Frre Fire moves ahead

Lindsay Lyons reports on day two of the San Fernando race

At 8am this morning the fleet had started to string out, with Ffree Fire moving up to the front, shadowed closely by Mandrake. A cluster of competitors, including Siren, Jaywalker, Hocux Pocux 2, solitary catamaran Zuma and DK46 Drumstick, are making the most of the 28 knot breeze, now at 50 degrees, and are positioned only 20nm back from the front runners.

With sustained breeeze and rough seas, the 2005 San Fernando Race has already suffered two retirements. Peter Cremer's Warwick 55 Shahtoosh experienced problems with a rudder seal and was forced to retire overnight and Paul Leese's Tayana 42, Escapade turned back for Hong Kong shortly after the 0800 radio sched with a sick crew member.

If conditions hold up, Ffree Fire and Mandrake are expected to finish tomorrow morning, with ETAs just inside Ffree Fire's current record of 49 hours 55 minutes and 12 seconds, however the result could be determined by the notorious Philippine coastal breezes or lack thereof.

Position update:

Boat Name	DFS	DTF	Boat speed	ETA
Ffree Fire	204	280	11.1	26/03/2005 09:29
Mandrake	192	292	10.6	26/03/2005 11:44
Siren	178	304	10	26/03/2005 14:40
Jaywalker	173	310	9.1	26/03/2005 18:31
Hocux Pocux 2	173	309	8.9	26/03/2005 19:01
Zuma	173	308	8.7	26/03/2005 20:01
Drumstick	172	317	8.6	26/03/2005 21:08
Ocean Girl	160	328	8.4	26/03/2005 23:32
Wizard	146	336	8.4	27/03/2005 00:26
Polar Star III	148	333	7.8	27/03/2005 03:17
Outrageous	142	348	7.1	27/03/2005 09:12
Soko	135	347	7.1	27/03/2005 09:07
Moonblue	138	344	6.9	27/03/2005 10:17
Tui Tai	130	352	6.9	27/03/2005 11:20
Zephyr 2	136	346	6.8	27/03/2005 11:28
Quest	135	352	6.9	27/03/2005 11:33
Barnstormer	148	333	6.3	27/03/2005 13:38
The Farr Side	127	354	6.5	27/03/2005 14:46
Dolphin Six	141	345	6.2	27/03/2005 15:52
Trilogy HK	110	373	5.5	28/03/2005 04:22
Irmgard	119	362	5.3	28/03/2005 04:49
Cave Canem	130	369	5.1	28/03/2005 09:16
Koon Woon	111	371	4.7	28/03/2005 15:10
Escapade	113	369	4.5	28/03/2005 18:00
Shahtoosh	ret	ret	ret	ret