Nigel Holman sails his final race

by Peter Campbell on 8 Nov 2007 Nigel Holman, who skippered his Lyons 40 Micropay Cuckoos Nest to an IMS victory in the tough 1993 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, has died in Sydney’s North Shore Hospital 12 months after being diagnosed with cancer.

Nigel was a long time member of Manly Yacht Club and Middle Harbour Yacht Club.

His various yachts, all but one named Cuckoos Nest, carried the sail number MYC2 from his first involvement in the sport some 25 years ago.

Cuckoos Nest was the name of the first boat the English-born yachtsman bought in Australia, a Seaway 25 from Melbourne he acquired for JOG racing in Sydney. He liked the name and kept it for his Masrm 920 and a couple of Mt Gay 30s which he raced in JOGs before moving into the big league of offshore racing with his Lyons 40.

With Hugh Treharne as sailing master of Micropay Cuckoos Nest, Nigel scored a hard-fought IMS win in the 1993 Hobart Race, one of the toughest in the history of the blue water classic. The CYCA recognised his achievement in its Ocean Racer of the Year Awards.

'Nigel began sailing with us on The Carpenter before buying his own boat, a Seaway 25 called Cuckoos Nest,' Middle Harbour yachtsman Phil Yeomans, who had sailed with Nigel on all but two of his boats over the past 25 years, recalled this evening.

'He was an absolute delight to sail with…a true gentleman. The Sydney Hobart win in 1993 was his greatest sailing achievement but he was consistently a top performer in all his racing.

'Nigel’s last race with his current Cuckoos Nest, a Sydney 39 CR, was in the Southport Race 12 months ago. We blew out two of three spinnakers before we got to the Central Coast, but we kept on sailing to Southport.

'Nigel said he was not feeling too well during the race and, not longer afterwards, was diagnosed with cancer,' Yeomans added. 'That, sadly, was his last ocean race.'

Nigel Holman is survived by his wife Imogen. Funeral details have yet to be announced.

The Sydney Hobart winning Cuckoos Nest later went to Hobart where it raced successfully as Interum. The Lyons 40 is now owned in Victoria and, renamed Bombora, raced in last weekend’s 152nm Melbourne to Stanley Race, placing 5th in the PHD division and 6th under AMS handicaps.