2024 Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race - start broadcast replay

e [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hi I'm Sam Hayes and I'm the Commodore of the cruising Yacht Club of Australia I've recently been appointed and this is the first major offshore race to take place under my commodor ship it's the no Sydney to Gold Coast yacht race and it's sponsored by noes and we thank them for their support the race is going to be uh very competitive we have over 50 boats racing and 13 of those are double-handed it looks like with the forecast that it's going to be a faster race there's a good southerly coming through which should make some really good conditions for the racing and um yeah the best boat obviously is going to enjoy the big Gold Cup presented to them up in the Gold Coast I was lucky enough to have won that on Celestial in 2014 and this is a race which really uh is one of the keepers if you ever get to the top so good luck to everyone have a great great race and enjoy the conditions enjoy the Gold Coast when you get there hi I'm Sean langman I'm very pleased to represent noes group as the official sponsor of this year 2024 Sydney to go Coast Yacht Race conditions are looking favorable this year for an exciting race of which historically has been my most favorite Yacht Race looking forward to watching the start and looking forward to watching the progress of boats near the goal course good afternoon welcome to the 38th Sydney Gold Coast race sponsored this year by noes group I'm very grateful for their support So as you can see it's a slightly murky Sydney Harbor we've had a little bit of rain this morning we had a little bit of lightning and thunder early now we've got very light winds uh the sky is brightening we've got 51 Yachts here ready for the 384 nordal miles from Sydney to the the Gold Coast my name is Jules Hall I'm one of your commentators and I'm joined today by Tom Barker good day Tom um Tom is a fellow director at the cyc previously chair of the sailing committee uh Tom has done this race I think a dozen times when we were chatting earlier so he knows the course very well a lot of those navigating Tom what's this race like yeah well thanks very much Jules and and uh you know hello to everyone out there listening in it's um it's great to have you here watching the live stream but um what a race we've got ahead of us Al although it's pretty light here on the Harbor at the moment um fair to say that it's going to be pretty fast and furious um we'll go into the bit more about the weather shortly but uh uh later this afternoon and into the evening uh these these crews are are going to have a fair bit of Breeze we think out of that west southwest so it should be fast and furious but what a wonderful race uh you know thank you to sha langman and the noes group for all of their support uh it's a terrific event here um you know heading north so you're always getting a bit warmer um but I think some of the crews are going to be pretty wet and cold um as you said i' I've done a few of these races I'm not exactly sure maybe maybe about a dozen or so but um uh uh you know it's one of my most favorite races of the calendar um unfortunately couldn't couldn't uh compete this year due to some other commitment that I've got at the moment uh but Jules I know you've um you've you've done the race a few times too particularly as a double-handed so uh what's what's your excuse for sitting on the sidelines this year Well Tom I'm freshly back off an airplan and um work and family duties have kept me ashore this year so yeah looking forward to getting into the rest of the blue water but I'm definitely suffering a bit of fomo sitting on the boat here today especially with um what we've got to look forward to so this race it's July it's mid July it's middle of winter here in Australia so Sydney still relatively mild Gold Coast relatively mild but the knights always get very chilly on this race the water temperat pretty cool I think we've got about 16° on the beaches at the moment fast forward six to 10 hours it's going to start to get fresh and it's going to build um so that breeze is going to be getting up to 30 35 knots potentially gusts of 40 knots and that's that's big winds uh when you're out there in the open ocean so the the Saving Grace is that it's coming from the southwest so the boats will be going pretty quick um there's a bit of discrepancy between the models between the the Westerly and the southwesterly nature which may seem IM material but that's really significant for the different designs of boats um there's boats that will go very fast with that Westerly reaching conditions and there's boats that will be very fast with it a outcome impact on the outcome of this race yeah absolutely jores I um people often think that these fast reaching and running races are uh are not as difficult from a tactical perspective but I I think this is actually turning out to be a really tactical race um I I know many people often describe that this is a narrow race course meaning that you get too far offshore and you're you're out into that strong East Australian current and there's definitely plenty of that running out there um particularly north of of seal rocks and around Port mcquary type area which um for those who uh may be joining us from overseas is sort of um seal rocks is about 100 nautical miles up the coast from Sydney uh so you know I think it's a it's it's it's going to be a hard one for the tacticians and The Navigators and the and the Skippers the big thing when I was thinking about this forecast was um you know with the Westerly and those reaching conditions in the first sort of 100 miles this afternoon and tonight um you know how far do you set yourself offshore as the as the breeze comes into the the sou West um and you start running rather than reaching um you you you're going to start to the coast um and uh and you're not going to have a huge um amount of opportunity with the southwesterly breeze to to get back off the coast um so I think what plays out this afternoon um how the boats set themselves up uh on that race course uh and if it were me uh t as a tactician or Navigator I'd be very very focused on a on a waypoint about seal rocks um as I said about 100 miles up the coast because I think where you where you pass the coast where you how far you clear off Seal rocks is going to um have a very material Factor on on uh on the rest of the race course so you know it should be a lot of fun and and uh you know we We wish all the crews out there a safe and fast race um you know as juel said uh there's a good potential of of some strong winds and um and uh you know it's important you we've got a very well prepared Fleet here and uh you know it's it's going to be some fast and Fast actions so I think we're almost coming up to the 5 minutes um in a little while uh we're about a minute away from that 5 minute so glad to see that we're going to get away on time hopefully here um there was a little bit of talk of maybe a postponement but but it looks like that little bit of West is just filed in so that's the that's the race course ahead over the next few days but Jules what do you think about the here and now what about the harbor this um this Westerly but where would you be starting on this r on this start line well I think you start where there's some wind is the is the main thing and um that's that's not necessarily an easy answer right now there's uh you're down the pin end you're into the stronger tide but what seems to be happening is the wind is bending around Bradley's head so you there is Merit in being further up the line towards the committee boat so you've got a slightly shy angle which will give you stronger uh apparent or better apparent wind angles there we are there's the five minute so 5 minutes to go till the start of the 38th Sydney Gold Coast race um I think mid Line's probably my call the moment Tom but we'll have a look there seems to be a little bit of wind coming potentially across from the um North End over there yeah just a little bit of new Breeze potentially coming towards us absolutely and just to orientate people uh who are watching the live screen so you can see that the start vot has just moved out of the left hand side of your screen the start booat uh is here off point Piper uh and so that's the Eastern end of the line and as you can see with the Drone that's uh facing from the start boat up towards the Western end of the line the pins up there amongst uh up up amongst the uh uh the fleet up there so wonderful pictures of um beautiful Sydney Harbor and and the and the bridge in the background but as juul said um you know possibly that that Western end that top end of the line uh is is is probably going to have a shorter distance but it's a real balance for the crews here because if you get too stuck too far on that Western end JS um as you said there's a real risk of getting stuck under Bradley's head and and and the western western shore well what what you can't see on the camera at the moment you will see when we start looking at the course is that I think positioning yourself for that upper end of the harbor is really important and looking at the observations up there now there is very little wind up around the wedding cake and the S pigs area so being in a good position for that section of the harbor is going to be very important yeah and it's this Harbor exit is an interesting part of the race we were talking earlier it's a very short amount of the race in percentage terms but it's really important to get a good exit from the harbor especially in into that new Breeze first you start accelerating your stretch away from the boats that are a little slower getting out the harbor so 100% 100% this this particularly with a fast reaching and running race um you know once you're out and into that breeze and and it's going to only continue to build and build through uh the afternoon and the evening um but uh you get a jump on your main competitors and and um we've seen the people that end up the boats end up winning the race uh in a day or two's time uh are the ones that have exited the harbor the best so we're we're we're getting into the business here um less than 2 and A2 minutes uh interesting uh to to see the fleet lining up here um there we go top overhead shot looking from that Western pin end um back towards the southeast and and that's sort of uh that's uh looking back to towards double Bay uh there which is great so what we can see here in the right hand side of the screen we got a lot of the twoh handers so you've got uh Min River in there I can see mistra I can see the j99 those guys clearly think that end of the line's where they want to be yeah yeah and that makes sense that puts them at the windward end they don't want to be they smaller boats they don't want to be under the Lee of the bigger the bigger sails from the big Yachts we got a lot of the bigger boats down the other end of the line here you go you can see you can see the here we' go the 72f Footers urm coming across with a code Z Hero ready to deploy and uh of course urm probably um safe to say the race favorite for for line honors being one of the biggest boats uh and uh and uh also the defending champion on on IRC so uh they're right in the middle of the screen there just slowing up they thought they were a bit early for the line only a minute to go um and um you know it's uh it's intense even though there's not a lot of Breeze I can tell you from personal experience uh making sure you keep the boat going fast uh in this light air is um is full on for the crws okay so here we have the boats at the top end of the line MRA on Port you'd have thought they're early under normal conditions but with this little pressure they're timing it rather nicely we've got a bunch of boats still big boats midline heading Along on Port but there's definitely a preference strong preference for the pin end start here yeah absolutely and uh here we go the boat end this is where we're uh looking from too on uh on the commentary boat and and Smuggler there with the the large Fred uh sponsorship logo just deploying their their Code Zero um said bom and crew always up for a a good competition we wish them luck okay and there we go we're out the blocks Code Zero is deployed we've got a couple of spiners just coming out the pin end there mistal fantastic start timed that beautifully at the top hand here we go SE bomb Smuggler Code Zero up yeah and uh as as you would expect urm you know poking out a really good time on distance start there by urm and you would expect the big boat to to jump out but but the time on distance was very good and and it's probably worth noting uh uh just just just um just uh in the middle of the line that poked out interesting to see some of the sa choices there too P JS a lot of cod zeros which we'd expect but a couple of uh uh soft love spiners um both symmetrical and asymmetrical yeah absolutely and yeah baby who we we're just losing on the left of our screen now she had a good start came out very nicely alongside urm there we go Mark and Lou yeah babyar