Swan 60 The New Breed of l Performance Cruiser/Racer. • • I. The new breed of Nautor's Swan Cruiser/Racer the craftsmanship and attention to detail regarded as has captured the imagination of all yachtsmen standard for Nautor. seeking that elusive combination of racing speed Contact your local Sales Office for full details of together with elegance and style. the range and order book availability. Experience the The Swan 48, 56 and 60 form a range of light, new breed of Performance Cruiser/Racer from the durable designs, adaptable to the needs of owners world's premier yacht production. who have differing. aspirations, but one comm goal - uncompromised sailing prowess. New Swan 56 Each model exhibits in its construction the easily recognisable dedication to engineeri excellence and use of quality materials. Options for rig configuration and keel shape, the clean, efficient decks and spacious interior layouts all incorporate Nautor's Swan Performance Range I > , 1 , , 1 , , 1 48 48R •56 56R •60 60R Contact: NAUTOKs Michael Bell Australian Agent PO Box 682 Mona Vale NSW 2103 SWAN Oy NAUTOR Ab, P.O. Box 10, Ph (02) 9997 1225 Fax (02) 9999 2292 FIN-68601 Pietarsaari, Finland Mobile 0414 259 688 Email: [email protected] Tel: +358 6 7601 111 Telefax: +358 6 7667 364 OY NAUTOR AB • A Subsidiary of UPM -Kymmene Corporation From the Commodore's Desk for 630 nautical miles and according to appreciated part of our sport. It was Match Racing their crews they were rarely more than a remarkable to the extreme in this case. mile apart. Those of us who compete each year to Hobart Both yachts had the best of every­ in the Sydney to Hohart race are often thing on board, not only in terms of the asked why we keep going back ust ask wo things happened over the preparedness of the boats, the sails and any of the crew of these four boats. weekend before OFFSHORE the equipment, but also numbered Twent to press that made me think among their crews some of the world's long and hard about performances in best and most experienced sailors. The Whitbread Race the recent Telstra Sydney to Hobart. Notwithstanding, the pressure of rac­ In the early hours of December 23 last, EF The first was on the final night of the ing 630 miles through conditions that Language, the first of the Whibread 60s to world swimming championships in were varied enough to at any time finish the 2400 nautical mile leg of the Perth when Grant Hackett swam the potentially favour one boat more than Whitbread Race from Fremantle to Syd­ third fastest ever time in the 1500 metres the other, it is remark~ble these two ney, crossed the finish line in Sydney Har­ to take the gold medal. Commentators, crews were able to sustain their concen­ bour. As she did, four other W60s were in quite rightly, lauded his performance, tration and effort for the three and a half line astern between the Opera House and the pain barrier he had to break through, days it took Ragamuffin and Beau Geste to Bradleys Head, with three of the four and the tenacity and concentration he complete the course. Even the final 12 remaining yachts already around South had to maintain to sustain the effort for miles up the Derwent River saw a Head and sailing up the Harbour. almost 15 minutes. gybing duel that could have resulted in This was the closest finish in Whit­ bread Race history and, like the duels The second was when I sailed my either boat crossing the line that one in the Hobart race, saw white knuckle own boat in a 40 mile race where four boat length ahead that Ragamuffin was racing boat-for-boat for 2400 miles. Lit­ boats, all pretty much the same size, able to secure at the end. erally, any one of the fleet had the raced tack for tack for almost two-third This remarkable duel was somewhat potential to take line honours in the of the distance and finished only min­ overshadowed in the media reports by final few miles. utes apart. Close racing over that dis­ an equally enthralling and equally close The Whitbread fleet departed Syd­ tance was exhilarating and, at times, contest between Brindabella and her ney on January 4, strongly supported by frustrating, but physically and mentally smaller rival Exile, ending as it should a flotilla of well-wishers, well managed exhausting. In the bar after the race, all with the bigger boat taking the publicly by Waterways who had already con­ four crews still had the adrenaline popular trophy for line honours. trolled the much larger Sydney to In these two contests we Hobart crowd on Boxing Day. had all the drama and excite­ The pressure on those on board to However, apart from the sailing com­ ment of the 1500 metre swim sustain the focus and performance for the munity, the Whitbread Race unfortu­ by Grant Hackett, unfortu­ three days plus is a little appreciated part nately received little other support