Strewth leads battered flet

Geoff Hill's TP52 sets the pace in the Royal Hong YC's San Fernando Race

Strengthening conditions overnight have helped TP52 Strewth build up a commanding lead over a slightly battered fleet; with a current ETA in San Fernando of 1130 tomorrow, Strewth threatens to smash the record of 49h 55m 12s held since 2001 by FfreeFire 70 – Geoff Hill and his boys just need to finish before 14:15:12 and after Strewth’s exit from last year’s Rolex China Sea Race, line honours plus record would be just the tonic for the laid back Aussie.

The 'Luzon hole' has scuppered many a previous attempt on the record and may yet spoil this year’s party, but the fleet has been making great progress over the first 24 hours. 60nm back, Peter Forsythe’s brand new X-55, Xena, christened as recently as 26 March, is hot on the transom of Pete Churchouse’s Moonblue 2, with Marcel Liedts’ Blauwvoet a further 10nm back, the three boats fighting for line honours in IRC Premier Cruising.

At 1730hrs today, the next IRC Racing boat in the fleet is another brand new boat, this time Anthony Root’s Archambault 35 Red Kite II – the smallest boat in the fleet, but clearly not the slowest. Some 30nm further back, the remaining monohulls lie within 20nm of each other, leaving the final race positions wide open while lone multihull Long Reef lies 60nm further back, just past Pratas Island.

A rough first night left Wizard under tri-sail after ripping her main, and Julan continues to race, seemingly none the worse for wear after fixing an overnight steerage problem. The weather report overnight was of clear skies, full moon and filling in to 22 knots, demonstrating why the relatively short distance of the San Fernando Race, at 480nm, belies the challenge it has offered to participants, particularly offshore first-timers, for the past 32 years.