History

From our friends on Rosebud...

Part of the story from down under is that Rosebud Racing had a great month of sailing and in the process we were able to pull off the hat trick of overall wins in the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge, the Rolex Rating Series and the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race. This is the first time in 30 years that a US boat has won the Sydney Hobart Race. The previous US winner was Kialoa in 1977. Maybe the readers of SA can enlighten me as to who was the previous winner of the hat trick.

We began sailing the boat in Sydney on December 5 and sailed everyday except the 4 days before Christmas in order to give the crew some time with their families. We practiced everything from string drops for inshore racing to stripping the mainsail and setting the trysail. We experimented with VMG running kites to VMC running kites. We tried to find out what was vulnerable to wear, breakage and fatigue.

In the process, the team learned more about the boat in the past month then our accumulated knowledge from the previous 5 months of sailing. We now must build upon that knowledge to improve ourselves, the boat and the sail program in preparation for sailing against new R/P STP 65 Monneypenny who we know will be an excellent program.

As I said, that is part of the story. The real story has been the enthusiasm that the Aussie's have for our sport. Their knowledge of the boats, the teams and the regattas extends far beyond the yachting community. Sailing is often one of the top 4 stories in the evening news. It is covered by every form of media imaginable. Everyone from your cab driver to the hotel clerk knows about the major races and what the betting line is for your boat.

The result is close to 300,000 people turn out on the water and land to watch the start of the Sydney Hobart Race. For the Americans onboard Rosebud, who were all "first timers" in this race, we were overwhelmed. The reception in Hobart was just as amazing.

For those of you who remember Transpac Row in its day when Waikiki tourists were drawn to the spectacle of the race boats all lined up for public viewing, you owe it to yourself to come to Hobart and see what Transpac row could be again. The harbor is open to only the race boats and is completely open to the public to roam the docks. The result is a wonderful mix of tourists, enthusiastic locals and sailors blended together to build understanding of our sport.

We take away from our experience much more than trophies. We have a new appreciation for how people completely removed from competing in our sport can appreciate what we do. Thank you to all the volunteers at the CYC and Rolex who made all of this possible.

Thank you,
Rosebud Racing

2008-01-02

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