yeah baby I believe is the name of the boat um and what a shot what a beautiful day on Sydney Harbor hey so what we can see here is the boat's a little further to Windwood on the right of the screen have got their spiners up they got slightly more broad angles they can sail at that end of the line so that makes sense them having the ails up for those boats and the boats down the LD end of the line creating more apparent wind using their code zeros and I'm just looking uh that looks like Pretty Woman in the middle of the shot uh if I can see correctly um pretty woman um Richard Hudson of course a longtime campaigner and supporter the sport particularly uh encouraging a lot of Youth into into his his crew so well done there Richard for a wonderful start probably poked out of that little group really well look at this Tom little bit of Breeze coming over this end of the the track this is this is uh yeah Max Breeze for the morning so far this is lovely yeah yeah no it's um it's better than what we thought we might have about 15 or 20 minutes ago hey Jules yeah certainly is uh you know it's a straight line I don't think we mentioned earlier but it's a run out tide or or or slack water probably more accurately right now um and uh and uh you know 1:00 or just after 1:00 was high tide so um that'll help the boats as they get down the harbor get get pushed out so we got a few boats here I think saltwater wine there um R uh 62 I think is the sale number uh Tom and Jamie Woods uh sailing double-handed Father and Son combo and then Denali on your screen at the moment the tp52 Damen Parks a really longtime supporter of offshore racing there's urm nicely powered up at the bottom of the screen codo those distinctive blue stripes on her sale all here's a nice one of Denali she looks nicely powered up there yeah Rolling Along quite pleasantly and one of the boats that went with a a soft flu sail I actually don't think that's a bad choice I think um I've had a number of these races where you get down the harbor and and having a soft fluff sale just gives you a bit more options if the if the breeze uh freeze up a little bit you can run away and uh as we discussed in the in the early comments don't want to be um caught too high on the western side of the harbor that's a that's a beautiful shot of urm now if we can get a little shot over here we can see a couple of we can see Pac-Man coming across very nicely they it was actually I believe those guys that were at the top of the line we might have miscalled that off the start they've um they' positioned themselves very well I agree jwes it's a great start they're very experienced crew Peter elkington Scotty kavan uh down from Queensland that boat and um you know Scotty both Peter and Scotty very experienced Sailors and um they'll be pushing the boat hard I reckon tonight and tomorrow in that that strong Breeze and uh you know 1980s I think a 1988 young 11 and um and it's wonderful to see you know about you know being given a new life and look at the work that they've done on that she's absolutely beautiful and and Joel I I reckon she could be in with a Chance um Pacman enjoy downwind downwind conditions so Scott kavanau has just been uh selected or just been announced to represent Australia with his partner with his wife at the inaugural double-handed World Championships over in lauron on the west coast of France so that's um you got some some hot Talent on board Pac-Man there just looking at here again at the screen so going from the bottom urm uh then Whispers right on their tail they'll be chasing them hard all the way and and then the white Spiner just to the right of your screen that's Denali so those three boats have made a a good and early jump and uh you know urm and Whispers David Griffith of course the owner Skipper of Whispers a fellow board member of our jws at the cruising Yacht Club of Australia and a longtime campaigner uh I know they had a bit of bad luck last year with some damage to the boat so it's wonderful to see uh David uh Grio grith back and his team racing this year we wish them best of luck and and safe sailing this is really interesting Tom like we've got a 72t boat just ahead of a 62t boat and we got a 52 foot boat pretty much level pegging with a pair of them yeah yeah absolutely this is some good racing at the front end of the fleet yeah 100% and uh there's Denali the 52 so she's it's they're pretty much all all in a line yeah we got Ur just out in front whisper just behind and then we've got on the far side Smuggler who's taken uh the Eastern Shore yeah she's nicely powered up yeah you can see quite quite different approaches as we spoke about Denali up here more in the middle of the harbor uh and uh with a soft Sail on and and Smuggler started down that Eastern side closer to the boat end and uh uh with a um with a code zero on so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out I think Denali you know is really well positioned they need to be careful that they don't get caught too high here because uh looking across to the western side of the harbor it's it's a bit light air so um some options some options for Seb bom and his crew down there on the Eastern Shore so this is going to be where we see the who's made the right sale the right sale choice is it Seb bomb with his Code Zero or is it Denali who we had on screen just before yeah absolutely this will tell and you can already see I mean you got the shot of uh Smuggler there and they're moving beautifully um and just coming in to shot COA another one of the TP 52s Mark Griffith there I think is on the helm uh an old old sailing friend of mine and uh uh they're in the hunt as well it'll um they're sort of middle of the road uh Smuggler to the East and Denali to the west and uh COA that sounds like a like a line out of a music song or something like that Jules Stuck In The Middle With You Can you can you sing us something Tom no not today not today but look at that car you can see see the concentration you can can't you and Stewie Holdsworth on the main there fellow laser sailor and and looking at looking in the uh background here over the over the background from co uh you'll see just how intense this racing is Whispers has uh it's just coming into shot on your left hand side is um peeled they've filled up their Code Zero and gone to probably their A1 I dare say in this light Air Breeze so as we said you can see those boats just starting to edge up a little bit to the the west and um uh I think it's sort of playing out that Smuggler who's on the Eastern Shores probably probably got a lot more option as we said so here we go SE in the yellow pants there black jacket and uh Steve mckam MCC coneg that looks like on the back of the boat and um what a start for them they'll be uh they'll be very pleased this is a this boat is very well suited to the light air um slightly narrower in design than some of the some of the other tp52 designs so I don't think they'll be upset about a light air start and um and if uh if history is anything to go by when they get that heavy Breeze later in uh later in the race they'll be pushing very hard this this crew so see yes this is um this is the tricky spot on the Harbor I reckon here Tom This breeze has really eased off and the boats are slowing up big time urms codo is pretty floppy over there Smugglers are going for appe peel they're about to change from a codo to a soft sale they'll be onto a light a an A1 probably um this is this is this a bit of a restart in here cuz these boats that got out are going to be going relatively slower to the boats behind who still still S have a bit of Breeze yeah um and we'll definitely I know there's a bit of focus on the leaders at the moment urm was just on on there but we will uh we'll definitely get through the fleet for everyone today but a very interesting race we're only 10 minutes in and and uh quite a few boats are already doing their first sail change it's setting up uh you know the all the crews uh they better get used to it I think there's going to be a lot of changes throughout this race andm I think I think as Jules was mentioning they've got you can see the uh the sper on urm out there ready to do a change Smuggler really neat change there how quick was that they you know in the space of the two shots that we had they did have their Code Zero on now they've got their A1 and um some really slick crew work there Balman just going to fix something out at the end of the pole there just to make sure that uh the tack of the spck is free but um look at them Seb it's hard from uh what you can see on that screen but we'll pan around shortly but uh from what we can see from our vantage point just off to the side of Smuggler uh they're in a great spot um and um here we go look at this Tom Whisperers Jed onto starboard yeah so we might be able to get a uh here we go yeah you can see the shot there they've Jed on a starbard as we said some real difficulty if you get stuck up on that western shore so Grio and his team um made the decision to get out a little bit earlier and I I think that's a good choice you you know further to their right um which you might get a shot shortly but if um you'll see that urm is still continued on Port here we go the panning shot will come around there we go so we're about the middle of the harbor um we're not yet at sour pigs and um you know it's it's a tactical battle playing out here um there you go yeah you can see Ur top of the screen there very light they've really slowed down whisper coming back across to the Eastern Shore is she going to cross ahead of Smuggler yeah we'll see what happens on that I think at the moment she's possibly Crossing behind which would be very interest yeah it's going to be tight of course West on on starboard jve so they have right of way uh means that Smuggler as they approach you you'll you'll note it a bit later here but as they approach um Smuggler will have to keep clear and um you can see all the crew huddled together up towards the front of the boat on the LD side the the reason they're on the LD side or the or the low side of the boat is to just head a little bit of heel in this light air help uh help uh help help the boat heal over get a little bit less wetted surface so a little bit less drag of the boat in the water and and try and get it going and as as we we thought we might have a cross situation but Smuggler as you can see there uh Jed a bit earlier uh so they're both Smuggler and Whisper heading towards that Eastern Shore uh that's sort of they're in the vicinity of Nelson Park there uh you can see the works on the beach in the background of Sydney Harbor and um here we go urm so she's Jed across onto star well she's still got the code o up yeah but she has got a soft sale on Deck they don't look like they're going for a change just yet they'll need to get it around the other side of the boat if they want to about to say that something's happening there Tom there's people up the front there's a little bit of movement we see those very bright yellow tops not going to miss those in a hurry are you no at all all good safety feature um but I think this is one of the features I think that'll play out about this year's race um with so much reaching and running uh as you can already see even just in the first 15 minutes there there's different s combinations um different choices by different boates and and reaching and running up the coast I think that's going to be critical for for all the competitors you know the the design of their code zeros the design of maybe some of their other sales um is is different boat tobo and um and there's going to be a lot of lot of sale changes I expect and and I'm sure the winner is going to be the boat that uh manages those changes and and cuts down uh the downtime so some beautiful pitches panning back uh to some of the smaller boats who will go through and and I think that's a friend of yours in the middle of the shot Min river right Jules that is indeed and Yan clog Shulton who's done a lot of sailing with me is on there with Shang Ling who's the uh the owner of that one had both of them on board with me a couple of weeks ago well probably longer than that six weeks ago sailing up on the pit water and I can tell you it's interesting when you got a lot of two-handers trying to sail together they're getting a pickle it was very good fun and there was a shot of the Santa Cruz 72 with the red kite antip uh Jeff Hills boat and you can see them in this shot the red kite really stands out uh she'll uh she'll enjoy these reaching and running conditions I'm sure yeah they're um I think they're going for a stop over at Chow Bay maybe hard on Port crossing the fleet but look at this there's a bit of Breeze uh up the um Western end of the harbor here I think we're we're definitely in an interesting separation zone where we are where the where the in boats are you can just see a bit of breeze on the camera shot there up the top end of the screen and we're seeing that with here on the water with the boats yeah little bit more powered up the ones that are slightly further away from us so we'll see if they bring that