Updates as received from competitors in the Tollgate Islands Race

Navy One SAT 1200HRS (17 hours after start)

Competitor Navy One retired from the Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore Tollgate Islands Race last night, 18/10/2024. All crew are safely ashore.

Co-skipper Mark Butler shared: “We had a light northeasterly breeze at the start and managed to get away well, continuing up the harbour with good progress. Once we reached the Heads and turned south, we got caught in the rain squall that swept through the whole fleet. The wind shifted almost immediately to the north, so we hoisted the spinnaker. As we gybed, and later tried to bring the kite down, it wrapped tightly around the forestay a few times. It was a really tough situation.

We couldn’t get the kite down until we reached the lee of South Head, but by that time, both the spinnaker and the forestay were damaged. With the incoming southerly, we decided to withdraw from the race.”

URM Group SAT 0600HRS (11 hours after start)

In an overnight update from URM Group, Alice Parker shares the crew’s progress as they continue the battle for position:

“We recovered well after the thunderstorm, taking a few gybes down the coast, but unfortunately found ourselves on the wrong side of the phase, while Whisper did a fantastic job managing the shifts. They were absolutely flying on the approach to Jervis Bay, incredibly fast and really putting the pressure on us!

This morning, the breeze has settled right down, and we’re now waiting for the strong southerly change to come through. The next few hours could get quite light, but we’ve managed to claw back a few miles on Whisper, and we’re in a good groove as we approach the island. There’s still plenty of racing ahead as we navigate this lighter air transition.

[0930hrs] We’re now completely becalmed just north of Tollgate Islands, maybe another hour of this. Fingers crossed for some wind!”