Although the weather observations from Bicheno and Friendly Beaches show that it is still very light on the east coast, the boats must have found some wind from somewhere during the night. A private tracker aboard Tas Marine Construction has the boat positioned almost east of Coles Bay, so the leaders must be well down off the Freycinet Peninsula. It will still take them a few hours to round the peninsula, pass through Schouten Passage and possibly beat back up to Coles Bay.
Friendly Beaches and St Helens weather reports show the wind has clocked around in a full circle since the leaders set off from Lady Barron yesterday morning, which must make sailing quite frustrating, requiring constant adjustments of boat trim, course and tactics.
Alastair and I will fly over the fleet on our way to Coles Bay at about 10.30 and I hope to post with a better description of the boats' positions then.