down or if they s into the same transition zone that we're in here it's it's certainly pretty quiet on this middle bit of the course off neon Park just before Watson's Bay who have we got here on the SC that's a nice closeup shot of with the bright blue Spiner and and that as you'll notice um from that uh from that high shot that we had um the breeze has definitely gone much further left as the boats have uh come down the harbor so we started started at the uh they started the race with much more of a Westerly Direction and many boats had their reaching Code Zero Sals on um but with the breeze going left and more into the South as they've gotten onto the main part the harbor um into some running and and a lot of lot of spiners so you can see Co has made their change from that code zero that's still in the air and uh onto their their their running Spiner their A1 that bright blue Spiner but um lots lots of Jing going on up ahead of us can't see that on the screen at the moment we're seeing the leader urm just starting to pan round now there we go swinging back through the fleet um okay coming into there's the fleet coming into frame now so lots of all these boats have a lot of them just Jed across from Port onto starboard and they're they're holding on to that lane of pressure it's all about staying in the wind when it's like this yeah your your tactics are determined by what you've got there's a very famous saying in racing that you got to sail the wind you got not the wind you'd like to to have and so your forecasts are kind of whatever when it's like this you look at what's on the water and you s with what you've got and there's a bunch of boats here that have just got a nice you see MRA there so MRA got to be a hot Contender for the overall win on this race he's um so rer Henry sailing with Greg OA they have won the last two uh double hand the hobart's double-handed division the last two years but they've done huge number of miles those two boys and they're not afraid of pushing hard in the breeze and um there's antipodes again they're now coming back on starboard not back into the middle of the harbor very distinctive that red spica with the stars on it it there we go and here we are two bigger boats here Odin that's it Odin and indigo too I I think these two boats are going to be pretty close on the water for much of this race perhaps um Odin being a Beno 53 uh Indigo to a Martin 49 and if I'm not mistaken indigo is um down from Queensland we welcome uh the queenslanders to to town I myself uh grew up in central Queensland so really great to see those folks coming down and mistra there again as Jules said uh they'll be pushing very hard and and I think they're a really good chance as you said Jules um so M gone for the symmetric kite you can see the spin pole there in front of the Mast not many of those being sailed but they can be very effective in this light Breeze if you got the right cut on your symmetric Spiner and mistra certainly showing how to do it ahead of significantly bigger boats that's a 34t boat mistra ahead of a 53t boat right behind them and um we might just sort of expand on uh sort of our logic and thinking why mra's in the in the mix there Jewels I mean as we know this evening overnight probably midnight maybe 1:00 a.m. 2 a.m. uh this this uh this Breeze will come in from the southwest and um it's not going to be a big front it's not going to hit with a lot of fors it's going to gradually build we expect and and turn to the Southwest um but if the forecasts play out as as as expected it's it's quite possible that the smaller boats in the fleet will actually stay in the stronger wind some of the larger boats even even the 52f Footers uh that that are very strong reaching and running uh from what I can see at the forecast I think there's a good chance they might run ahead of the strongest win so um it's all to play out over the next couple of days uh but um certainly at this stage I think there's a a strong possib ility of a small boat race and um you know which is really wonderful let's go to these leaders here Jo it's it's changed again uh we've got a white sail there on the right hand side which is Whispers they've stayed with that A1 Sail urm on the left and um this almost looks like the breeze is coming out of the east Southeast for these boats so the breeze has been all over the place and uh uh so far the whole way down the half of these two have been stuck together by elastic band I reckon J look at this we got something setting up we can see it bing out on the end of the pole there on your just making some adjustments on the bottom of the Code Zero we've got this is very close between these two boats and you got to remember there's a 10t difference in length so whisper has got to be very happy with how going relative to urm at this stage in the game just got to not drive into the wedding cake there freshly it's just been freshly painted the wedding cake there you go don't put any scratches on that one Griffo make sure you miss it there he goes just nicely it's very gentle but they have got a bit of pressure and just the other side of whisper just behind that spica there's a nice little bit of wind on the water there just dropping off South head so I reckon that's what they're aiming for just moving moving across to the Eastern side here to get hold of that wind they'll also get the tide the tide turns first over on this side so the tide just starting to e and they'll get a little bit of acceleration from that uh that tidal change it it will reduce their apparent wind if they're not careful but it looks like there's little bit of extra pressure on the water there which will help them out yeah here we go you can see both the boats now you can see us too toml look oh there we are on the blue boat so there we are just heading into urm there heading into Camp Cove famous for the first landing Point um when the First Fleet came across that's where they pulled up on day one before they found the um location of the harbor look at that shot of the boys on whisper beautiful closeup there everyone there's a there's a lot of looking around isn't there It's Tricky It's Tricky there's not a lot of wind Ian mckop a uh I think another key player in the crew this year if I'm not mistaken CLA castano has joined them as Navigator so so Tom I reckon we called this a bit early that wind that was on the waters totally gone so that's how fickle it is out here they were sailing across to a lovely little lane of pressure and it's just gone so they've slowed right down here these two boats yeah you can see um they still got sail In The Wind in the sail they was starting to Flap a little bit the boat's gone ight gets very difficult when that happens you can't let the boat stop you got to keep rolling along just to keep the flow across the sales look at that shot of Watson's Bay that's um if you want to get your kids into sailing couple of great spots up there bclu 12f Footers a lot of these Sailors started their careers there before they progressed to the cyc and join the youth sing Academy Tom you're a graduate of the youth sing Academy yeah absolutely Jules um you know I think when I went through uh one wonderful opportunities that our youth sailing Academy provides uh certainly provided a lot of opportunity for me and I'm very grateful to all the commitment of the club and the members to to keeping that going and there's some exciting plans a foot um with uh a bit of strategic planning going on amongst the the board and some of the Committees around what um you know the cca's offshore Academy might look like as a as a building point from the Youth Academy Tom have a look at this you can see firsthand here yourm just tearing up for a job they just come off the rail here we go everyone getting in position this is a fantastic view of what a mini Maxi looks like when they're jobbing about the L you can see they' furled the code zero so now they're deploying it you see that coming out top left of your screen so they they furl that sail they turn the boat through the wind then they redeploy on the new J look look at that aerial shot there go they're going to part the drone on top of the don't run into it look at that uh what a shot but um you know even in this light air you can see the commitment to the coordination of the crew though they stood up on the side and moved across the boat uh as one in one movement which is really important and um you know the Crew moving as one even on these big boats having having the crew weigh in the right spot is is pretty imperative but she's a beautiful boat uh I think it's we mentioned the last year's IRC winner and uh and of course also last year's winner of the Audi Center Sydney Blue Water Point score so she's um out to defend the title um Johnson Brothers and um of course Marcus Ashley Jones that looks like Marcus on the helm there on the leard side I think and um he's the skipper and and you know put a lot of effort into this boat and team this very light this's gone hasn't it these guys have pretty much stopped hardly moving now yeah that's um very frustrating when it's like that very difficult but it's not uncommon for this race uh We've we've seen a lot of light air starts over the years and um and uh you know they're really working hard I mean I'm actually quite surprised the lead Vats have made their way you know you are M there is is is nearing the heads they've made their way down in in pretty reasonable time uh but the fleet has certainly spread out well 25 minutes 26 minutes from the start from point Piper to Camp Cove that's um as you say Tom that's not uncommon for this race but it's a pretty slow time for a 72t boat to do not a very long distance and just on our left there we can see Whispers actually dropped their spica so you can see that on your screen Here Comes so what are they going to do now are they going to go back to the codo I think they will I think they will um I think they've got the Code Zero already there in the air um you know sometimes in this very light air uh the the slightly heavier material that the Code Zero sales are made out of they just seem to hang and hold their shape a little bit better so I I kind of expect that they've made the Judgment call that the breeze has gone this light that the the the the soft L A1 spinning go beheaded time maybe that's quicker less drag that'll be a long way to Southport W looks like that's the plan now Grio the uh the suspense is killing me do you think they're starting to have a few discussions on board I think they're just going to leave it like it is maybe maybe it's time for tea oh first maybe it's first first um watch change just have a little snack refuel yeah all right we go panning back up the har over look at that mirror look bit of a mirror it's going to take a little while for those smaller boats uh back out the harbor but they'll make their way out and as I said good opportunities across the next few days are racing up the coast but this is COA in the middle of your screen at the moment that blue Spa we saw earlier on the on the coverage and and as you can see like we were speaking about whisper that loose laugh or soft love Spiner is is really kind of hanging there um but looks like they're going to persist with it there's a little bit of Breeze just on the Water behind them I can see you just got to find these Lanes of Breeze haven't you and there's a bit of luck in it today like you got to you can see the breeze but it's not necessarily where you are and it's not very easy to get to it if you're not in it yeah and that's certainly playing out up here you can see on the screen that's a great shot we just had there where we panned out you can see the really calm spots on the water and the little the darker spots are where we've got the breeze so you can see those little dark spots of Breeze and a lot of a lot of holes in between and you don't want to get caught in those holes it's not quick and and if we're we've got a picture here uh uh this W boat is pretty woman so the far 45 I think we spoke about her poked her nose out uh sort of middle to top end of the line and uh Richard Hudson his crew they're a 45-footer and they are here right next to Denali and you can see the the red Spiner of Antiquities in the background and and pretty woman is had an absolute cracking start uh probably the best of the fleet 45 footer um would rate much much lower than the uh than the TP 52s and uh that wealth of experience Richard and his crew they are they are doing a nice job but they're not moving so quick as you can see with the light air but but they are right up with the tp52 fet and I'll be very very happy with their efforts so far now if we can just pan out there's something very interesting happening here if we can just pan out on the on the S there what are you what is happening we've got a huge separation so prettywoman and Denali who pretty just looking at are kind of the the back end of the first group and then we've got a huge wind hole and the rest of the fleet stuck 300 M up the harbor and not able to progress there you go so that that Red Sail antipodes she's the front of the