Pre-Race - 2018 Solo Tasman Yacht Race

After being greeted and welcomed back as a returning competitor by the committee, I cleared customs and immigration the next morning. During the night my mooring buoy (large steel float) was drifting under the boat and knocking on the hull which was annoying and made sleep difficult. At high tide I found the issue. It appeared the chain between the buoy and the concrete block had become tangled around the block and the buoy was being dragged underwater, which then allowed it to glide under mu bow and knock on the hull.

Later that day Davac conducted the safety inspection and we passed without issue. 

Davac had arranged the use of a tender on my return but in the meantime Malcolm (Sarau) dropped by in his tender to say hi and help me add a fender to the mooring buoy until the diver could sort out the chain issue. Later that afternoon Hamish (Zenith) dropped by and took me over to his mum and dads stunning Dickson 55 for some sunsetters......and a few more post sunset! I met their lovely family Joan and Kate and enjoyed the company after 12 days at sea.

The following day I put the old Rogue to bed and I flew back to AUS for a week of work before returning for the pre-race activities. 

At that stage only Ocean Gem (Tas-NZ) and Rogue Wave had made the delivery voyage. The conditions in the Tasman prevented all other AUS entrants from completing the crossing......as I said, making it to the start line is an achievement in itself.

The race went from being full with around 20 starters plus a waiting list and finally only six made it to the start line:

Malcolm Dickson - Sarau (Dickson 55)

Hamish Dickson - Zenith (Dickson 45)

David Hows - Ocean Gem (Beneteau 445)

Geoff Thorn - Am Meer (Bavaria 38)

Graham Francis - Robbery (Wilson 36)

Kevin Le Poidevin - Rogue Wave (Sigma 36)