Volvo wins Citroen prize in Hobart start

by Rob Kothe on 26 Dec 2001 Citroen distributor Neville Crichton was always ready to let Volvo win the Citroen Dash for Cash and today it happened in the softest Hobart start for many years.

The gun fired in a 5 knot westerly, Ragamuffin starting just below Grundig managed to move clear ahead of the stalled maxi wall of limp windsocks Nicorette, Brindabella and Australian Skandia.

At the committee boat end of the end the Sydney 62 Bumble Bee 5, without spinnaker slide along the southern line of spectator boats, first into the new breeze she crossed the Sydney Hobart fleet on starboard tack and quickly passed Assa Abloy and the two Amer Sports boats stalled ahead of her.

Ragamuffin was soon into second place in the Hobart fleet with Sting and SAP Ausmaid weaving down the course close behind. The red and grey Sydney 40 Rush, moved well out and the new breeze accelerated the leading group.

The News Corp team picked the shifts well as the breeze swung around to the east and then to the east-northeast.

By the Citroen Z mark, Bumble Bee 5 had overtaken all of the Volvo 60 boats except News Corp, who took Citroen distributor Neville Crichton’s $10,000 winner take all prize.

From his powerboat out on the water Crichton commented ‘In these tough business times even major corporations need all the income they could get and we don’t mind in the least assisting News Corp’
Ian Murray had Bumble Bee V well ahead of the pink and black Volvo 60 djuice dragons, followed by illbruck and Team Seb, then Tyco.
Then in the Hobart fleet Ragamuffin, was followed by the shark jaws of Grundig, with Ian Treleaven’s Volvo 60 Line 7 close behind. They led the pair of Volvo 60 Amer Sport One and Two just ahead of Sting, SAP Ausmaid, Nicorette, Lodka Bols, Assa Abloy Aspect Computing then the Swedish Sydney 40 Rush, followed by Starlight Express, and two more sixty footers Eureka and Valtair.

Two South Australia boats then passed the orange seamark in tandem, Gary Shanks Rager leading Geoff Boetcher’s Murray 43 Secret men’s Business. Then Wayne Millar’s Sydney 41 lead Lou Abraham’s Sydney 38 Another Challenge with the Russian team on the twin Sydney 38 Prosail next close behind.

The Russian built Vendee Globe Open 60 retiree chartered by the Marchioness syndicate as Broomstick was just ahead of Cad Ibarra 7.

Scott Wheelhouse’s Sydney 41 Sea Jay was leading the Swan 48 Loki, then came Ninety-Seven who had stalled very badly on the start line.

Then there was a short burst of westerly breeze, which quickly white capped at 15 knots and the bulk of the fleet burst out of the harbour to disappear into the gathering gloom of the bushfire smoke being pushed offshore.

The first sked for the 57th Sydney to Hobart race will be at 8.05pm, with the sked analysis expected to be published by Sail-World around 9.30pm