second pack as we pan round look at the Gap look at the Gap that's opened up between that first group of five or six boats and the rest of the and we we talked earlier about the rich getting richer and we didn't necessarily mean it like this in the harbor but you can see this group of clear sky is there's less wind on the water so there's a little bit more breeze under the clouds and there's really very little in these areas of Clear Blue Sky you can see the glare on the water there um pretty woman's now she's she's parked up well what's Happening Here I I agree with you that's a really good jump as they said about 300 met from from Pretty Woman here back to the next group of boats but um but it actually looks like some of these boats in the lead pack and you can see even anti tities there dropping their their spin but there might be a little bit of a easterly or even nor easterly filling in here that can be very variable and and just as we're saying that you know the sun's just come out and um and uh it's quite possible um that that a little bit of thermal effect uh what we mean by that is uh the the difference in heat between the water and um and and the land might create a bit of a easterly or nor easterly um denar attempting to job because they they're obviously noticing some of the boats over on the east ensure making that change from their spiners and their code zeros to a head and and as we pan across these uh these shots of the leaders you'll notice that many of them have now gone to a JY I think that's C uh that's that's uh that's they'll change in 30 minutes I think I think that's even more than that for some of them they going to keep that pace up they'll be pretty tired by the time they gets a long Reef yeah and our drone shot capturing Ka so they've dropped that blue Spiner and also gone to a a hsel so um and uh the wind on North head of the moment has flipped to the east it is recording a mighty one knot so it's not a material easterly but it is it's gone from a from a Westerly to an easterly to had a 180 degree shift up on North head which these boats have got to go around yeah and uh and that's exactly what these Crews will be doing Jules they'll be doing what you do they they'll be on their on their on their on their computers and uhing at the observations and and yeah you can see real difference look at that you got whisper on Port 90° difference in heading to urm and to Denali so denali's managed to sneak through whisper The Whisper this this is uh this sorry apologies all good but you're right whisper whisper got a little bit caught out I think as is so easy to do in these light airs and uh CO's made that change uh to that jib as we said again the crew on the L side just trying to heal the boat over a little bit and this is interesting because just the other side of Kaa we've got urm really parked up under that look at that look at urm no wind in those sails very difficult for those guys up there and Kaa is potentially if she keeps going in this little Lan of Breeze could get a nose at the front of the fleet which would be quite an achievement for a 52 footer against these bigger boats absolutely look at that backed jib oh it's very very difficult there'll be a lot of tension on board there like it really does test the nerves when you've got these sorts of conditions is pretty good tension hey we uh it's a it's it's an interesting point though Jules isn't it that one of the things I love about this sport is you know obviously there's a physical element to it and and being out amongst the uh amongst the conditions and particularly when it's rough and and this race you know could could could see quite strong winds um but also known for its beautiful beautiful condition some of the sunsets and sunrises at this time of year is it's quite amazing but we often uh don't talk a lot about the mental aspect of this sport no I reckon the mental like the mental aspect is so important you got to maintain like there's a lot of pressure particularly on these boats that have got good track records they've won a lot of races there's expectations they're going to keep performing when things aren't going your way it's it's very easy to let uh nerves rise and when when people are getting nervy don't they don't make the best decisions and then mistakes happen and and Jules maybe we can just expand on that a little bit i' be interested in your view uh you've you've done a lot of racing fully crude um but but also obviously in recent years a lot of lot of double-handed racing um is there anything in particularly different around around sort of managing that that uh mental approach or or or you know managing yourself mentally uh between the fully crude and in double-handed racing the principles are the same um the the biggest difference is the number of people like the smallest crew boats you got six people and you got to keep that group dynamic going when there's just two of you it's a more individual and the reality is a lot of the time you're sailing on your own so when you're doing these offshore races you're in a watch cycle of we do two hours on two hours off if you're on a race to Hobart takes four and a half days on j99 you have interaction at watch change but a lot of that time you're on your own and I think there's different there's different pressures you when you're in bad weather you got no you got no one to joke with he's got to deal with it on your own tell do you ever sit there and tell your own jokes to yourself go go find myself quite funny when I need to um yeah and I certainly remember the first Hobart we did 2021 very rough first night pitch black yes and we pushed out into the east Australia current we had 30 35 knots we had from the south we had three knots of current from the north and these big steep waves you just couldn't see them and I was sitting there that first night about midnight going what the hell am I doing here we came through it well that was that was quite a night wasn't it I think that was the year I was racing on on board Zen and unfortunately we had a crew injury that that evening and and headed home early but it was a pretty horrendous night at se but back to the race um here we go the drain shot looking towards uh southe head there and and uh lady Bay and and Ur leading the fleet as we just spoke about there was a little bit of a hint of a East or nor Easter and um and uh you know they they tucked in do it and I can actually see a bit of Breeze between them and and South there jws so she's again she's off again it doesn't take much for these big boats to get going and build their momentum and and all of a sudden she's uh she's got a good jump she's got a little bit of a jump back on to Ka uh which will come around and you you'll pick up Co there I think with the Black Sails in the background and there's whisper whisper but um encouraging signs are that that nor Easter might start filtering down the harbor and and help some of these boats out from the old saying from hero to zero I think we can reverse that from Zero to Hero in this instance she's got a nice little bit of pressure here you see bit more under the boom there yeah they'll be keeping you can see them looking at that they've seeing that line of pressure they want to get to it yeah they'll get to it first they'll accelerate first and uh pretty simple race course there's a there's a red mark That's just out of uh out of the picture to the right hand side which is a a red navigational Mark they keep that to starboard and then uh basically keep Australia on your left hand side and and finish off Main Beach up um up on the Gold Coast and and as always a wonderful welcome from Southport yacht club we really thank them for their support in this event and uh and um you know it's it's it's terrific to have them as our finishing partner these Crews will enjoy the hospitality at Southport Yacht Club probably a few Beverages and nice meals and um and celebrate the racing style but off the transom there so they're moving they got the boom up to Windwood let's get that nice shape in the leech of the main so FL still try and keep that Stern at the water minimize drag look at the sun look how different that is now from what we were looking at Before the Race started it's that different in the cloud and weather conditions that have impacted the the wind so significantly yeah and um just Jules take note you can see on your screen there the follow the live tracker link so all the way to the Gold Coast um you'll be able to follow these Yachts they're all got GPS trackers on board and uh follow that link you'll be able to go and and and and and see the boat's progress up up the course but the other thing um perhaps as this Ferry goes past we might swing back on the stern of urm I wouldn't mind uh sort of showcasing particularly for maybe some of the younger viewers out there um all of the uh same principles apply if you're out there sailing your you know your Junior classes your your your whether that's 420s or 29ers or optis or uh any of the classes around the country um some really nice trim here and um as you said Jaws that boom way up above the center line uh to get as much power into that and you know you know what else we can see Tom you see on the back there that just above the UR logo there's that white square and that is a starlink satellite dish so this starlink gives the boats broadband internet access and that's that's a materially important bit of Kit when you're offshore but I think it's this is also important because this is the first race where the fleet has moved from HF radio as the primary form of communication a to satellite comps Communications with race uh headquarters via satellite taken off the big HF radios and moved to a new era of communications and that's going to same Yacht Race onboxing Day this year Communications no HF radio so if you're overseas bring you back down you don't need an HF radio anymore yeah it's um it's a big step and uh you know the reliability and and and most importantly the safety of competitors is uh is is utmost important and um you know there's been a lot of testing as as you and I know Jules having worked together on the sailing committee at the cyc and AC course the board and and and with our wonderful uh management team working through our club processes and infrastructure where um you know it's a it's a it's a big big step and uh and you know hopefully something that competitors will Embrace as well so here's here's Ka back to the race so they've also gotten into this Northerly Breeze and and as you can see they're on Port Tac there um and rather than it being East Northeast uh looking at that angle that they're sailing in towards southe head it's it's probably North or even even touch west of North so again you probably hear us um so the breeze has come from every point of the compass so far of the the afternoon you actually I'm just looking at the weather observations now we've got a Northerly at North head and we've got a southernly just at the wedding cake so you can still see a couple of soft sails at the top of your screen there so it's this is this is that transition that everyone's been struggling with absolutely but yeah C uh Center rear picture on the left hand side that's whisper so those two boats are still battling it out in a very similar piece of water whisper accelerating over there Tom and you'd expect as the breeze settles whisper uh with a 10 ft uh length advantage over the TP 52s will certainly stretch her legs no reason for panic for the whisper crew of um it's early in the race and uh that experienced group they'll they'll uh they'll do well from here but there's whisper and Smuggler on the right hand side of that drone shot and then this the smaller white Hull in the distance the background again pretty woman right up there with uh with Smuggler and um as we said they've had a cracker of a start uh they're on the on the left hand side the far 45 pretty woman doing extremely well and they've got they very interesting story pretty woman so richson very good at getting a lot of youngsters on board a lot of youngsters and making sure he's got a good balance of girls and boys yeah which is very important for the development of the sport and Richard does an excellent job on creating those Pathways for the younger Sailors sailing on on Richard's boat uh you know they' all tolight the fact there they tacked on to Star it and in fact muggler had to duck around their Stern uh so so 45 footer versus 52 footer not uncommon in this light air this very variable conditions that um you know boats are different size um battle it out but um you know the far 45 um a very good light wind boat uh to be honest it's it's uh of that era of the famous far 40s and the uh m30s or the far 30s as they're commonly known now and that that that narrow water line uh very good light air boats and just coming into screen now look at this we got whisper on starboard coming across to COA and this is going to be very interesting so whisper on starboard has right away COA is going to be pushing to try and get across her bow they've got to make that decision quite early today because