After four days at sea, we have finally heard from Birdies Furax², the local team from Noumea, New Caledonia. They have reported that all is well on board, and they are cruising towards Noumea, eager to race into their home waters and cross the finish line. "We blew out a spinnaker and have been fighting [...]
If you're a real follower of the Auckland Noumea Yacht Race, then you've probably aged about 10 years over the last three days from watching the tracker. Right about now you start to consider a visit to the optometrist because your sight is fuzzy and you're feeling dizzy. You struggle to stay awake during the [...]
It's going to be so close! The first Sydney boat, Frantic, is 42 miles from the finish with a SOG of 10.8 knots. The first boat in our fleet, Ran Tan II, is 42.9 miles from finishing with a SOG of 14.2 knots. What does this mean? It's going to be a close finish, but [...]
Des nouvelles fantastiques! Ran Tan a atteint le point sud de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. Ran Tan II have reached the southern point of New Caledonia! HOWEVER. We've received notification from Ran Tan regarding an issue on board. A crew member, who insists on remaining nameless, has advised they left their jandals on the dock in Auckland. [...]
On location in Noumea! Here is a quick rough and ready update as of 0830 hours local time from the balcony of the Race Management office at Port Moselle.
We've received an email from Equilibrium who have advised they are sailing under mainsail only. As we know that you are all following us on tracker you may have noticed that we have slowed somewhat. At approx 01:30 this am we discovered that the mast forestay had come loose and in fact detached itself from [...]
72 hours into the race and it's been all go from the start. The sea state has been slightly uncomfortable. Several crew feeling rough but in good spirits. Focused on keeping the boat safe and going fast. Looking forward to the breeze freeing up. All is well on board. Less than 48 hours ago we [...]
In just a few hours, the Sydney and Auckland fleets racing to Noumea, will be pirouetting around each other on the high seas as they converge. All bets are on in the Race Management Office based in Port Moselle, Noumea, with the Kiwis saying the Kiwis will be first in, and the Sydney Kangaroo folk [...]
An awesome day sailing in the South Pacific ... This is what the 2 days of pain has rewarded us with... Well its now full on and the race is tight for sure, we are regularly downloading the tracker file to keep an eye on the competition and check how re rating, its a game [...]
It was a world of pain at the start. The Auckland Noumea Yacht Race was delayed by 21 hours and started with torrential rain, which flooded the North Island of New Zealand paired with 30-40 knots of northerly. Huge seas pounded the fleet to the point where Ran Tan II reported three reefs in the [...]
