Australian victory on home soil as Gold Coast Australia continues winning streak

Sunday 30 October 2011
Chrissey Moore was on hand to welcome BAMO and the victorious Gold Coast Australia crew back onto Aussie soil. Here are some excerpts from the Clipper website ...

Gold Coast Australia has continued its winning streak, recording a fourth consecutive victory in the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race. The team finished Race 4 of the 40,000-mile circumnavigation at 07.04am Sunday October 30.

The victorious Gold Coast Aust crew (BAMO is sixth from the left)

 Skipper Richard Hewson, 31 said “It’s fantastic to be home.”
Asked about the secret to their continuing success, Richard said “It’s down to good management and good sailing. The guys pushed really hard, we’re a good team and everyone works hard and really deserves this.”
During the race the team had a severe spinnaker wrap that cost them their workhorse heavyweight kite.
“The spinnaker issue was quite full on – we knew we had a big storm approaching and when the spinnaker wrapped we knew we had to get it down. If we didn’t then we probably would have lost the rig so there was no choice but to cut it away.”
In addition to the ten points for winning this race Gold Coast Australia also secured three bonus points for being the first team to reach the Scoring Gate. Visit Finland denied them a clean sweep by beating them in the Ocean Sprint.
Their arrival in Geraldton marks the end of a gruelling, 3.5-week, 4,800-mile race across one of the planet’s most feared and forbidding expanses of ocean during which they had to dodge icebergs and deal with mountainous waves whipped up by winds of up to 70 knots.
During the race from Cape Town, South Africa, Gold Coast Australia raced across the Southern Ocean, descending to latitude 48 south deep in the Roaring Forties. Rain, hail and even snow blown up from the Antarctic made for uncomfortable living conditions on board the stripped down 68-foot yachts as they battled their way towards the sunshine and glorious beaches of Western Australia.
The yachts will spend the week in Geraldton before setting sail for Tauranga in New Zealand. It is a much anticipated return visit to the West Australian port that became an instant hit with the crews when the city hosted its inaugural stopover during the last edition of the event, Clipper 09-10.
Among the activities during the stopover the crews will enjoy the typically Australian atmosphere of Melbourne Cup Day with a day out at the Geraldton Turf Club and a visit the beautiful Abrolhos Islands.
For the start of the next stage of the race, on Sunday 6 November, there will be a stunning Parade of Sail past the Foreshore which will featuring all ten yachts in formation.
Dutch entry, De Lage Landen, is expected to arrive in Geraldton tomorrow, with six more of the teams, including the home yacht, Geraldton Western Australia, anticipated on Tuesday ....

More feedback from Chrissey & BAMO to come.