CYCA’s SOLAS Big Boat Challenge ebay auction launched

by Jennifer Crooks on 1 Dec 2011 The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) has today launched its iconic eBay auction.

The auction provides an exclusive opportunity to bid for places onboard one of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race favourites, when they compete in the CYCA’s SOLAS Big Boat Challenge – the maxi yacht dash around Sydney Harbour on Tuesday 13 December.

Seven Rolex Sydney Hobart entrants have offered two places onboard for the auction and they include: Wild Oats XI, Investec Loyal, Lahana, Wild Thing, Brindabella, Southern Excellence and Scarlet Runner. Other boats to also offer places are Spirit, the former America’s Cup boat, Ginger and Spirit of the Maid. One of the most exciting days on Sydney Harbour each year, the annual big boat dash around some of the Harbour’s most famous landmarks will again bring together a number of Rolex Sydney Hobart line honours contenders for this pre-Boxing Day showdown. Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI, will be vying for their fifth line honours win in the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge.

The celebrity crew onboard Anthony Bell’s Investec Loyal will bring additional glitz and glamour to the harbour, all while doing battle with Wild Oats XI for line honours glory. This will be the fifth year that the fleet will race to raise awareness and money for the CYCA’s Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Trusts, which supports search and rescue organisations Australia-wide.

Bid today for your chance to sail on board one of these yachts!

Wild Oats XI
Wild Oats XI is hungry for her sixth line honours win in the Rolex Sydney Hobart from seven starts. Wild Oats XI currently holds the record for the most consecutive line honours wins – four - she surpassed Morna’s record of three in a row achieved in the 1946-1948 races when she won in 2008. Once again the Oats team has made modifications to this 100 foot super maxi all aimed at increasing the boat’s speed downwind. Two places are on offer on one of Australia’s most recognized super maxis. To make a bid for the two places on Wild Oats XI log on to: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SAIL-WILD-OATS-XI-CYCA-SOLAS-BIG-BOAT-CHALLENGE-/320804941213?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item4ab176ed9d

Investec Loyal
Anthony Bell’s 100 footer Investec Loyal has also undergone some modifications during the year and finished second on line in the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race by a mere nine minutes after dueling with Wild Oats throughout the race. Bell has put together another star-studded crew that includes another who’s who of Australian sporting stars including Danny Green and seven-time world surfing champ Layne Beachley as well as a world class race crew headlined by Americas Cup sailor Billy Merrington and North Sails’ Michael Coxon. One of two 100 foot super maxis entered for the Rolex Sydney Hobart, they will sail to raise money for the LOYAL Foundation.
Two places are on offer aboard this celebrity studded boatTo make a bid for the two places on Investec -LOYAL log on to: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SAIL-INVESTEC-LOYAL-CYCA-SOLAS-BIG-BOAT-CHALLENGE-/320804943260?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item4ab176f59c

Lahana
One of two 98ft maxis entered in the Rolex Sydney Hobart, Lahana is a fixed keel water ballast yacht that was built in 2003 in NZ and designed by Brett Bakewell-White. Raced previously under the name Konica Minolta and Zana, Lahana is owned by Peter Millard and his brother in law John Honan. Since taking ownership of the boat, Millard and Honan have made modifications aimed at making the yacht perform to the best of her abilities under her IRC rating. To make a bid for the two places on Lahana log on to:http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SAIL-LAHANA-CYCA-SOLAS-BIG-BOAT-CHALLENGE-/320804951873?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item4ab1771741

Wild Thing
Two places on Grant Wharington’s 30m maxi Wild Thing were also posted on eBay today. The Rolex Sydney Hobart 2003 line honours winner, Wild Thing, is making the trip from Melbourne to Sydney for the ninth time for the Boxing Day start of the 67th race to Hobart. The design of this 30m maxi is an ongoing process with its configuration refined no less than five times since its launch in October 2003, including a radical 7m keel for the 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart. To make a bid for the two places on Wild Thing log on to: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SAIL-WILD-THING-CYCA-SOLAS-BIG-BOAT-CHALLENGE-/320804944694?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item4ab176fb36

