2 Days to Australia

Eowyn
Tue 20 Jul 2010 07:24
 
 
Éowyn is presently underway between Vanuatu and Mackay in position 19:17.403S 154:50.591E
 
We left Port Vila on 15th July and had a good start to the racing leg. From the start conditions favoured the bigger yachts but we were trying very hard including flying the spinnaker at night.
 
On the first night however we had a problem. Slovenian catamaran Liza has very poor nav lights almost invisible at even 200 metres. Mike called me in the night and by the time I got to the helm, Liza was only 25 metres away, with nobody awake in the cockpit. I pulled the helm to windward and broached but disaster was avoided, however we decided to drop the kite and proceed under plain sail.
 
Conditions were varied, and we tried various sail plans. Last night, with poled genoa, the rolling made sleep impossible but we caught up today.
 
We expect to arrive in Mackay on Friday after a lively beat through Hydrographers Passage.
 
We have no hope of a 1st 3 placing in this leg as Chessie, Lady Eve V1 and Ciao have gone too well in the strong winds.