As for the route, we expect the first distance leg to be downwind. Tuesday should be mostly a reach with a little downwind. The 3rd day (Wed.) we will be going downwind in between 2 islands in what is essentially a salt water river. That evening, Wed. evening we will camp at a resort at the "mouth of the river". Can you say "warm shower"? Sure ya can!

The 4th day (Thurs.) should be another reach. And the last day will be the most difficult and the most fun -- surfing downwind on huge Pacific swells for 57 nm!!

The winds are predominantly northeasterly, although southeasterlies could change some of the legs to upwind! Current will be a tactical factor. The islands will change the wind direction, so we are expecting lifts and headers.

Competition includes mostly Aussies -- Aaron Worrall ran away with the 16 NACs in Alameda last summer and was, like, 19th at Worlds. Expect him to dominate. Bob Engwirda has won this event several times (sailing with Aaron and Worstie) and will be a huge factor. Bruce Tardrew will also be tough. I just noticed 2 teams, including Andrew Locke, are a scratch. We are down to 18 teams and we haven't even started yet!

Mark Haswell (PHP) has won the event before. Never sailed against him before, so don't know him. Tony Stearns (NMI) is a veteran of this event. But we have beaten them at 2 Worlds, so I am hoping we can three-peat. The others I don't know about. So all-in-all, I see about 6 of the teams being tough, with the others being unknown.