Rolex Sydney Hobart - Jazz Player and The Think Pink Foundation

by Peter Davey on 18 Dec 2013 Pink is not a colour you’d normally associate with Australia’s premier blue water event, the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, but the crew of Melbourne yacht Jazz Player are determined to change that this year. The yacht, a strongly campaigned Bakewell-White 39, has joined with The Think Pink Foundation to raise awareness for their unique patient support facility called the Living Centre.

The Think Pink Foundation, well established in Melbourne, provides women suffering from breast cancer, and their families, a completely free, practical holistic support service. Through their association with Jazz Player and the highly visible Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, the Foundation hopes to raise awareness nationally, enabling the establishment of a Living Centre and the provision of services in every Australian capital city.

The trip South has become an annual event for Jazz Player, 2013 being the fifth time she has entered this gruelling event. An experienced ocean racing crew with several Sydney Hobart’s between them, Jazz Player is skippered this year by 23-year-old Matt Lawrence, son of owner Dr Andrew Lawrence, a well-known Melbourne radiologist.

The Think Pink graphics that adorn Jazz Player’s hull and sails will gain further exposure throughout 2014 as the yacht is campaigned on Port Phillip, where she is based at Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron, taking part in events conducted by the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria, and the 1885 nautical mile Melbourne to Vanuatu Yacht Race, where Matt Lawrence will be joined by Matt Setton in the two handed division.

For further information about The Think Pink Foundation and the services they offer through The Living Centre, a unique state-of-the-art non-clinical facility, go to Think Pink