42 deg 52' S, 147 deg 20' E -- Hobart

Great finish to the race, fourth among Clipper, 29th among all boats. (There's some handicap system under which we do a bit less well,but I'll ignore that.) Heck, over thirty boats retired, so just finishing was an accomplishment. We were twenty minutes behind LMAX for a podium spot, which is a bit frustrating, but I'm going to be 'glass 90% full' about this. The boat behind is was only about five minutes slower. Most Clippers were within a few hours, so all very exciting.

At one point on the final run, we were surrounded by what must have been several hundred dolphins, swimming alongside but also leaping and twisting. Pretty amazing! Had a bit of chaos as we crossed the line and tried a different approach to kite drop that confused people a bit, but we sorted that.

The welcome into Hobart was great, huge cheering crowds and a really welcoming atmosphere. I also had the unexpected pleasure of a personal greeting party, Ann, Peter, and May,  parents and sister of my friend Roger, who is from Hobart. It was great to have friendly (if unfamiliar) facts to welcome me in, and in just sorry I didn't manage to take them up on their very generous offers of hospitality. There was just too much going on in too short a stop.

Off tomorrow to Airlie Beach. Morale is high after this race, and conditions are forecast to be ok... I think.

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I will put together a post on Hobart. And the is still one coming on Sydney. And some photos. It's just really busy. And on that note, apologies for slow answers to messages. I really appreciate all the support, but I'm just having trouble keeping up sometimes.