The first four teams have arrived in Airlie Beach’s Coral Sea Marina - congratulations to all on board!

North Queensland including Airlie Beach is currently experiencing a developing tropical storm that has formed to its north, causing torrential rain, poor visibility and gale force wind with big squalls.

The Race Management Team has been watching this weather system closely as tropical storms like this can have cyclonic tendency. There has been growing concern that this would impact the safety of the yachts and the imminent Race Finish, especially due to the challenging navigation in this area.

Yesterday Race Director, Dale Smyth, instructed all yachts to declare the passing of waypoint 14 (Virtual Mark Kulow) at bearing 230T in case there was a need to retrospectively use this for the finish results.

Dale has now concluded that for the safety of the fleet and its Race Crew, Virtual Mark Kulow will be used as the Finish Line for Stage 5. This will allow the fleet to sail slowly and with extra caution through the Great Barrier Reef area and remaining Mandatory Gates. With the visibility poor, and gusts into the forties, it will remove the pressure of racing in the trickiest section of the stage.

With Teams GOSH and UNICEF already passing Virtual Mark Kulow and making their declarations earlier today, we can announce that they have taken first and second place on Stage 5: Sta-Lok Endurance Test. A huge congratulations to both on a cracking race.

The remainder of the fleet will now race towards the finishing mark before continuing a safety-first approach in Airlie Beach.

OCEAN SPRINT RESULTS

After what was a pretty difficult section of racing, with some complicated weather, it seemed like fortune favoured the front.

Taking the bonus points on Stage 5: Sta-Lok Endurance Test are:

GOSH | 3 pointsYacht Club Punta del Este | 2 bonus pointsScotland | 1 bonus point

Well done to all teams!

With GOSH having hunted down the front-runners and become the Stage 5 leaders, it’s time to celebrate with a rave.

“Into the windhole we go! After an eternity of strong winds, as predicted it rapidly dropped and we found ourselves positioned at 43 degrees south with no wind. Hardly the Roaring Forties we know.

“With this high pressure system, we’ve been fortunate to have clear skies and, what a treat, when last night the southern lights came out for a dance!” - OBR James Chapman reporting from Team GOSH

Farewell Freo 👋 It’s fair winds and following seas as the fleet sets sail on Stage 5: Sta-Lok Endurance Test - back into the Roaring Forties and en route to Airlie Beach, Whitsundays. Catch the Start Line action…

Welcome to the stage 5 live blog, expect to find your real time race updates here.