Six Of The Best

The New Zealand "summer that never was" is presenting a challenge as the Volvo Ocean Race heads to Auckland.
A developing low around Fiji has given 4th-placed NZ/Spanish boat Camper only a slim chance of winning the fourth leg of the round-the-world
race.
Meteorologists feel a
24-hour drag-race south is on the cards before the six boats turn towards NZ's North Cape, and slug it out against the wind to the finish in Auckland. The first boat is expected to arrive in Auckland on Saturday...
but head of the Camper/Emirates Team NZ syndicate Grant Dalton believes Camper "just isn't fast enough" to take line honours. While many hoped for the NZ-flagged boat to lead the six-boat fleet into Auckland - to mark the return of the race to the city after 10 years - Camper is struggling in fourth spot, 200 miles behind leading French boat Groupama with less than 1000 miles to sail in this fourth leg.
However Dalton is not giving up hope of Camper winning the race overall. It will rely on its robustness and heavy airs strength to propel it through the only Southern Ocean leg - Auckland-Brazil, starting 18th March: "It's a very short stopover here, and there'll be a huge element of fatigue in all the boats. Some will manage it, some won't. Little things creep in at this point. The Southern Ocean can be easy and it can be hell. Heading down, you always get one boat damaged on the way to the Horn." Dalton is banking on Camper surviving the southern latitudes and taking opportunities where it can for the rest of the race.
In the meantime, a free public party has been lined up at the Race Village in the Viaduct. A rolling programme of entertainment will run for 12 hours each day, from 9am-9pm. The days are being themed around the home nations of the participating yachts – China, France, NZ, Spain, United Arab Emirates and the US, as well as Brazil because it's the next stopover and Ireland because that's where the race will finish. The yachts will be moored in Pit Lane, where visitors can get a closer look at the world's fastest monohulls.

Shutting Down The 2012 Whaling

The sat phone brought long-awaited news to Paul Watson: "Eureka! We have the Nisshin Maru in our sights!"
NM and her three harpoon boats were found by Bob Barker on Monday in Commonwealth Bay, sixty miles off the Antarctic Coast, inside the Australian Economic Exclusion Zone. Yushin Maru 3 had just arrived from tailing Steve Irwin. Despite the three harpoon vessels trying to block BB, it slipped past and IDed the factory ship...and two of the harpoon vessels chasing whales. All whaling activity stopped as NM tried to run away, but the faster BB gained steadily.
Captain Peter Hammarstedt: "With BB on their stern slipway, whaling is effectively shut down for 2012."
But the whalers weren't taking their discovery lieing down. Sydney Morning Herald reports that as BB closed in, two harpoon ships turned for it in growing darkness and snowfall. They passed dangerously across BB's bow, dragging 300m cables in an attempt to foul it's propeller. The harpoon ships trained their spotlights on the bridge, attempting to blind the crew, but backed off when BB retaliated with lasers. Flares were fired and angry radio messages exchanged in Japanese and English.

Nippon whalers try long-lining...
with steel cable!!!

Faster and more manoeuvrable, the harpoon ships harried its crew at close quarters for hours, attempting to prevent it from pursuing NM... but in vain. SS's teeth are now clamped firmly across the neck of the nasty Nippon butchery ship. 
Watson: "This has been a long tough campaign, with the worst weather and ice conditions we've experienced in the entire eight seasons we have been in the Southern Ocean. Despite the temporary loss of our scout ship Brigitte Bardot, we've kept them on the run, taken two of their three harpoon vessels off the hunt for two months, severely crippled their killing capabilities, and now once again we've shut them down 100%. Operation Divine Wind has been enormously successful!"
Now SS's flagship SI heads for Melbourne with Japanese security ship Shonan Maru 2 tailing. SI successfully led SM2 and YM3 away from BB, to allow it to lose a tailing vessel. The key to finding NM was losing the tailing ship - and it worked. SI's now expected in Melbourne next Wednesday, after halting in NZ to clear Customs. Watson: "We needed the Customs clearance because we would be charged taxes on our fuel by Australia without it."
Watson believes the whalers would take less than half of their quota this year, and he's planning to increase SS's capabilities dramatically next season with four ships and two helicopters...

PS: 09 March 2012 - Despite claiming they'd continue killing until the end of the month, it appears as if the nasty Nippons whalers are heading home early!!!
PS: 10 March 2012 - Nasty Nippons admit to only killing 267 of the 900 whales they had hoped to this season! Nice one, Sea Shepherd!!!

Welcome Back, Little Petal!

This week's return of the Ellerslie Flower Show to Christchurch is more than 'just another show'.
The show was cancelled last year after the Feb.quake, but its return will bring a welcome burst of colour to the embattled city. A quarter of a million plants and flowers will help lift residents' spirits after a very long and trying year. Many of this year's displays reflect thoughts of the city's future.
Kate Hillier, Ellerslie event manager: "It's an opportunity for the designers to give something back, and show some inspirational ideas."
Remnants of the earthquake will loom large this year, with a strong theme of reclaiming Christchurch. One designer is using blocks of stone from a damaged city church, others are using reclaimed chimney bricks, beams and even cones used as planters.
On 22nd Feb.2011, the EQ struck as the Ellerslie Flower Show was being set up in Hagley Park. Trees toppled and silt immediately bubbled up from the ground, covering the site in grey water within minutes. In the aftermath, the huge marquees became evacuation tents and a gathering place for city workers. Ellerslie staff helped set up a temporary shelter which housed over a thousand people for the first 24 hours.

Jump forward to 2012: the 25 judges from New Zealand and overseas were on-site picking the winners yesterday, and continue this morning. There were initial concerns about whether people would return after last year's cancellation, but that's not the case. Many of this year's exhibitors were scheduled to take part last year and wanted to return because they had a sense of 'unfinished business'. There are about 90 horticultural exhibits and around 30 of these are big gardens - that's on par with numbers in previous years.
The show is open to the public from tomorrow (Wed.7th) through to Sunday 11th March, 10am-7pm at North Hagley Park.