Tasmanian ocean racing rival yachts Mr Kite and The Fork in the Road tonight are locked in a duel for line honours in the 89 nautical mile Veolia Enviromental Services Bruny Island Race,  Australia’s oldest long inshore/offshore yacht race.

At the 22:35 ‘sked’ with the fleet,  less than a mile separated the two boats,  with The Fork in the Road sailing into  the northern end of Trumpeter Bay, having regained the lead from Mr Kite.

Tasmanian ocean racing rival yachts Mr Kite and The Fork in the Road tonight are locked in a duel for line honours in the 89 nautical mile Bruny Island Race,  Australia’s oldest long inshore/offshore yacht race.

At the 22:35 ‘sked’ with the fleet,  less than a mile separated the two boats,  with The Fork in the Road sailing into  the northern end of Trumpeter Bay, having regained the lead from Mr Kite.

However, five other yachts, Valheru, Dekadance, Doctor Who and Auch,  were within striking distance of the leaders as the fleet sailed north under spinnakers in the Tasman Sea up the east coast of Bruny Island,  the elongaged island south of Hobart.  They were all abeam of Cape Queen Elizabeth at the ‘sked.’

According to the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania’s satellite tracker website www.oceantrack.com.au, the leaders should finish about 1.30am. However, winds in the River Derwent are light tonight and their finishing times may be later – and not necessarily in that order.

Less than a sea mile separated the Mr Kite, Andrew Hunn’s Cape/Barrett 40, and The Fork in the Road, the Bakewell-White 45 skippered by Gary Smith,  as they sailed through the Friar Islands, a collection of rocky islets off Tasman Head at the very southern tip of Bruny shortly after 7pm.

The Fork in the Road held a narrow lead at that stage, but by 9.30pm,  Mr Kite had taken the lead and opened up a gap of three sea miles as she sailed past Adventure Bay. Close astern, to the east of Adventure Bay came Tony Lyall’s Elliott 13 Valheru which had led the fleet down the d’Entrecasteaux Channel until early this evening.

On handicap, Whistler, skippered by David Rees, and Wild West, skippered by Michael Denney, appeared to be well placed, as was Dekadance.

 The 84th Bruny Island Yacht Race has turned out to be one of the slowest in years, with the leading yachts taking more than nine hours to reach Cape Bruny at the southern tip of the elongated island after a frustrating sail down the d’Entrecasteaux  Channel.- Peter Campbell