Rolex Sydney Hobart Race 2016; Landfall at Last

by Crosbie Lorimer - Bow Caddy Media on 30 Dec 2016 In a record winning year where most entrants will remember the park-ups in the last quarter of the race as much as the astonishingly fast first half run to the North Tassie coast, the experience of wallowing around on a glassy sea has been just as painful for the veteran yachts as for their grand prix counterparts.

If Matt Allen and his crew aboard Ichi Ban felt understandably cheated of an IRC overall win by the Storm Bay and Derwent River lock-out, the sense of being ‘so close and yet so far’ was no easier for those bringing up the rear of the fleet – and not least for the last boat to cross the line in 2016, Michael Strong’s classic Sparkman and Stephens designed Landfall, which finished shortly before 5pm on Friday.

Landfall had enjoyed a fast run across Bass Strait and was well positioned to take out both a Division 3 and Corinthian Class win….....until Storm Bay, where Landfall languished for twelve hours, going nowhere.

A philosophical Michael Strong, whose 86 year old boat was built within sight of the Battery Point finish line in Hobart and which has spent her whole life sailing without need for a major restoration, said simply,

“When you get here to Hobart and you get all the cheers from the spectators, it’s really all worth it.”