Sydney Hobart Race 2012 - a race report from Hubert Marechal on Peugeot Surfrider

Fick en sen racerapport från Hubert Marechal som tidigare seglat på Grynet innan han flyttade till Australien. Vilket äventyr det här racet är!!!

Each year on Boxing Day at 1 pm is the start of the Sydney Hobart race! Truly I was looking forward to it; all the training, the preparation and the small tasks like security checks and food catering, it all began to converge in the last two weeks where I was on the water or on the boat every day…

Finally it was done, everything was set. Food was bought and waiting in the fridge, battens were sewn into the sails; every single item on board had been looked at and categorized IN or OUT. We could rest, it was the 24th evening…

And in a blink we were 26th 7.00am all hands on deck to fix the last bits! Great spirit, a few jokes, smiles and happy faces are out! But rapidly with the press coming, the briefings and the to-do list the concentration is back at its maximum! We leave the dock at 10am for a quick round down the harbour, we check two things the wind direction and strength outside the heads and if the leg between the starting line and the head mark is suitable for spinnaker! It will be a downwind start and the 3A is a go! As required we cross the line with our storm sail on, then bag them carefully.

We have a quick and early lunch and in a minute we are 10’ away from the start! I take a quick look around and I see so many spectators boats at least 4 choppers. The bay is full, busy and loud but strangely the atmosphere on board is quiet just everyone is focused on the next few minutes. Our start is great, with speed on the line with clean air and just a few second after the hour! Spinnaker hoist and everyone that can is hiking! The leg in the bay is very short less than 10 minutes! We round the clearing mark, drop the spinnaker and let’s go for 628miles!

Peugeot Surfrider in the lead out of Sydney Harbour.

On the first day the wind is south and quite strong so heavy jib and some tacks and we start chewing up the miles. The first race report come and it is looking good! The First 45 really is made for this weather strong and upwind! 7th overall but that is only for now… For our bad luck (we did had bananas on board) but as forecasted the wind eased and turned during the night. The transition zone between two fronts got us stuck for a while and the rest of the fleet is catching up on us! But eventually the wind is now north and our 2S spinnaker is hoisted and surprisingly for a Hobart begins a day of champagne sailing in shirts and shorts we sail deep and fast to the south! Our boat isn’t the best rating design for those conditions but we managed to stay in the lead of our division!

Until almost at the end of Bass Strait, it died again and we find ourselves again into a transition zone. We expect a very strong southerly to come big seas and cold winds straight from the great southern ocean and its ice! We take the precautions we can, check the sails, put extra extra layers on have a nice warm meal! And we began to pray for it as again the fleet is compressing on us! Then the air dries, dark clouds are upon us and it blows! Massive waves, gusts over 35knots, an electrical strom that caused our bowman a small chock while on the rail, that was on our plate for the last 24 hours of the race and a long way along the coast of Tasmania!   To get protection from strong current and waves we work our way close to the shore and we get to discover an amazing view of the wilderness of Tasman’s cliffs and seaside! We are in a position to win our category with less than 18hours to go so the all crew decides to stay on the rail and dump the watch system! It was hard wet and cold but we held it together and pull through!

Tasman Island was an apocalyptic view early morning with the white moonlight on the sharp cliffs and rocks, Strom bay a much waited moment! The closer we get to the finish line the further away it seemed to be! When finally we reached in the very first light of the morning to the Derweent river, it is only to find out that there is no wind… the last ten miles took us a good 4h with a very close finish alongside 3 other boats including a Ker46 a TP52 both much higher in rankings. We finished 22nd in real time but the fellowing boats in our division didn’t get stuck into the river so two of them beat us. 4day of racing, 628miles and it came down to the last 10 and 30 minutes…

The arrival in Hobart is superbe! There is a wine and cheese festival at the same time and they welcome you warmly people come to the dock and cheer you up! Awesome atmosphere and truly an impressive welcoming!

The 62nd Sydney to Hobart yacht race was dominated by Wild Oats XI an impressive 100footer that break his own record, got line honours and overall victory! They fly south with the northerly wind to finish the race in less than 1day and 18hours!

Team Peugeot Surfrider. Hubert down to the right. (Anders comment)

/Hubert Marechal on Peugeot Surfrider