SV Panta Rhei Retirement Trip

We just had a day to remember. We went to North Head (the north side of the entrance to Sydney Harbor) to watch the start of the Sydney/Hobart race. There are about 6 maxi race boats that completely take your breath away. One, Comanche, is 100 feet long, has a canting keel, is 8 meters wide at the stern with dual rudders. It's an all new SPEED machine owned by Jim Clarke of the US, here to take line honors away from Wild Oats. Wild Oats has won 8 of the last 10 Sidney/Hobart races. The race start was the fastest in history with a strong tailwind followed by a turn upwind right below North Head. There were 12 helicopters, a blimp, an aircraft doing sky writing, two banner towers, at least a thousand boats, 117 race entrants. The sun was blazing and half of the people of Sydney were watching. Today, about 20 hours after the start, SV Comanche leads Wild Oats by one half mile. They are about half way to Hobart.

Tonight we are dining out with friends (Andy and Sue from SV Spruce) at a Chinese restaurant in downtown Sydney. They serve crocodile tail with broccoli, among other possibilities. After dinner we have tickets for a performance at the Opera House.

This is living in high cotton.