or nately without the television of our sport. It was remarkable to the publicity whilst in Sydney and seemed cameras and the crowds there extreme in this case. to be largely ignored by our local press to capture it throughout. Only and television. After their previous visit the finish in Hobart caught the to Sydney, round-the-world race organ­ pumping as they discussed the event, camera lens and the public applause. isers chose to go elsewhere in subse­ tack for tack, gybe for gybe. My five hours off the Sydney coast­ quent years because of poor support This made me think of Syd Fischer line pales by comparison, a tantalising and neglect by the State Government and Karl Kwok who, respectively skip­ taste of the feelings, the joys and fears, and the media. I am left wondering if pered Ragamuffin and Beau Geste down highs and lows, and the frustrations on the results here this time around have the track to Hobart. From the gun on aboard Ragamuffin, Beau Geste, Exile and left the same taste in their mouths. jj Boxing Day until their finish off Battery Brindabella. The pressure on those on Point, a mere six seconds apart, the two board to sustain the focus and perfor­ Peter Bush, Commodore yachts were within sight of each other mance for the three days plus is a little Cruising Yacht Club of Australia February• March 1998 Offshore I ·1 • THE CRUISING YACHT • • • CLUB OF AUSTRALIA New Beach Road, Darling Point l • NSW 2027 Phone: (02) 9363 9731 Fax: (02) 9363 9745 e-mail: [email protected] FLAG omCERS & DIRECTORS COMMODORE: PETER BUSH VICE COMMODORE: HUGO VAN KRETSCHMAR REAR COMMODORES: JOHN MESSENGER. HANS SOMMER TREASURER: ALAN GREEN DIRECTORS: BOB BRENAC, MAURIE CAMERON, GEOFF the race CROPLEY, ROGER HICKMAN, DENNIS McDONALD, ROD SKELLET. Telstra 53rd CHAIRMAN, CWB COMMITIEES OPERATING COMMITTEE: COMMODORE PETER BUSH SAILING COMMITTEE: VICE COMMODORE HUGO VAN Sydney to Hobart KRETSCHMAR MARINA & SITE SERVICES COMMITTEE: REAR COMMODORE JOHN MESSENGER OCEAN RACING COUP FOR MEMBER SERVICES & SOCIAL COMMITTEE: REAR HONG KONG-CHINA: Beau Geste, a IJ I nched Farr COMMODORE HANS SOMMER 49 won the lot for Karl Kwok - th alstra Cpp, Telstra SPONSORSHIP COMMITTEE: DIRECTOR ROGER HICKMAN AUDIT & PLANNING COMMITTEE: DIRECTOR DENNIS Sydney to Hobart and, with Exile and Hl•Fkielity, the McDONALD Telstra Southern Cross Cup •. • ••• ............ ..............•4 GENERAL MANAGER: BRUCE ROWLEY \ SAILING MANAGER: PHIL THOMPSON HOW BEAU GESTE WON TH • Exclusive interview with tactician Geoff Sta otch p his th EDITOR: Peter Campbell (02) 9869 8197 DESIGN/PRODUCTION: Hardy Graphics (02) 9719 1963 Hobart victory . •. •. •. •• .............. ....... •. •. • .. ....8 PHOTOGRAPHERS: Ian Mainsbridge, Sydney (02) 9624 5039 Richard Bennett, Hobart (002) 29 2559 BRINDABELLA'S BO : George SIi had his PRODUCTION EDITOR: Helen Hayes (02) 9948 4861 big year - finally taking II• honours ith his re-jilastad FILM SEPARATIONS: Graphic Options (02) 9361 6680 maxi Brindabell , alsl winning the canon Big Boat ADVERTISING: Jan Cooke (02) 9452 2093 Challenge, the King of the Darwa and the Bass & PUBLISHED BY: Jamieson Publishing Flinders Series. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••..•••••••••••••• 10 PO Box 197, Cronulla, NSW. 2230 Phone: (02) 9544 1501 Fax: (02) 9544 1502 Subscriptions: (02) 9544 1501 . OFFICIAL TIMER: Attar 52 JBll'S, he Sydney to Hobart Net address: http://www.merlin.eom .au/offshore/ finally gets • offlclal ti-,, the Swiss w h C011P11J EDITORIAL OFFICES: Peter Campbell & Associates AudllUl'I Plquat ...and Karl K k collects a $5181 Royal 64 Boronia Avenue, Cheltenham NSW 2119 O wall clock as IMS ovaral winner .....................13 Phone/Fax: (02) 9869 8197 e-mail: [email protected] TaSTRA SOUTHERN CROSS CUP: In the bast c-,etltlN EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS: In more than a decade, the Hong Kong-China tea Just MELBOURNE - Kevan Wolfe (03) 9560 8674. bald off a datannlnad bid by Australia for the HOBART - Bruce Montgomery (002) 24 2196. international ocean racing teams series ..................14 BRISBANE · Ian Grant (07) 3349 9147. UNITED KINGDOM· Bob Fisher+ 44 (1590) 68 2267. TELSTRA SYDNEY TO HOBART HONOUR RQµ.: Rac091lsl11 ADVERTISING: the top placed yachts and their owner/skippers, overall Jan Cooke. Phone/Fax (02) 9452 2093 or and in divisions, of the 1997 Telstra Sydney to Hobart Jamieson Publishing, PO Box 197, Cronulla, NSW 2230. yacht race ••.•••••••••.•.•.•....••••.•.•••••.••••.•.•.•..••••••• 18 Phone (02) 9544 1501 Fax (02) 9544 1502. DISTRIBUTION: 2.2 MILLION "HITS" ON WEB SITE: The Telstra Sydney to Network Distribution Co, 54 Park Street, Sydney 2000 . Hobart web site broke new ground in near "real time" The opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the reports and attracted a huge 2.2 million "hits" •••...•.•.