The Bureau of Meteorology website says there is currently no wind at all in Bicheno or Swansea and only six knots at Friendly Beaches.

This could be bad news for Haphazard if all the boats are becalmed and the racing crews are able to get out the oars. It wouldn't be the first time they have been stuck in that frustrating situation - they were overtaken by Deguello in the Derwent River last year when a calm patch struck and the catamaran rowed past.

When these conditions occurred here last year Team Whistler made some big gains by putting their super-fit team on the oars (mostly the runners - it's a good warm-up apparently) and rowing through Schouten passage. A nice southerly sprung up when they got into Greate Oyster Bay so it will be interesting to see if that happens again too. If it does there is a chance that the first few boats could end up in Coles Bay very close together.