Phil Marshall's team must be well up the Derwent and close to Constitution Dock now; unfortunately, being on the highway somewhere north of Sorrell with very patchy signal, it's very hard to tell.
The wind has picked up in the south this morning with up to 30 knots at times in Hobart from the north-west.
This explains the boats' sudden increase in speed and will push the rest of the fleet along nicely.
Last year the top teams didn't arrive in Hobart until after 4pm even after leaving Coles Bay at roughly the same times. Terry gave Phil about the same head start from Coles in both 2008 and 09 and last year caught up to finish in Hobart at the same time, so it will be interesting to see how far behind he is now. One thing is for sure, his runners Andrew Kromar and Clarence Blake won't be letting Tim Piper and Mark Guy off without a challenge.