Dr Jim retires, celebrates racing to Lord Howe

by Peter Campbell on 26 Oct 2006 Doctor Jim retires and sets sail for Lord Howe Island

Wellknown Newcastle yachtsman and medico Jim Holley retired from his practice two weeks ago and on Saturday he will set sail in the Hempel 33rd Gosford to Lord Howe Island ocean race in his IOR Farr-designed 40-footer Aurora.

Holley has raced to Lord Howe Island several times but this will be his first with Aurora and also the first race to the island for his wife, Mary, also an enthusiastic ocean racing sailor.

The 414 nautical mile race will start from Broken Bay at 1300 hours (1:00pm) on Saturday, 28 October, with Aurora part of a 19 boat fleet for this Category 1 ocean race that is also a qualifier for this Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

Aurora is also nominated for the Hobart Race, the boat’s ninth, Jim Holley’s 19th and Mary Holley’s 10th – a recognised ‘seamark’ among women sailors.

Aurora will represent the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club in the Gosford to Lord Howe Island and the Sydney Hobart, while sailing for Lake Macquarie Yacht Club will be Michael Graham’s Inner Circle. Also racing is the wellknown former Lake boat Polaris of Belmont, a past winner now owned by Gosford Sailing Club member Chris Dawe.

'Jim has raced to Lord Howe Island several times, but this will be the first for Aurora and the first race across for me,' Mary Holley said today. 'I’m really looking forward to sailing there…I have only sailed back in the past.'

Jim and Mary Holley have raced Aurora to Hobart every year since 1998, sailing aboard another Lake Macquarie yacht, Highland Fling, the previous year.

'The 1998 race was certainly a testing first race, but we finished and placed second in our division,' Mary Holley recalled. 'The following year we placed third in our division…that was another tough race.'

Joining Aurora for the race to Lord Howe Island will Gote Vikstrom from Eden, 'Gote has sailed in all our races to Hobart with Aurora, except one', Russell Cumming, the now retired general manage of Lake Macquarie Yacht Club, Geoff Beauchamp from Nambucca Heads, Steve Phelps from Nowra, and local Lake Macquarie/Newcastle sailors Jane Woodward, Anthony Dunlop, Mark Skelton and Matthew Jensen.

Sailing with Jim and Mary Holley in Aurora in the Rolex Sydney Hobart will be another Newcastle sailor Jan Howard in what will be her 15th race to Hobart.

Lake Macquarie/Newcastle yachts have an impressive record over the years in the Gosford to Lord Howe Island Race with overall handicap wins in 1975 by Boomerang of Belmont (Alby Burgin), 1978 by Piccolo (John Pickles), 1979 and 1981 by Legend (Ray Kiely) and 1998 (PHS) by Kerinda (Len Payne) and line honours wins by Boomerang of Belmont (1975) and Alyn Ovenden’s Collex Onyx in 1999.