Yachts off Little Bay

On 26 January, Australia Day, there was a yacht race between Sydney harbour and Botany Bay and return.  They made an attractive sight off Little Bay where I was swimming. 

Sally and Ann's Excellent Adventure 15: Whale watching?

A father and his young son sit on the rock platform at the southern end of Whale Beach. It's out of season for whale watching, but the boy seemed captivated by the yacht sailing past.

Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

It was a beautiful, windy day for the start of the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race. In a very fast time of 5 mins from the start, supermaxi Wild Oats XI (left) was out of The Heads, followed not long after by Ragamuffin Loyal (right). The entire fleet had rounded the buoy and were headed south in 17 minutes.

Spectators 4: The Tall Ship

The South Passage is a schooner launched in 1993. She hails from Queensland, and according to her official website (see here) was built to suit 14–17 year olds,  to give young people an experience at sea. She was designed such that all the sails can be managed from the deck.  She has an aluminium hull and uses modern materials but apart from an engine everything is done manually.


Acknowledgement: Picture at left under sail, is from the official website.

Spectators 3: Young people

Spectators 2: Two boys

and the rest....

Spectators 1: The beautiful young woman

Lots of people came to watch the start of the race....as we were on a ferry, many heads turned towards us as the boats jostled for position to watch the race....I'll bring you a few of the shots over the next few days.

A very little boat

The spectator "fleet" on the harbour watching the start of the Sydney-Hobart race is as impressive as the racers.

Most of the big yachts, and the spectator cruisers, catamarans and so on are owned by wealthy people.

Had to laugh at this vessel, named "Teachin".....

Some very big boats!

The Maxi yachts set off first. Don't want them mowing down the smaller craft! They are so fast! They have to go 1 nautical mile out past the Heads before turning south.

I don't know a single thing about yachts, specifications and all that - if you are interested have a look here at the official site.

I am interested in who owns and races these magnificent looking craft.
Brindabella won in 1991 and 1997. She's owned by engineer Jim Cooney, who builds sustainable energy wind farms and campaigns against toxic plastic rubbish in oceans. Read more here.

Lahana - another 30 m (100 ft) maxi. See more here. Owned by Peter Mallard and John Honan, skippered by Mallard.

Loki Owned and skippered by Stephen Ainsworth, a businessman at Cotton Seed Distributors. Read more here.

Living Doll, Scarlet Runner and Ichi Ban lining up to leave the Heads

Living Doll's website. Owner and skipper, businessman Michael Hiatt, imports fashion clothing, including the Living Doll label from China.

Scarlet Runner is owned and skippered by Robert Date, a Melbourne businessman, owner of a company manufacturing and importing diesel generators, engines and other equipment. More about Scarlet Runner here.

Ichi Ban is owned and skippered by Matt Allen, a former Commodore of the Crusing Yacht Club of Australia, which runs this race.

The line-up out of the Heads

Maxi yachts lead start, and all the way....

First they leaned this way.....

....and then they leaned the other way....

They're Wild Oats XI and Investec Loyal - who led the way out of the Heads...

And 30 hours later are still in the same position - first and second. They should finish some time tomorrow.



For anyone who knows about these sort of things:

Wild Oats XI is racing for the seventh consecutive year. It holds the record for the most consecutive line honours wins - four, and has won five of the past seven. She's a 100 ft maxiyacht owned by Robert Oatley, and skippered by Mark Richards.

You can read all the technical stuff on Wikipedia.

According to Forbes magazine, Oatley is Australia's 24th wealthiest person. He used to own Rosemount Wines (sold to Southcorp, then sold his Southcorp stock to Fosters). Now owns Robert Oatley Vineyards in Mudgee. Also owns Hamilton Island resort in Queensland. His ancenstry goes back to convict clockmaker, James Oatley, for whom the Sydney suburb of Oatley is named, after he received a land grant there.

Loyal (formerly Maximus) is skippered by Sean Langman and owned by Anthony Bell, a Sydney financial services businessman. . It is sponsored by merchant bank, Investec, and raises money for the LOYAL Foundation, Bell's charity foundation, which raises money for several charities. Crew members include several high profile sports people.

Shut Up & Fish

Boxing Day sees the start of the ocean yacht race, the Sydney to Hobart. At 1pm the fleet leaves Sydney and races to Hobart - the super maxi-yachts, like Wild Oats 11 (which has won 5 times) make it in just under 2 days.

This year we were on a ferry as part of the spectator fleet. Loved this guy's t-shirt : "Shut Up & Fish" - such a bloke sentiment! A few moments later, he was nearly shut up forever in a close encounter with a bigger craft!

Yachts



Yachts at Middle Harbour Yacht Club, The Spit



Pretty

Crew

Mega yachts belonging to the mega wealthy require lots of crew to keep going. There wasn't a lot of activity as we wandered around the marina at Rozelle Bay.

The young man above was working on the Xanadu, belonging to John Symond of Aussie Home Loans fame (I found that out later through the power of Google - we didn't ask him who the owner is).

There was a bit of activity around the Flying Fish, which unlike the Xanadu, is available for charter if you fancy a bit of a taste of luxury. it will set you back $12,000 for a single 24 hour period for up to 8 guests. (included: boat hire, crew, fuel, soft drinks, orange juice and meals. Alcohol charged on consumption.)

Channelling Monte Carlo Daily Photo

Jilly from Monte Carlo Daily Photo often shows us luxury yachts parked at the marina there. So, here's some Sydney boat-porn, at Rozzelle Bay.

I guess for this owner, a superyacht is an expensive mistress?