Melbourne to Hobart Eastcoaster - Goldfinger smashes record
by John Curnow on 29 Dec 2010
2010 M2HE Goldfinger Crew dockside John Curnow
Melbourne to Hobart Eastcoaster.
As first in to Hobart from either coast, Goldfinger wins the Red Wine Cup. She has also smashed the Melbourne to Hobart Eastcoaster record by taking 17 and a half hours off the record.
Crossing the line at just before half past one, she and her crew have set the new time of 48 hours, 59 minutes and 26 seconds. With a very impressive average speed of 9.4 knots for the whole journey, it really is a marvellous achievement.
Also arrived are XLR8 and Veloce, both of whom are also inside the old record, which means they have all done really well. XLR8 crossed the line about an hour later at 14:31:30. Just a mere five and half minutes behind her was Veloce at 14:37:03. Both XLR8 and Veloce competed in previous Melbourne to Hobart events.
Goldfinger's skipper, Peter Blake, was delighted with the win and record. 'It was a hard, wet and cold night on Monday, but it really set the win up for us and we had a ball in the process.' Co-owner, Kate Mitchell, who has done many ocean races around the country, but this is her first Eastcoaster, said 'The Derwent was really hard work. This is such a great race and far more of a navigational challenge than the Sydney to Hobart becasue of all the islands along the course.'
Gusto, the first boat in from the Westcoaster, is now due at 6.30pm.
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