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!

Out-take

Aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhh, the horror .... but we got there!

Teachers stopped work for 2 hours today and put the NSW state government on notice: negotiate to achieve a fair and reasonable salary increase, or face disruption to schools at the start of the 2012 school year.

Read more here.

John John Carbon Police

Stencil graffiti on the wall of a block of flats at Bondi, along the sculpture walk. No idea why.

ship of fools by Deborah Halpern

There's many a day I feel I'm adrift in this one....

I love mosaic, and was pretty sure I had seen some of Halpern's work, before. As usual, Google to the rescue. She's a Victorian artist, and her work is displayed on Southbank in Melbourne, and was outside the National Gallery of Victoria, now at Birrarung Marr, amongst other places.

Read more here.

Kookaburra

This very bold kookaburra joined Eunice, Sue and me at our lunch table this afternoon.

Eunice's house backs right onto bush - the Kuring-gai National park, and visitors are common.

A wallaby also bounded past a few metres away.

heads up by Steve Croquett

Last year Steve's piece was called "jolly giants."

the golden buddhah's seaside holiday by Stephen Marr

Looking over the sand of Tamarama Beach, the Golden Buddha looks relaxed and at ease on summer holiday.

Here's a bit to know about the artist, Stephen Marr.

Marr created one of my favourite pieces last year, The Crossroad. Also The Drifter in 2008. You can see both here.

indian cocacola27 by Rajesh Sharma

 Find out more, and see more works by Rajesh Sharma here. Sharma is a New Delhi sculptor.

the best of perth by k.m.s.e

I wondered why this was called "the best of perth". So Google to the rescue (in the absence of a catalogue). I found this on You Tube, with the following description: "The piece would be active from 6.30pm to 10.30pm every day, displaying Perth's sunsets for the duration of time. In the remaining time the T.V. would be off with only the reflection of those passing by shown."

It was after 6:30 am when I happened by, but I saw no sunsets, just me! Still, you can see it here on You Tube.

k.m.s.e was formed in 2009 by artists Kate Parker, Marwa Fahmy, Stephen Genovese and Elizabeth Marpole. The collective studied together at Central Institute of Technology in Perth, graduating in 2010 with an Advance Diploma in Contemporary Arts and Crafts. (from here)

i have been dreaming to be a tree by Byeong Doo Moon

Maybe this tree along the path?

This work by South Korean sculptor Byeong Doo Moon won the 2011 People's Choice Award.

Into each life a little rain must fall

....and here's today's. A bleak break from the sun-shiny Sculptures By The Sea to show you it isn't always blue skies and sunshine in Sydney.

spindrift by Bronwyn Berman

This piece won a prize at the 2010  the artsCape Sculpture Exhibition at Clarkes Beach Reserve in Byron Bay. It was the art piece (Mullumbimby) prize for sculpture. Here's a link to an article which includes a photo of the artist with this piece.

open house by Aaron Anderson by Anne Zahalka

An article about Aaron Anderson and the creation of this piece.

 I am especially interested in this comment "We wanted to make a work that completely ignored the landscape. This house sees the rock as incidental and irrelevant. It is going to be there and no landscape is going to stand in its way. It’s meant to be obnoxious, which conflicts with the “cute” factor." I think that says so much about current housing "ideals" and avaricious desires to have housing which in no way relates to place or landscape and certainly doesn't 'tread lightly' on the Earth.

Here's more about Anne Zahalka

simply black and white by Alan and Julie Aston

I am sure that if these zebras could think they'd be wondering as much about the "mad joggers" who pound along the walkway between Bondi and Tamarama bright and early every morning.

This year there was a bit of fierce letter-writing to the Sydney Morning Herald about the mowing down of sculpture-viewers by joggers who feel "ownership" of the path and let no-one get in their way.

Back to the zebras....according to Wikipedia: "
In 2010, Canberra artists Alan and Julie Aston installed a herd of zebras on Lake George, adjacent to the highway stop commemorating Kevin "Dasher" Wheatley VC, used as a "Driver Reviver" site. They were named Stopper, Reviver, Survivor, and Dasher. They were a sensation, but the Government of New South Wales ordered that they be removed, following a complaint from the leaseholder of the land. They reappeared at Floriade, Canberra in September 2010, along with a baby, George. And now they've visited Bondi!

Today is City Daily Photo Theme Day: Action shot.
Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

extreme surfing by Ian Swift

Here's a fun piece by Ian Swift who lives in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. Have a lok at some of his other works and a bit about him here.  Swift uses a lot of found objects in his art.

In browsing that site I found that he had an exhibition on Sydney's Ocean Baths, which certainly fascinate me. So I've commissioned a local resident to get me a copy of the catalogue (hello, Nola!)

angel is born by Georg Mayerhanser

angel is born, by German artist Georg Mayerhanser.

windswept by Samuel Chamberlain