Melbourne to Hobart Westcoaster - Gusto joins the Hobart party

by John Curnow on 29 Dec 2010 Gusto was the first finisher from the 2010 Melbourne to Hobart Westcoaster.

She crossed the line at 18:18:46, around five hours after Goldfinger came in from the Eastcoaster race.Quayside after finishing, Brian Pattinson, Gusto's skipper said, 'It's easier with 11 souls onboard', which is a reference to the many two-handed miles he has sailed.

'The hardest parts were the beginning and the end. Delighted there has been no damage or injuries and we certainly used every sail in our inventory. It was really good fun and we hit 25 knots along the bottom of Tasmania between the South West and South East Capes. That was great.'

Onboard Gusto was the son of the skipper of Goldfinger, Peter Blake. Simon Blake completed the 5500nm Melbourne to Osaka two-handed race together with his father in 2003. The friendly, family battle was always set to be on between the two.

After the race, Simon said, 'We had a great race and I'm really happy for Dad. For sure we tried to beat him and worked hard to do it. It was interesting competing against him, rather than with him.'

There are still many vessels out there from both Hobart fleets. Of note is that Enchantress from the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron is leading presently on IRC Handicap for the Westcoaster race. This is the first time they have competed in this race, so a win should get them back in a hurry. Gusto holds the provisional Australian Measurement System handicap lead for now.

In the Eastcoaster fleet, the first three finishers hold down the provisional IRC positions. Veloce leads from Goldfinger and XLR8. Rob Sill's INSX is due to finish just before five tomorrow morning. Any advancement on that could see them catapult onto the podium. The final boats in will probably be Hush and The Secretary from the East and West coasts, respectively and they are due in on Thursday evening.

ORCV website click here