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10:46 AM Sat 1 Nov 2008 GMT
At the 1705 (5.05pm) sked with the fleet, the fleet was beating to windward into a 15 knot south-easterly breeze on a warm and sunny afternoon, with Georgia nearing the north-east corner of King Island on a long starboard tack.
Georgia is owned by Sandringham Yacht Club veterans John Williams and Graeme Ainley, who bought the New Zealand-built high-tech yacht last year.
They have again entered the yacht in this year's Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, with Williams sailing his 26th Hobart and Ainley bringing up the 25-race milestone.
Apart from being an important race on the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria's offshore calendar, the Melbourne-Stanley Race is a qualifying event for the Sydney Hobart and the ORCV's races from Melbourne to Hobart. Ten of the boats in the Stanley Race have been nominated for the Sydney Hobart.
At the 1700 hour sked, Georgia had 86 nautical miles to sail in the 152 mile race across Bass Strait that started from Queenscliff, just Port Phillip Heads at 0500 hours this morning.
ORCV officials expect Georgia to finish at Stanley about 0400 hours tomorrow morning where the locals have planned a great welcome party for the Victorian yachties.
At the 1700 hour sked, Georgia was leading from Rob Hanna's Shogun, the Cookson 50 that previously raced as Living Doll. Then came Paul Buchholz's Extasea, Tony Donnellan's Shamrock, Peter Blake and Kate Mitchell's Farr 52 Goldfinger, followed by Tony Fowler's Ocean Skins and Alan Saunders' Farr 47 Ninety Seven.
Rosie Colahan's Ingenue had a 110 miles to go at 1700 hours, which leads ORCV officials to predict that the small boats in the fleet are looking good for handicap honours.
The latest withdrawal is Pretty Woman with twp crew members suffering seasickness, leaving 32 of the 34 starters still heading for the historic port of Stanley on the north-west coast of Tasmania.
by Peter Campbell
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