kate Downing, yes shes a female which
now makes 3." And she can sail,don't worry about that."
Many thanks to our
supporters and many trades, also our sponsor Tony Galwey who
has helped make it all possible.
Cheers Bucko Kristy
and Crew
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