it your boat won't respond that quickly in this light wind and it looks like COA thinks they're going to get across yeah it's hard to see from this angle but looking at it live uh I agree with you I think CO's probably pushing hard but bit of zoom on that lens so what we can see here she's got a little bit more there you go that shows you the space it's not a heap of room they got to keep rolling and if they misjudge it and they get caught in the middle that's a big problem so it looks like whisper also got a bit of a lift which makes it harder for Kaa so they're holding their nerve on Kaa I think they're going to sneak through going to sneak across and um you know tactically whisper probably isn't that upset about that having a boat tacked right underneath their bow in a Le bow position would be very disturbing to their wind so they're safely across there at at uh uh they're across and going and um you know C's obviously doing very well and and again uh I believe C is a far designed tp52 and and again in these conditions um you know really well well suited to the light air and that's um Whispers had a tricky ride they got really stuck in off Watson's Bay there and that that that's unlucky like they they they saw Breeze they went in for it and they'll be frustrated they don't want car in front of them they'll be working hard to get back the other side of them that's a lovely shot there they're moving nicely great shot and and again you know taking note of the the sail trim uh it's uh it's it's a good learning opportunity when you get to sit and watch footage like this isn't it but um yeah zooming out here that's that's whisper the dark old boat and in the in the background urm is now tacked onto Port Port Tac and and sort of pointing out the middle of the heads and here's the closeup shot again a urm and and look at this Tom we just saw it on the uh the zoomed out shot before there's it's getting a little glassy up front for urm again so we thought we had a bit of Breeze and it it's definitely us off look how slow they're going just here yeah It's Tricky Tricky tricky this race well of course and this shot shows it pretty well with the breeze now coming out of the North uh it's got to get up over that big Cliff of of North head uh so that's that's really what's causing the the light air in the middle of the heads is is North head is a very very high Headland as as people might know and and um you know so urm have generally stuck closer to the South head side and um we can see the crew there putting a CO zero type sail up into the air the Bowman's working there to feed it up gentle movements even on these big boats who need to be moving very gently to minimize the disruption but they're obviously thinking there's an opportunity to perhaps unfur this code zero and punch out through the light air of the of the heads so um I think you're spot on there Tom stay low stay in the pressure on the right there's a little bit more tide on the right as well the E tide is a little stronger on this South head this state of the the title phase title cycle and so they just there's no point in being greedy and taking hikes you just sail into that Lee of North head and what'll what'll be interesting here as we saw urm has sort of although they're on the southern side of the heads they they're a bit further out than the boats behind them well on on Port Tac the white hold boat now we saw Co across a head of whisper before and um I don't think Co is quite making it around South reef at South head uh but if they do if they get a little bit of a left hand shift and they can lift up around South head there um they they might well just poke their nose out and and and could be in a position to um to uh take the lead from urm so there you go this shot shows it a little bit you can see in the top right corner there's with the top of the screen is South head co the white held boat is um trying to sneak around there and urm here just a little bit further off the Headland yeah they've really stopped again Tom look at this almost stationary on urm very tricky well and that just goes to show we were commenting earlier about how gentle MO and that type of movement disturbs distur Tom now this is a little deceptive this camera angle but look what's happening with Kaa and Whisper just a little close to the South head yeah just sneaking up and potentially potentially sneaking through urm but that c is nicely powered up over there yeah she were panned out a little bit here but when you look closely at those sales she's sailing very nicely she's got another only one or two knots more pressure than the guys on urm but that's that makes such a difference like if you got they're in three knots and 's in one and a half knots yeah it's 100% uh yeah they just me me wrong there'll be a i' reckon they half a chance to sneak around South Reef there it's it's very close but the sea is very flat it's a high tide so there's water up into those rocks um and um you know and and uh I don't know I don't think we can call First out the head and his crew first out their heads I promise you we'll be hearing about it uh uh for a long time to come but um there you go that that gives you a good view top of screen urm in the middle of the bottom of the change so quickly again in this light air look at the crew they'll be pretty happy on board car right now yeah those there we go that's the crew shot look at them even hiking out to leard plenty of smiles those boys and girls on there yeah they're already seab boots and a bit of wet weather gear on so it's going to be it's going to be a cold cold evening for them Brett Phil be in the middle there some of the uh from years ago some of our viewers might remember the the tow truck boat a very famous competitor uh across a couple of different boats some of the some of the tow truck crew are there on board CER this year and as I said Mark Griffith the skipper for this race on the helm there go you can see that there can't you Tom you've got I'm going to call it the co is just in front at this point in time yeah she's uh you know ur's a little further north so in theory nearer the the finish line but she's just behind if you drew a line from North head to South head yeah Co pretty much the boat the boat to beat at this point in time I reckon I reckon but um a long way to go I mean it's uh it's bragging rights isn't it but uh but a long long way to go and um and Whisper here champing it a bit and Whisper to Winwood could cause a big problem for COA yeah well just sliding over the top of them if they it could go either way couldn't it said they could roll over the top but by the same token even in this light air whisper is uh got C on their Lee B and uh that could that could already be disrupting some of their some of their wind so it's it doesn't take much in this very light wind for for the for the dirty air of other boats or you know Headlands or other obstacles around to really affect the wind and the S you can see what's happening here so you can see in this lovely aerial shot coa's pushing her bow up y to try and do exactly what Tom was saying leave our whisper now what you got to be careful of is you can't be greedy because what what's happening on Kaa she's gone a little close to the wind she's lost the pressure in the jib and the danger there is you slow down and stop and there's just enough swell as you come through the heads here for that to be a problem but it looks like it's forced whisper up who's also going to stop then COA can drop a bow and just accelerate but you you've got to keep the Boat Moving you can't you can't let the boat stop or you don't get through now this is and and that's actually uh caused whisper to attack so I think there's a few things I think the angles of the boat and as you said Co pushing up to try and protect themselves but but I think there was probably also a little bit of a right hand shift in the wind uh and uh you can see you know Whisperers flopped over onto starboard attack CO's actually started to put their B down a little bit the jibs starting to fill again uh they'll start to move forward a bit more um but very high cuz of course as you were saying when you when you stop like that um of course you lose your steerage as well that makes it really tricky for for the Skippers so's back in the game look at that shot there that's lovely see the breeze in the top of the screen just on the south of the southern side of North head yeah whoever gets to that first is going to is going to squirt away nicely and it's it's urm is well positioned for that she's got the code zero out she's moving nicely again up there whisper going across towards her be interesting to see when whisper attacks back is that that's that's a bit of pressure up there on the a bit there is absolutely and that pressure is already starting to filter down to where these boats these three boats are towards the the other side of the heads and um you know what's interesting about this point of the race too is is we've spoken a lot about getting out the heads but um you know for The Navigators the sailing Masters the tacticians now it's a matter of all how do we execute on our pre-race plans you know it's probably arguably a little bit different to to the forecast there's a lot of North in here um you know generally expecting Breeze to be out of the Northwestern Western so um there's a decision to be made what what do you do you you you you know you've got to assess the uh the grip files and all of the information that's gone into your pre-race planning but it's a balance then isn't it Jules on on what you do with playing the conditions that you're faced with yeah so uh yeah and when they come out of the heads here there is the rum line is pretty much hard left hand turn but when we're looking at a lot of the routings earlier it it's pushing the boats not straight onto the rum line but a little little further offshore yeah and when we had the weather briefing from bomb this morning at the club for all the Skippers and Navigators they made an interesting point that there might be a little nor easterly pressure on the beaches which the course is basically Northeast so you don't want to be in that pressure so when we start seeing probably in 20 minutes or so when these three boats get past North head we'll see what decisions they're making on their immediate routing do they get on the rum line or do they push a little further offshore and and and you know we just elaborate there a little bit on uh some of the comments we made earlier in the coverage it's a very tactical race this uh you know there's there's going to be stronger win offshore as I think you said there Jewels um but but then it's also about the the Angles and and you know the the teams that have really researched and gathered the data about the Crossovers of the boat's performance under different sale configurations that's going to be really important for this race because you don't want to be making changes say from a maybe a code zero to a to to a to a re another reaching headle for example and then find out that you're actually not heading in the direction you you kind of expected um or the performance of the boats different to expected because I'm I'm very firm of the opinion that with a lot of these races that are seemingly point and shoot you know they're going to be on poor t for much of the way out the coast uh they've got to be very conscious of sailing too much distance so do you go offshore get that stronger wind and sail more distance or do you stay a little bit closer to the coast sail a shorter distance but maybe you don't have S quite a sweeter angle and and a little bit less wind so it's a it's a big Balancing Act um well it's on these Coastal races cuz this really it's it's open ocean but it's Coastal racing it's a long Coastal race 384 mile Coastal race and the weather models don't always get that transition between the land and ocean breezes that accurate and when you take those routings it's not the GPS in your motor car it can be very tempting just to follow those verbatim absolutely but you've got to Overlay human intelligence Human Experience human observation and the bottom line generally speaking the boat that sails the shortest distance gets there first yeah so you got to have a very good reason not to follow your rum line I just wanted to uh reassure we've we've spent a lot of time with these bigger boats the 70 Footers the 50F Footers and and uh we mentioned Pretty Woman the far 45 as well but but we will make our way back through the FL Fleet and uh make sure that we provide lots of coverage of some of the smaller boats um so we we've still got a bit of time we we're uh not running away here are we jwes we've got a bit more time of the coverage to go so just wanted to reassure look at that line of pressure there Tom oh it's that one two BO LS you see that dark see you can see the dark uh color on the water that's that's wind so it's ruffling the water it's creating a little bit of bumpiness on the water surface and it makes it look darker when you see that darker water that means there's more wind so they're desperately