Brindabella
Australia’s most famous maxi Brindabella, a former line honours winner of the Rolex Sydney Hobart and holder of the record for a conventionally ballasted boat (1d, 20h, 46m, 33s set in 1999) returns to the start line under new owner Jim Cooney. Designed by Scott Jutson, Brindabella still turns heads today with her sleek lines and elegant sail plan and still holds many Australian east coast race records including the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Race, Sydney Mooloolaba Yacht Race, Sydney Noumea Race, and the Sydney Wollongong Race. To make a bid for the two places on Brindabella – the people’s yacht, log on to: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SAIL-BRINDABELLA-CYCA-SOLAS-BIG-BOAT-CHALLENGE-/320804948294?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item4ab1770946

Southern Excellence
Andrew Wenham purchased this extensively campaigned Volvo 60 last year. Under a previous owner, the boat took line and PHS honours and set a new course record during the 2006 Gosford to Lord Howe Race, returning in 2007 to claim line honours again. The boat scored a line honours win in the 2007 Melbourne to Vanuatu race for which it also holds the record, set by a previous owner. This boat has sailed competitively throughout the CYCA’s sailing calendar and along the eastern seaboard in ocean races including Audi Sydney Gold Coast, Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, Lord Howe Island and the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. To make a bid for the two places on Southern Excellence log on to:http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SAIL-SOUTHERN-EXCELLENCE-CYCA-SOLAS-BIG-BOAT-CHALLENGE-/320804950166?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item4ab1771096

Scarlet Runner
Since her launch in July 2009, Scarlet Runner has competed in a number of inshore and offshore races. Her first race was the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race where she achieved first in IRC Division 1. Following on from this, Scarlet Runner returned to Melbourne and claimed line honours and a new race record in the ORCV’s Cock of the Bay race. In January 2010, she won the Audi Docklands Invitational and the Adelaide to Port Lincoln race in February 2010. Earlier this year, Scarlet Runner won the double off line and IRC honours in the Adelaide to Port Lincoln and won the IRC Division of the Lexus Lincoln Week regatta and competed in the Melbourne to King Island Race To make a bid for the two places on Scarlet Runner log on to:http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SAIL-SCARLET-RUNNER-CYCA-SOLAS-BIG-BOAT-CHALLENGE-/320804954192?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item4ab1772050

Spirit of the Maid
Spirit of the Maid is a Volvo Ocean 60 racing yacht which has a long and illustrious history of international yacht racing. Originally launched in 1997 as IllbruckV2, she competed the 1997 / 1998 Volvo Round the World Yacht Race winning several of the legs. Spirit of the Maid was designed with the rigours of the southern ocean in mind and is also equipped with a movable water ballast system where up to 2500 litres of water can be taken on and transferred from side to side to aid stability and thus increase speed. The fastest she has been clocked at is 36.8 knots which equates to 68 kph, quite a speed for a yacht. Bruce Absolon purchased the yacht last year and renamed her as a tribute to his previous ocean racer ‘Ausmaid’ To make a bid for the two places on Spirit of the Maid log on to:http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SAIL-SPIRIT-MAID-CYCA-SOLAS-BIG-BOAT-CHALLENGE-/320804950914?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item4ab1771382

Spirit – America’s Cup Yacht
This yacht was challenged in 1992 as 'Spirit of Australia' in San Diego in a single boat campaign sponsored by Australian companies and the people of Australia. The boat finished sixth in the Louis Vuitton Cup against better funded multi boat syndicates. In the lead up to 1995 she was used as a training boat for the oneAustralia campaign. To make a bid for the two places on Spirit log on to:http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SAIL-SPIRIT-AMERICAS-CUP-YACHT-CYCA-SOLAS-BIG-BOAT-CHALLENGE-/320804956396?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item4ab17728ec

Ginger
This 60 foot Swan is a well-tuned ocean racer owned by Leslie Green. Recently, Ginger took the line and IRC double win in a foggy Ocean Pointscore race to Port Hacking and is a regular CYCA competitor. She also won the Rolex Trophy Passage Series in 2008. To make a bid for the two places on Ginger log on to:http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SAIL-GINGER-CYCA-SOLAS-BIG-BOAT-CHALLENGE-/320804955321?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item4ab17724b9

Bidding for all ten items will close on 8th December 2011. Terms and conditions apply, see the individual URL’s for details.

The CYCA SOLAS Trusts Charity was set up as a charitable trust in 1999 as a result of the tragic events of the 1998 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. To date almost $630,000 has been donated to search and rescue organizations Australia wide and has provided financial support to immediate families of those lost at sea during Yachting Australia sanctioned races. The CYCA SOLAS Trusts also aims to foster & fund research and training in safety & rescue procedures.