Blink finished the Fiji race at 4:47:59 this morning, taking less than 4 days and 18 hours to complete the trip.
Skipper Tony Wells and his crew ofĀ Craig Shearer (navigator),Ā Vesna Wells, Gordie McDougall, Kim Gottard, Craig Partridge, and Luke O’Connell are looking good for strong handicap placings on both PHRF and IRC – unofficial calculations on the back of a napkin show Blink taking 3rd on PHRF and 2nd on IRC.
The early part of the race saw Blink struggling to get ahead of Crusader 35 (Anthony Leighs, Elliot 35SS) and Anarchy (AJ Reid, YD37) but about half way up the course she was ahead of both of them and chasing down Evolution Sails Hupane (Joe Brownlee, Class 40). Hupane fell to Blink on Monday and former Wellington yacht Ran Tan II (Brian Petersen, Elliot 50) was next on the list. Blink had set up to the east of the rumbline course whichĀ seemed to give them aĀ better angle and Ran Tan was taken late on Tuesday. From there Blink picked off the multihull Ave Gitana (Antonio Pasquale, Crowther 40) and held on to a narrow lead through to the finish.
You can see a record of Blink’s race here.