trying to get to that new line of pressure yeah and they're not they're not very far off it now no I think urm is going to really get into that they've tacked over on starbard you can see Ur on the far left of the picture and and and Whisper here uh closest to to camera they're just tacking over now there's a bit of a tactical decision to make here as well now Sydney is known um for for for people who might be joining us from overseas or other parts of Australia Sydney's known for its uh nor sea breezes in the summer this is a very typical wind direction um we still get them in winter like this as as as we can see here but certainly not as strong but usually when you're sailing through the heads like this in a nor Easter uh there's really big gains to be to to be made when you hit North head and I don't physically mean hit North head but get up right under North head and you get a good geographical shift so and that could be happening right now Tom whisper here who you can see closest to us urm in the background whisper is setting up to be first into this new pressure just sneaking around North head so if she can do that yeah big big gains for her versus Ur ur's just flopped over so she's holding holding the line she reckon maybe she's in that new pressure she looks like she's powering up quite nicely there that's right she's got some good heal you see how quickly 's got that 10 15 degrees of heal absolutely right look at her look at her power up there oh she's she's getting going there Tom yeah look at that I uh a little bit of a lift as well that you can see the angle she's going on Port versus whisper absolutely 25 Dee difference there absolutely and and increasing but whisper is not far from that breeze either not at all she's very close and if they get that same left hand shift uh they're going to rotate up inside yourm if they get to that breeze quick enough but you know you can just see that the differential in boat speed it changes so quickly we this is this is where this is where the Mind Over a matter is so important because God it's frustrating when you're on whisper you're on that you can see that breeze you can see your a ine and you just want it on your boat they're half a boat length away from it now they're so close they'll be willing it down on them look at that they're up on the rail now on urm you can start to see the feet over the side look at that goodness here goes whisper here she goes she's just starting to accelerate ur's looking good in that shot there isn't she it's been a tactical start hasn't it Jules like like it's always hard in these light Westerly or souly uh um and then with a you know East nor East filtering through it but a really tactical start and um you know it wasn't long ago that that whisper was really caught there sort of at at Watson's Bay type area she's off now Tom she's just into ited into that new Breeze the bows in it you see whisper you'll start to see her power up look at that accelerating immediately they're so responsive these BS and I think as we pan we might just pan to the right a little bit and zoom out um but what you'll also see further down to the South effectively um we'll come into picture on the right hand side there's a few of the spectator boats but as we come down here um there you go there's some gray sails there and that's COA so just to reorientate our our viewers COA remember snuck around snuck around South reef and was doing extremely well um but as soon as this little bit of Breeze the bigger boats as you would expect with uh you know between 10 and 20 ft extra length of of have all of a sudden taken a little bit of a jump but very well SED by Co certainly you know the lead tp52 at the moment um and they're doing well down there and and they've gotten into that new Breeze uh off off you know more to the southern side of the heads so so uh so the world has gone back the world is back in order Tom I think the 72 footer will give them first out the heads I think so I think the uh Co was looking so good but she just didn't quite get that new Brees at the right time yeah whisper taking look at whisper take off there you see that b wave yeah that's a cracker and uh whisper you know lovely shot there at whisper what a gorgeous looking boat and um you know and again in the shortterm shortterm tactics here there's a decision that tacticians need to make do they do they continue on Port attack and just try and push out into the real Breeze maybe that's a little less affected by the uh by the Headlands or do they take potentially a a a possible gain by flopping on the starbard and trying to get that geographical shift off North head I look at that shot Tom look at the water the white water off the boat we haven't seen that all race now now now we've got the boats going this is where it starts to get fun up you can see this is whisper nearest to us urm in the background there's pressure all the way at the track ahead of them i' say a bit more on the left than the right yeah um we're going to have a little look at Ur see how they're going it's going to bend left as they get around their heads we know but so whisper on the inside a little a little further to L beautiful them they'll be happy with that well done Grio be happy on the East Coast of Australia the whale population is in rude Health enormous numbers of whales uh traveling up up the East Coast um for breeding up in Harvey Bay and David Griffith has been very proactive he's been a leading thinker in how we can ensure that Yachts are not interfering with marine life and he's installed a whale Pinger on the front of his K and it's particularly important on the big boats that are traveling very very fast we don't want Yachts hitting whales it's terrible for the Wildlife and it can be very dangerous for the Yachts as well so Grio has installed a very interesting piece of technology it's installed on the leading edge of his ke the front edge and it sends little Sonic uh notifications out which alerts the whales to the imminent arrival of the yacht and it and it helped them get out the way so we're we're very interested to see how that works we really think that could be a very positive move to help the the Yachts coexist with the Marine Wildlife um safely for all parties and and I think I mentioned earlier that David and his team really deserve a lot of uh credit for for their commitment to the sport you know they they they did suffer some damage as many people know last year and uh you know to to come back get the boat in in you know the best shape it's ever been and be competing it's wonderful but here back to the live shot of urm um you know they're they're now starting to poke between the heads um and um and actually they've climbed up I can see on in uh from our vantage point it's not quite in the picture they but climbed up a little bit closer to to to Whisperers line there you go Whispers in the background but urm uh what a wonderful that's the Drone sitting right off right off uh right off the B and um team are working hard you know that as I said earlier we saw the crew Maneuvers everyone moving at once and um you know the other big thing of course was um what do you do with the watch system uh Jules there'll be a few different schools of thought here but with the with the strong reaching and running conditions that these boats are expecting they they're going to be a lot of time on deck and um I wouldn't be surprised that maybe they send some of the crew down and get an early early kit yeah it's a good time for it now while it's light air and keep the weight low in the boat so we'll see be interesting to see obviously all on deck for for the crews but and um you know we're we're going to start heading back down the harbor um that's the last shot of urm we're um going to start moving back through the fleet but they're on their way and um what a beautiful shot you know that's uh look at that head heads in the background very dramatic and uh it's a pretty special part of the world we live it's very good Tom I've just been um over had a little bit of sailing in Italy which was lovely but it's good to be back here this is where it's at yeah there's a nice look at the look at the reflection of the water on that Hull there of whisper yeah they're powered up they're heading off out into the Tasman so we'll we'll wave goodbye to those guys shortly and we're going to go and see what's happening back in the rest of the fleet so we're assuming coming across here to uh well back to whisper again whisper going around nor she's looking that's a beautiful one get one of those get a still of that for the for the wall Grio that's a goodie and here's here's Kaa she's um powered up nicely here as well she is not many feet over the side but they got ped up on the windward side she'll be very happy with that performance coming out the har and she's got a big lead on the other 52s so this is once they're into this pressure it's it's it's hard to make those gains back up so she's she's given herself a very good Advantage coming out of the harbor here 100% this uh as we said earlier on you know it's a lter start but especially when uh a forecast like this you know these boats will perform very similar to TP 52s um they they're they're relatively similar generations of designs and um you know the coer team having that little bit of a jump it could make a real difference and you can see the four deck team just doing a bit of tidy up and uh I think they're packing away the The Code Zero that they had in the air it's clear they're going to be on a jib now for a little while until until the breeze changes again um and uh you know they're um they're on they're on the heels of whisper and um I don't know they probably got a small jump on uh Smuggler being the next tp52 uh coming onto the picture there and um big gaps here Tom big gaps between the boats you look behind smugly you can't see many boats there it's it's you know probably a mile back to the next group of boats that's a material difference yeah material lead they've got so that's how the boats are going to line up leaving the heads the the the the changes will be less significant now because they're into steady pressure yeah and there there they are and here we're going across to danani yeah and uh so just to confirm that order on the water you've got urm out in the lead whisper in second Coler in third uh Smuggler will be the fourth boat out through the heads and then sort of to leid and a beam of um of uh of Smuggler is is Denali and uh interesting shot here actually looks like denali's setting up for a headle change you can see the the bcro have got a new headle I presume it's a new headle and they haven't done the change yet uh but um that's an interesting one because I I would have thought that' go there you go the new head's going up and and it'll be interesting whether they're going to tack over and do a tack change or or what we call an inline change and pull the old headle down so it's an interesting situation I would have thought they'd have a J1 on anyway um but maybe maybe they've got a maybe they've got a different s combination and uh obviously deciding that that the new jibs going to be better for for the conditions they've got here just a reminder you can follow the race on the OT tracker uh gold coast. cyc racing.com trer uh there we go the team's even got a nice little shot so I think that's the the live view of the tracker now it's zoomed in you can see the boats uh through the heads um and uh and yeah it's it's uh it's got a delay on it so usually the tracker will ping every 10 minutes or so so uh not quite showing you the exact live position of the boats but follow it throughout the race it'll be uh it's a great tool and here's antipodes we're into the next group now so antip just coming around South head I can't quite see who's behind her but we've got a big cluster of boats we're going to find out what's going on in the middle on the fleet see what's happening in the uh cuz the thinking is the overall winner so the the IRC winner based on the forecast is very likely to be a about in that 30 to 40 foot range yeah so urm or whisper or one of the bigger boats will be line Hors winner they'll be first into the Gold Coast but the overall winner is very likely to come from somewhere amongst these slightly small boats just because the way the forecast is panning out and and and Jules just in we've got a shot here of antipodes as you said but we might switch to a drone shot in a second you can see the boat in the background which which I think is D A2 and I'll chat a bit about them but um some of the viewers might have noticed it looked as though there was actually a crew person uh up the rig so up the m so they they who knows it might have been they might have had a small issue to fix but I it's very likely in these like conditions that perhaps they sent a crew person to the top of the m to uh to be able to spy and look at the wind wind conditions it's a common thing so there's there's dag 2 the a beautiful Miley as 50 I think is the way it's pronounced and and uh I do have to admit I've got some very close friends on this boat uh people