Sydney Hobart winner heads for Pittwater Coffs

by Rob Kothe on 30 Dec 2007 Florida USA sailor Roger Sturgeon has raised the bar high with his Farr designed ST65 Rosebud. He has just won the 2007 Rolex Sydney to Hobart race and now she is aiming for a fourth major event win in row - the Pittwater to Coffs Harbour race.

Sturgeon is one of the USA’s best ocean racers; he won the St. Francis Perpetual Trophy in 2003 in his Santa Cruz 50, his first Rosebud, and then the Newport to Bermuda Race 2004 in his second Rosebud the TP52, and won the Transpac 2005 in the same boat.

His third Rosebud, the first of the new larger box rule Transpac boats the STP65, was launched in May 2007. This boat was the fastest boat under 73 feet in the Transpac 2007.

Having won the Rolex Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour on handicap, then the Rolex Trophy series and the Rolex Sydney to Hobart, now Rosebud has been set another tough challenge;to win the 226 nautical mile Pittwater to Coffs Harbour race on handicap. (This is a strongly contested coastal race, generally regarded as the 'warm water' alternative to the Hobart race- there will be a 68 boat fleet this year.)'

Even before Rosebud had been declared the winner of the 63rd Rolex Sydney to Hobart race, she was pushing north up the Tasmania coast across Bass Strait heading for Sydney and then another 17 nautical miles up to Broken Bay, the next port north of Sydney Harbour- a total of 645 nautical miles from the Hobart race finish to the next start..

She will refuel in Eden, the first stop on the mainland and keep sailing north as fast as possible; she has an appointment with the starter at 1200 on in Broken Bay on January 2nd 2008 for the Pittwater Coffs race.

If Rosebud wins this race on handicap she will rightly go down in history as one of the best boats to have raced in Australia, because she is up with another 'blue blood' bunch.

In fact this may prove to be the best fleet of 60 footers that have raced together in Australia. The smallest of them, Steven David's Reichel Pugh canting keel 60 footer Wild Joe, is the current race record holder. As Wild Oats IX she was the 2003 Admiral's Cup winner and she set the current race record when she took line honours in the 2003 Pittwater Coffs race.

There is also that familiar 'skiff on steroids', the Murray Burns Dovell 66; formerly Sean Langman's Xena/Grundig/AAPY the 2001 and 2002 line honours winner; Peter Harburg's Spirit of Queensland.

Add Bob Oatley's Wild Oats X, 2005 and 2006 line honours winner and the 2007 Rolex Sydney to Hobart winner Rosebud - certainly a fleet with impressive credentials.

In Hobart last night Sturgeon told Sail-World. 'You prepare in the hope of doing this, but the odds are huge, but never in your wildest dreams do you think you could come half way round the world and win the Hobart race, let alone two other events before it and now we will be trying to win the Coffs Harbour race.

'We had a lot of luck in the Sydney to Hobart race... we had our troubles outside of the Derwent, but everyone did at some time during the race.

'We were conservative at the start; we went straight down the middle and we were fourth out of the Harbour, we had a spinnaker up fast and away we went.'

Australian meteorologist Tom Addis provided a big edge, he was involved with the Emirates Team NZ America's Cup campaign and Sturgeon regards him very highly.

'My two watch captains Kevin Miller and Malcolm Park could not believe just how Tom was able to find the pressure for us.'

'The first night was one of the best runs we've had in a long time...we are used to heavy running.'

'We were trying to hit the lows; we were planing going VMC (best speed towards the lows) and our helmsman Jack Holterman really had us flying.

'We got through the slow spots as quickly as possible and we connected the dots and we got the results.

'We are really looking forward to the Pittwater to Coffs race; we will see another piece of Australia. Everywhere we have been here we've been treated so outrageously well, everyone has been so friendly and helpful.'

'We will be telling all the skippers and all the yacht clubs to encourage them to sail down here.'

'After Coffs Harbour the boat will be shipped back to the US East Coast for races out of Newport and Bermuda then we are off to Europe for the 2008 Rolex Fastnet race.'

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