We had a Great Start

Well, we had a great start and that made us all feel good for about 30 minutes. Then the wind died where we were and it all started to get weird.

It was a long day on Port Philip bay while we all waited for the sea breeze to fill. It finally did and we were well positioned for that being most west. We got going first and had the lead at Mornington with ABN AMRO ONE coming up fast. It did not take them long to pass us upwind in 22 knots of wind, both of us on J4’s and full mains. Meanwhile, Movistar, Ericsson and Brasil 1 were having a good battle just behind us.

When we got outside the entrance to the Bay, the wind was 24 knots and the sea was very rough. There were enough helicopters around to make four feature films so they must have gotten some good footage there.

Things progressed well from there with us and ABN AMRO ONE making some small gains on the group. Then, around 00:00 local time, we caught ABN AMRO ONE and they set a course to pass behind and to leeward of us. They eventually came back out in front by