that I've sailed with for many years likes of Shan Kirk jeene and Shane garia and Dan Williams are part of the crew and um and uh you know it's owned by Rob Aldis from hary yacht club and you know it's a beautiful boat that Rob and his team actually purchased over in Europe I think I think uh in the Mediterranean they did a bit of racing over in the Mediterranean I understand and and bought the boat back to Australia and and are committed to a a pretty pretty significant sailing program so good luck to Robin his crew good luck to to my mates there um it's going to be a cold evening I expect for you boys but um pretty woman we've seen and featured in the uh footage quite a bit today you can as we said they they've started very strongly they're in this same mix um you know just just drop behind the TPS now as you would expect uh 45 ft but um really well sailed very well positioned they're they're ahead of the Santa Cruz 72 Antiquities and uh and and right up there and it also looks like they might be going for a gy change with the crew on the four deck so well done to Richard sort of the pre pre you know the early race leader I would almost say on on IRC handicap it's it's pretty glorious out here now Tom that all that Cloud's gone we got blue skies we've got 8 to 10 knots of breze we got Flat Water this is about as good as it gets this part of the these conditions it's um yeah it's rather lovely oh look at this who we've got now I don't know if we're going to get this into shot but we've got m the first two-hander just coming round South head they are very well positioned here she is coming into sh there we are so you see the the orange stripe at the back there that's rer Henry and Gregor sh they've got a brand new set of sails on that boat she's nicely bowed down she's got the stern out the water no drag she's powered up and she's with she's 34t that boat yeah and she's here with s with with the 40 Footers um Tempo 44 footer well and Tempo is a boat we spoke about uh before we came on onto the coverage wasn't it Jules uh yeah she's Canon 44 and uh and um you know very very well put together crew crew and program here um and uh the boats I think this boat is also in the mix for honors as we said at the size range that might stay in that stronger Breeze and a very good boat downwind they've uh I know they've been working very hard at their downwind configurations in particular and um you know Tempo I think is is is a boat that is one to watch uh for IRC honors I I think reaching and running is going to suit her and Michael Smith um you know really good team and and I think uh Matt Pierce one of the one of the crew who's who's been instrumental in helping put that program together they're well positioned and um you know I I bet that crew is looking forward to the uh the reaching and running that's coming they're going to have some big sales on and pushing that boat hard yeah she'll be nicely set up for for these conditions there some lovely footage those guys got on there so that will be absolutely delighted look at that b very interesting so MRA doesn't live in the water she's dry sailed so rer keeps her on the hard stand so she's got no anti-al on the bottom I know a lot of the boats in Europe do that we don't have much space here in Sydney there's a generally large apartment blocks near the Waterfront cuz it's premium land but there's a couple of yards that have got space ruper keeps his boat on the hard stand I always get a bit jealous of that nice shiny fiberglass bottom when we racing them Greg or Shay on the Hound there you see Greg rid's gone [Music] downstairs yeah they're not on they not using the aut pilot they hand steering at this point look at the bow sprit there nice big bow sprit very well prepared you know you look at the attention to detail that that rer and his team put into every detail in that boat particularly the rig I've been the Beno 53 Odin so I think we spoke about them earlier perhaps Matthew hanning I I believe the owner's name is Matthews uh campaigns a lot of does lot of sailing this is his beautiful beautiful Beno 53 it'll be a a great race for them um and uh and uh but mat Matthew also I believe is maybe previously or still is in the uh MCC 38 Fleet so uh you know put together a good team and and probably more of the one of the more comfortable boats probably one I wouldn't mind choosing to go do a race like this when it's uh it's good it's good cuz when you go off watch you can have a hot shower before you go to bed so that's a big Advantage don't unell it they'll be pushing hard don't worry about that Jules but now now on picture um this boat is is just been renamed uh some of you might recognize the the paint job and and obviously the S exchange so previously owned by by CW so this boa cookson 12 has um is a very and it's great to see the new owner out here um racing in the in the no Sydney Gold Coast and um you know this size range this this size range again could be in the mix um I'm interested to watch uh particularly if there's more Southwest uh in the breeze in the west uh this boat will have symmetrical spiners and a bit more Square running um might might um might be in the mix to be honest it's uh it's a it's a promising size range I think for this race and they'll have a very good race against the other cookson 12 known as caliber uh so vot on boat will'll be very close and I'm sure we'll find caliber out here on the excess moment here Tom what can you you know so much about these boats Tom what tell us the Oracle Tom the Oracle Barker what can you tell us about excess moment uh excess moment so on XP 44 uh and a lot of offshore racing both both out of pit out of the harbor out of Sydney Harbor and look at them they'll uh they'll have a good time I think that's uh Chris zoner in the in the middle of the boat who plays a very important role for our racing in Australian sailing and the administration of of our rating rules so thank you to Chris and team but um X the xp44 you know very good IRC boat there there's been a few of them internationally that have uh that have um got some great results and um you know maybe not the reaching and running conditions they're probably looking for a bit more varied conditions and all round conditions I I would expect um but uh they're going to they're going to sell the boat very hard I'm quite sure now this is going to be a tricky one with the uh the sun in the background a lovely shot but quite hard to pick out who this boat is a Sailing Boat Tom it's definitely sailing Bo Mond Mondo Lisa go Lisa so another very committed uh Blue Water racer Lisa the skipper of that boat runs a very committed campaign regular Hobart contenders they sail the boat well and that's a it's a lot this class has been around for 25 years now the Sydney 38s and they keep going I've done I think I've done four hob Barts on them they're seaworthy boats they're good boats to sail nice size and uh it's great to see that class still thriving after so many years I tell you what Mondo's in a good spot there they they've taken more of a middle line through the heads and uh you know they they they are clearly the um first of the Sydney 38s and and um this boat further down towards South head uh this is manua uh so um manua owned by Edward Cox um just double cheing that I've got my detail there cuz we're a little bit of a distance away but um she's a dk43 and um and uh Edward Cox of course uh the son of uh Timothy Cox and we acknowledge uh Timothy Tim unfortunately passed away not too long ago and uh was a was a pretty imperative part of uh the Cyca and a and a very big uh volunteer role and um often operating as the race director for our Ro Sydney Hobart race so we acknowledged him and and sad sad that he's no longer with us but good luck to Edward and his team DK 43 again I I like this sort of size range um for this race but but again the DK probably is a boat that wants a little bit more varied conditions isn't it good to see these boats sailing now Tom very tricky for these guys and girls getting out the harbor and they're now getting into the breeze they're rolling on quite nicely and I have to say I'm very excited about this next little bit of the fleet because all my we're getting to where they are and been raced uh out of Sydney for for for quite a number of years Charles coopet is the owner really nice boats the the Sydney 47s and this this one has has some really good pedigree um has very successful boat when it was first launched by Graham Graham wood I think the original and uh really beautiful caliber here Triple 7 77 so I mentioned caliber earlier she's another one of the cooks and 12s and um you know obviously krei has just got a little bit of a jump on the water but not that much and and um they'll sail really really well Patriot you see Patriot there coming across the screen J 130 Patriots had a very up here from Melbourne and they've campaigned this boat hard they're big offshore Sailors they've won division in the Sydney Hobart and they've got second in the west coas of the Wild West coaster from Melbourne ran to hobar on the uh the wrong [Music] side very well their division uh now they got the runs on the board and a very experienced crew as you said so best of luck to Jason F on the team and there we go there's my mate kogy clog he's he's he's done so many ocean miles cos no together and he's uh we're not racing the weather gear ready for action must be a bit warm in this sunshine I reckon you two but you never know no now Jang did a was this the that she and then she shipped it out to Australia is that that's right so Jang was over there with us last year CLS and I went and did the fast we charted a boat at j99 and Jiang had a bit of bad luck it was a relatively was brand new boat and we were just coming to the RSC we hit a nasty front as we as we um came to the shipping Landes and she had a breakage on her auto pilot so they had to bail out about the third of the way through the race so we waved goodbye to them they headed back to France and we carried on into a very nasty Seaway um there's the two of them focusing hard kogy loves loves these conditions just keeping the boat working you can see him kneeling up on the side of the boat there looking around seeing where the breeze is and here's another another two-hander Jim merchon on Avalanche he's a down from the pit water merch and he bought this boat uh up from Melbourne and he's done a lot work to configure this this who I learned this morning tried to land what do you call it Tom land wind surf across Australia uh my good mate James Francis Jimmy he's uh he's he's a mate who I met through the youth sailing Academy we came through about the same time and um a very good sailor very good skiff sailor James Francis and done done a lot of crazy things but and here we've got Rell I'm going to cut you off there Tom because this is an important boat Shane Connelly j99 we got four j99 in the double handed division Shane giving us away they're already having lunch look at those boys they're ready they're relaxed having a little sandwich you reckon he's got a g or something I don't know about that but he's Shane's grown a beard for this race to fend off the cold right saw the forecast and he um he's grown a beard to keep himself warm so there um there's a lot of competition with those j99 he'll be very happy to be the first one of [Music] those and they starting to make a bit of bit of good progress out of their heads it's still pretty variable breezes up and down but um Tom we got San con here s yeah another Well campaigned Sydney 38 these uh This Crew has been done a huge amount of miles and they um unfortunately without their owner in this race who was was taken ill a few weeks ago so it's fabulous that his crews out campaigning the boat in uh in Kim's absence so I'm sending all the best for a fast recovery Kim and um hope your your team sales sank on suitably fast in this race and uh some old friends of mine on S con and I'll have to apolog from our French pronunciation I probably haven't got that right but sounds PR some old friends of that I raced with on AFR midnight rambl Chris rockle there on the helm and next one to screen is yeah baby this is uh uh what well this is a crude boat but it previously was built for short-handed ocean sailing class 40 one of the early iterations pretty bulletproof that boat it was actually that boat was one line honors in the first ever two-handed Sydney Hobart 2021 you look at look at that you can go through pretty much anything in that boat they will be relishing in this full love this forecast I mean they won't like this light air right now but uh but uh the Rickman twins owners of vol year baby they've got a long time crew uh together they've been sailing together for many many years and um you know I reckon they're up like some fun they're going to get up and boogie and they they're going to want uh as much as much Breeze as this forecast is going to give them I think so that's uh that's great and philosopher the Sydney 36 yeah that's a story boat originally well not originally but um David Henry most recently owned it David campaigned the Sydney he