Sunday drive shifted by storm's southerly sea change

All of the crews in the Sydney to Hobart fleet were well-prepared for the storm that struck yesterday evening, but it was still a spectacular sight as it rolled in. The storm was expected to hold through the night - almost certainly denying us any sleep - and for the next 24 hours thereafter. We're anticipating a bumpy ride through Bass Strait.

The crew aboard Lahana are in good spirits. As I write this, I am finishing off a plastic cup of spaghetti bolognese prepared by our resident master chef, debunking the myth sailors are poorly fed at sea. Talk among the crew is bullish. We have been racing together for more than a year, and the sense of occasion has not been lost on anyone.

We made our way out of the harbour cleanly, albeit not quite as quickly as we would have liked. We did not preset a ''code zero'', and instead chose a spinnaker, only for the wind to shift slightly to the right. We could not hoist the spinnaker until we were around the first marker, but soon things settled down.

Fortunately, we didn't experience anything like the collision between Wild Thing and a media boat inside the harbour. That is something we all fear - there is certainly no shortage of spectator craft posing potential hazards - but we safely navigated our way through the traffic and out through the Heads.

The afternoon was quite literally the calm before the storm. It was champagne sailing for most of the time in beautiful conditions, but all were bracing for the long-predicted southerly. A few of the crew were downstairs when it hit, and they were brought to the deck immediately to make the needed changes.

Geoff Cropley is lead trimmer and helmsman on Lahana, which is raising money for Ronald McDonald House. Donations can be made at: www.everydayhero.com.au/manildra-group-lahana.