The leg from Bora Bora to Vavau, Tonga is in sections with short stopovers in Suwarrow and Niue.

The fleet was divided into two with those who participated in the Pearl Regatta starting 3 days after us. In practice there were 2 other groups, 5 yachts missing Suwarrow and visiting Raratonga instead.  Another growing group is the 5 or 6 who did not start because of repairs, illness etc. we hope they are not too long delayed. we have almost a month free cruising in Tonga and Fiji so I expect most will catch up before the Musket Cove rendezvous.

We started the leg under mainsail alone, but after 10 minutes turned downwind and hoisted the twistle rig which we had prepared on the mooring. This specialized downwind ocean rig remained untouched until we crossed the finishing line at 4 am 5 days later. The small revisions we had made enabled this very easy sail. Lady Lisa and Lady Eve were very fast but I am sure we had the most comfortable ride.

Arriving in the early hours meant we had to kill time for 4 hours before there was enough light to enter the pass. Suwarrow, part of the Cook Islands is a nature reserve of importance for its bird life. Sadly the warden had not arrived so we could not enjoy this atoll to the full. After 30 hours and a pot-luck supper ashore we left to sail to Niue.

After a windless start, we are now "enjoying" boisterous conditions as we head for Niue, one of the smallest countries in the World. The weather is dominated by a fast moving system to our south so conditions are very varied. We are setting sail for comfort rather than  speed as we did not get too much sleep last night! Hopefully we will get to Niue early in the morning of the 26^th.