Sydney Hobart winner Secret Mens Business 3.5 officially on the market

by Secret Men's Business 3.5 team and Sail-World.com on 16 Mar 2011 Secret Men's Business 3.5, the overall winner of the 2010 Rolex Sydney to Hobart is now officially on the market.

South Australian Geoff Boettcher and his crew, after some serious campaigning won the prestigious Tattersall’s Cup, the overall Rolex Sydney to Hobart crown, with his Hart Marine built Reichel Pugh 51 Secret Men's Business 3.5.

Sail World interviewed the smiling Hobart winner at Audi Victoria Week.

Our question to Geoff was 'Where to from here?'

Boettcher responded ‘Winning the Hobart Race was fantastic and we were just blown out of the water. I am not saying we did not deserve it; we worked very hard.'

The Adelaide veteran explained ‘one of the real secrets for us in winning our highly competitive Hobart division, which contains a host of 50-60 footers, and the overall IRC handicap was the strength of the boat and a highly experienced crew.

‘When we had heavy conditions on the second night (of the Hobart) we were able to make big gains because we were able to keep the peddle hard to the floor.

‘Our emphasis has always been on strong boats. Across the years we have done a lot of sea miles, campaigning from Adelaide to Hamilton Island and Hobart.

'There was a lot of preparation; we had the right guys on board, the boat was very good and we found that element of luck that has always eluded us in the past.

‘While the media focussed on my 22 Hobarts, you must remember half of them were as a crew member on other boats.

‘It is only since ’94 I have put my own boat together and it is probably the last seven years we have seriously had a go at winning the Hobart.

'The first ‘Secret Men's Business’ (SMB 1) was a ‘42 Murray Burns Dovell design launched in 1996 and competed in many years of great regatta’s and Hobart’s including the disastrous 1998 race.

'SMB 2 was a ’46 Reichel Pugh which was successful in Audi Geelong Week and at the Hamilton Island regatta but was badly damaged in a collision in the pre-start of race 1 in 2007. When the mast was wiped off the truck returning to Hart Marine, it was decided a new RP boat would be commissioned.

'SMB 3, again a Reichel Pugh ’49, was commissioned in 2008 just in time for the Hobart Race. This hull was found lacking in upwind boat speed and it was decided to replace the hull with a new RP ’51 hull renaming it SMB 3.5' Geoff recounted.

As this season draws to a close Secret Men's Business 3.5 will concentrate on taking out the local Adelaide IRC series championships. In the 2011 Port Lincoln Week Regatta SMB 3.5 finished on equal points with Scarlet Runner but ended up in second place on a count back.

Secret Men's Business 3.5 is now for sale. There are plenty of wins left in her and as Boettcher said it's not often a Grand Prix boat of this calibre comes on the market at a fraction of the cost of a new boat.

Boettcher is happy to consider a trade to a smaller boat (with an appropriate adjustment) such as a Sydney 38, to fill the gap for a year, before a new path evolves.

For more information on the sale of SMB 3.5 please contact Geoff’s Boat Manager, Tim Cowen on yachting.solutions(at)bigpond.com