Sydney Hobart - more than a Zephyr to beat Rosebud

by Rob Kothe on 29 Dec 2007 James Connell and Alex Brandon’s Zephyr, a Farr 1020 is the probably the only boat that snatch the overall handicap victory from the USA’s Rosebud, which crossed the line at 18:02:02 last night.

Right now Zephyr is 27 miles east of St.Helens, 188 nautical miles from the finishing line.

Zephyr represents the historic Balmain Sailing Club in Sydney, founded in 1885 in an era of wonderfully over-canvassed open sailing skiffs. The club was reformed in 1995 and still hosts the annual Balmain Regatta in which many historical skiffs and classic yachts compete.

Connell and Brandon bought Zephyr in mid-2006 with one thing in mind – to contest the 2007 Rolex Sydney Hobart. 'We wanted a boat that was more competitive under IRC that my previous boat, a Northshore 340 and our investigations led us to the Farr 1020,' James Connell told Sail-World last week.

A well designed yacht for offshore racing, the Farr 1020 built in 1984 has been upgraded for the long, tough race in the Tasman Sea and the crew has been sailing together for the past 18 months.

They have raced Zephyr in the Sydney Southport Race (second in division) and the Sydney Gold Coast as well as in the Bird, Flinders and Cabbage Tree Island races along the New South Wales coast in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Blue Water Pointscore.

'In the three long races (Bird, Flinders and Cabbage Tree) we have been beaten only once on IRC by a boat with a rating lower than 1.10,' Connell explained 'Impeccable beat us when a 55-knot southerly front came through late in the Bird Island and we dropped our mainsail and went into conservative mode.'

Connell and Brandon won the RSYS spring offshore series and the Gascoigne Cup, the PHS category of the CYCA’s Short Ocean Pointscore spring series, losing first place in IRC in a count back, after two wins and two seconds.

While the freshening north-easterly winds for the first 24 hours and the third 24 hours have benefited the Zee boat, she will need more than a zephyr of breeze today and in fact she will probably hit the wall when the forecast southerly change pushes up the Tasmanian coast.

Meanwhile the likely 2007 Rolex Sydney Hobart winner Roger Sturgeon and his Rosebud crew can do nothing today, but enjoy the Hobart sunshine, have a quiet little drink and watch the weather.