Beneteau boats big Rolex Sydney to Hobart fleet

by Creating Demand on 22 Dec 2012 Beneteau is proud to report that the French marque boasts the highest number of entrants from one manufacturer in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race this year, which is a testament to the leading design, impeccable quality and racing ability of the world’s leading production yacht brand.

Much has been reported about Bob 'Robbo' Robertson and his Beneteau First 40 Lunchtime Legend in the lead up to the race but a recent interview confirmed that the Beneteau fleet will hotly contest the overall race honours.

According to Bob, who at 73 years of age will be contesting his 10th Sydney Hobart, he and his crew have been planning all year for the race and they have left no stone unturned in their efforts to achieve race honours.'We’ve contested all the major regattas this year with the same crew, fine-tuning the boat with one race in mind. I came close in ’91 and ’99 and it’s left some unfinished business for me personally, and I think we’re in with a real good chance to take it out this year.' said Bob.

Bob competed in his first Sydney Hobart in 1981 and the contrast to the equipment these days is astounding he said. He’s been very surprised with just how quick his Beneteau First 40 has been and it gave him the confidence to do all that he could this year to have a real crack at the title.

'You can spend a million dollars on a custom build but the Beneteau First 40 at a lot less than that has been designed by the worlds leading designers, and then the final production yachts have delivered exactly what the original designers had in mind, which is not what many manufacturers can boast.' said Bob.

Beneteau Dealer for Queensland, Lee Randall from Spirit Marine commented, 'Its fantastic to see such a big fleet of Beneteau’s in the most important race of the year, and even equally impressive is to have a Queenslander like Bob Robertson flying the flag. As Dealers we know how good and fast the boats are but to have a legend and passionate Beneteau owner such as Bob reflect those thoughts, then that’s fantastic.' commented Lee.

Other Beneteau’s fighting it out this year include Blunderbuss (Tony Kinsman), Wicked (Mark Welsh) and 2009 winner Two True (Andrew Saies) from South Australia. Robbo was quite adamant that the competition within the Beneteau ranks will be fierce and hinted that many rum and cokes will be shared between the Beneteau teams for those that lead the brand into Constitution Dock.

To track Robbos’ performance and that of any Beneteau in the fleet check out the official Rolex Sydney Hobart Tracker at http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/tracker/