did the Sydney hot two-handed aged 80 so if you think you're feeling old you got no excuse David Henry Rupert's father fantastic competitor and he actually won the two-handed division on that boat last year now sailed crude and again you know boats like that may come into the mix as I can see the possibility of some real Square running in this uh forecast and uh a boat like that a Sydney 36 a very good upwind and downwind boat and they get to pull back some of the some of the boats around them that race asymmetrics could be um here we got gwm pennant Hills another Beno 47.7 they've done very well in these offshore races is it the conditions for them we'll see what happens Pac-Man twoh handers we talked about them earlier on um they came off that line very well and they've got a great big Mains on that boat so they'll be um hoping to get that working hard we got Georgia Express Georgia Express M 36 36 young owner relatively new team you can see their start but they've been working very hard and they're going to be sailing hard this year just the north of them saltwater wine that's a jpk 1080 uh owned by uh father and son out of Newcastle very strong contenders another um colleague of yours from the youth sing Academy Tom that's it there we go look Georgia Express there Georgia Express you know very light just here for these people another another far design the mum 36 and again they could do quite well in the in the in the running they'll enjoy going downwind but the reaching uh may may not be their favorite point of sale but yeah just on salt water one very very talented sailor Jamie and and it's uh really really cool to see Father and Son combo together and wish them all the luck for this race and and and um they've been doing a lot of time on the water you you you see their results and um you know they'll be in the mix I reckon with the two handers so best of luck they so the jpk Tom I think it's worth having a little chat about these hole shapes you if we've got this um the reaching conditions the jpk if that wind's a little bit more Westerly they'll be going very fast they'll be better they'll enjoy that more than the j99 will the j99 will like it if it's a little squarer um I think the conditions in all yacht racing you've got to design a boat that's optimized for the they'll be ring out the West be and the rest of the j99 the one it coming SP poles symmetric kits on and the poles back here's Clockwork now this is another Sydney 38 these guys have sailed all the way from Adelaide um they were came up brought the boat up to Sydney for the Hobart this year and there were some fantastic shots of these uh these guys sailing around Tasman Island in that big front that came through 45 knots 6 meter breaking Seas some wonderful shots of them with their orange storm sails up sailing through some really gnarly conditions so it didn't deter them they took the boat back to Adelaide they brought it up here another j99 this is blue planet and blue planet has optimizations they've done these two now and that's a big part of it getting the miles together with your co- Skipper so that you know how where where each other's strengths and weaknesses are and uh where where you can perform best now just take a note there as we uh of that j99 looks like a very light weather dup that they've got on yeah I was looking at that time I wonder if it's you can see how how seethrough it is so very very small amounts of uh of fiber where we say through the through the panels um or it's a paneled sale I think by the looks of it and um you know maybe specially built for these these very light airs which Jason um put a lot of work and preparation into this so Jason will be uh be very be a very proud moment I think for Jason big achievement just to get to the start line right and I think Jason I think Jason is the youngest Skipper in the fleet that that would make sense yeah so he's um he spent he spent his career getting everyone else's boats in order and now he's got his boat and he's got it very tidy yeah it's actually his father's boat that he's persuaded him to let loose on the open oceans now we got something very interesting happening over here if we can get a shot of this boat I believe that's Supernova they've got their Drifter so Supernova is just out of shot but this is rag time on on on shot but we'll come back around to Supernova but rag time you know beautiful jbo uh another j130 really has done a lot of sailing and and here's the we go look at this talking about she doing and they've got a very and they've hoisted it high to get away from that uh the confusion of where the wind meets the water and try and get slightly better breeze up there see how that's working for them they're just getting going I think what's happened here Tom since the bigger boats came through the heads the wind has eased off a little bit here so it's gone a little bit lighter again so the boats the boats offshore have still got good heel on and they they'll be making good gains on the boats that are coming through here now yeah I I completely agree it's certainly softer um but the other thing I'd say is that looking at the angles that many boats are sailing through the breeze has gone to the left uh more into the Northwest uh so they so so what we're seeing is that remember the big boats were flopping from Port to starboard Tack and um and uh whereas some of these boats are getting a chance to sail more straight line and just to show how variable the conditions are and the completely opposite end of what I've just said Jupiter who is the most southern boat here on starbo attack so they're getting a whisper of a of a of a southerly breeze um so it's it's it's very changeable this this this weather here um it's uh it's almost at the point I think many of these Crews will be welcoming the extra Breeze as it comes 888 is CH Bella got a Code Zero going out got a Code Zero going out that's different conditions lovely I think a roughly 50t uh hansy boat and um great to have them on board and and similar to what I just said about uh Juniper they they're on southe they're actually on Staring T so they're they're getting a whisper of a southerly or or southeaster yeah there's another um conversion Zone there isn't there it's going to be that's why it's so tricky to get through so so it's taken these boats an hour and 40 minutes to get to their heads that's um that's a long time that's a long time yeah and Making Waves Foundation kale so this boat definitely deserves some recognition Making Waves of course the uh the the sailing with disabilities program and uh Skipper a very good friend of mine John whitfeld and and Annie Lawrence's Navigator wonderful program that this uh Making Waves puts together to give opportunities to people uh I think it's roughly half This Crew living with the disability of some form or another and um very famous boat Lions 54 um it's been a long time campaigner of Cyca events and and other racing around and I think at one point in time actually maybe it still does I believe uh it at one point uh owned the round Australia record I'll have to go back and check my notes on that but great to have uh John Annie and their whole team heading north this year good luck to you guys in this shot here you can see you can't quite see it we got boats on starboard but 100 me ahead of them we got boats on Port yeah this is we got code code zeros we've got got jibs something interesting going here The Navigators will be looking at the wind observ look at this shot this is a good shot so now we can see that with this is South head we're looking down onto you can see that dark line just off Darman Bay up in the top left of your screen there's a bit of pressure there you can see the calm zones around South head you don't want to be in there there's a little bit of Breeze in the middle but it's very light you can see that boat in the top left of your screen now with the co the white um might even be a Spiner is it Tom might even be an as we got there just trying to make the picture oh no that big white SP is the CH out that we spoke about earlier that unfold there and you can see just in front of that white Spa the the codo you've got that calm spot then you can see the darker pressure further out to sea when they get to that they'll be off but that line of pressure has moved a little further offshore so it's been a bit of a punish for these boats back here yeah they'll be working hard it doesn't matter if you're on a big boat or a small boat everyone's racing extremely hard pushing pushing hard and um you know it's wonderful to see the fleet have such a diverse Fleet and uh you know good example son of a son far 1104 um you know very very famous boats of the 70s and 80s um a sister ship to son of sun uh Piccolo won a Hobart race back in the 70s I think about 77 and uh great to have that team down screen now we've got in sailed by two good friends of mine we've got and Andrea Davey who works in the sailing office at the cyc and came and did the uh Autumn the lon Island series pit water young sailor and a very experienced sailor you got this is probably the I think it's the second or third big offshore race for Andrea she's just been and done the round Ireland race Wendy did the round Island race as well on a different boat and the owner uh in Mark has very kindly given his boat for the two of them another two-hander famous boat here cat wincher maritimo as the sponsor Michael spe is a very experienced ocean racer and they've got that boat in absolute Mint Condition I having a look at on the dock this morning 1951 I believe this boat was built in 1904 so it's 120 years old pretty much rebuilt the but they um have and Speedy was telling me that they reckon they're going to get in Monday afternoon so she may be small she may be old but she's going to go pretty quickly down that on that downwind and down those waves and we can we'll see how that plays out they're getting a spin ready on the for now bit of a change we're getting close to the end of our um coverage here ju so we might might be uh shortly doing a bit of a recap of the start but you know most of the fleet are just about out the heads as You' seen um it's a beautiful afternoon here um and uh you know almost shirts and shorts sailing with this sun that's come and joined us but uh as we've alluded to earlier it's going to be a bit different once that Westerly kicks in overnight and and then really picks up from the southwest yeah that's right Tom like these it looks pretty glorious right now fast forward 12 hours and it's going to be windy it's going to be getting rough pretty quickly there's going to be talking of 5 to six meter waves these boats going to have to contend with it's going to be cold it's going to be some rain as the front comes through so it's going to be very different to what we're watching now but it's been a fantastically tricky start for these boats so they've uh they've certainly used some mental energy to get to this point and they'll be very pleased to be getting into some pressure look at the kites out there now and um so with that we might uh do a bit of a review of the start that's uh as I said most of the fleet are out but we'll be wrapping up in a few minutes and um uh but we'll we'll do a quick re re review of the St uh to to wrap up our coverage but lovely shot there of Sydney and here we go this is the start look at that shot a little bit of a sag in the middle of the line there but but pretty accurate and as we spoke about at the time lot of the two-handers up the uh Western end you know the bottom of the screen getting away and I think we decided that that was Pac-Man that was right right at the uh right at the pin and um you can see how the how the big boats sort of to the middle and Bott bottom end of the line or the Eastern end of the line started to poke out and this was a view from that opposite end urm obviously got away to a good start the the twins the Rickman twins on uh B Star yeah baby there with the yellow piece got yellow at the top of their main very good time on distance start well done to them and and uh you know the fleet got away you know it's really tricky in that light air to get your time on distance right so I'm I'm really impressed with the way that Fleet right up on the line and got away couple of boats sort of in a second row there but very good all right well thank you thank you Tom thank you everyone for watching I hope you've enjoyed it it's uh it's been I was going to say it hasn't quite been seated of the edge stuff but it's certainly been extremely interesting seeing how the boats come out and it's going to be really good to keep following this race so get onto the tracker follow the socials there's going to be some exciting sailing coming up tonight and all the best sa safe to everyone competing and we will hopefully see the rest of you back at the club there'll be plenty of coverage on the big screens we've got the Olympic coverage the cyc is an official live site over the next fortnite so come down to the club have a meal have a drink enjoy the sport and um thank you for joining us today [Music] I [Music] I [Music] [Applause]