Selamat tinggal Bali: Goodbye Bali

The World ARC fleet restarted from Bali at midday today, to make the 1110 nautical mile passage to their next landfall on Australia’s Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The boats which started today join the four World ARC boats already at sea and all are expected to make landfall in Cocos Islands at the beginning of next week. The conditions at the start were good and most of the fleet crossed the line under full sail providing an great spectacle to mark the end of a very enjoyable time in Bali.

The first boat across the start line was the Privilege 435 Destiny, fully crewed and skippered by Thomas Wibberenz. The second across the line and the first monhull, was the Dutch Contest 50 Drammer, crewed by Hans and Emmy Huis in’t Veld. The remainder of the fleet followed on in quick succession, with most crossing at the more favourable committee boat end of the line. That was fortuitous because the committee boat was the World ARC boat Skylark, whose crew were saying goodbye to the fleet as they leave the rally and continue up through South East Asia to Malaysia.

The fleet exited the start line and headed for the south end on Bali on a reach. Once clear of the southern shores of the island the fleet turned west and made a course for Cocos (Keeling) Islands, following parallel to the southern islands of Indonesia. The forecast for the route predicts lighter winds than desired but at least from the east to south east. With such conditions, the fleet are expect to make landfall in Cocos around 20 September.