French skipper offers Aussie 'unofficial passport' for Rolex Sydney Hobart

Tanguy Fournier Le Ray, owner/skipper of South Brittany - Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race © Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

Tanguy Fournier Le Ray, the French owner/skipper of 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race entrant, South Brittany, is proud that his crew will be all French - bar one Australian.

Fournier Le Ray, a technology and innovation entrepreneur from Brittany, but now living in Sydney, is equally as proud to be offering NSW sailor Arthur Psaltis a place on board.

The Frenchman will start his sixth Sydney Hobart on Monday 26 December. It will also be his first as an owner/skipper, as his previous rides were as crew on other owners' boats.

Joining Fournier Le Ray's crew for the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's (CYCA) 628 nautical mile race are his two elder brothers Jerome and Matthieu. Apart from the skipper, the sole English-speaking member will be Sydney sailor Psaltis, who is the younger brother of Sydney Hobart veteran, Ed Psaltis.

South Brittany, a Beneteau First 44.7, is named after the famous sailing region Brittany in north-west France, from where Fournier Le Ray and his French crew hail. French will be the official language, so Psaltis, who has sailed 16 Sydney Hobarts, including an Overall win in the 1998 race, will have to adapt to all things French.

The crew will even make him an honorary Frenchman for the duration of the race.

"It'll be good for French-Australian relations," said Fournier Le Ray of his invitation to Psaltis while working on his Farr designed yacht at the CYCA in Rushcutters Bay. "We're giving him an unofficial French passport for the race," he laughed.

Fournier Le Ray is realistic about South Brittany's possibilities in the race. When the boat was moored at Balmoral before its recent move to the CYCA, he carried out most work on it alone while waiting for his crew to travel from France.

"It's not been ideal," he admitted. "I've had to get it up to speed because it has been doing a lot of cruising recently.

"I've also had to have some minor repairs on the mast that we had to have taken down.

"I am not sure it will be where it needs to be compared to the others in the fleet, but we will see."

Before Fournier Le Ray, South Brittany had several owners since being launched as Prime Time for David Mason, who retired from the 2004 Rolex Sydney Hobart. She was last sailed to Hobart as Another Painkiller in 2019 and finished 87th overall.

While pragmatic about South Brittany's odds of claiming the Tattersall Cup, awarded to the overall winner of the race, Fournier Le Ray is confident his crew will optimise their potential in their division.

Along with his brothers, Fournier Le Ray's crew is made up of friends of 30 years: navigator Alexis Loison, who won the 2021 Rolex Fastnet Race sailing two-handed, Tanguy Caradec, Vincent Fertin, Gautier Normand, Yves Pelletier, Samuel Prietz, and Xavier Vandame.

"We have a very competitive team," said Fournier Le Ray, adding that the opportunity to race in the Rolex Sydney Hobart as a French crew is a dream for any French ocean racing sailor.

"In Brittany, offshore sailing is like a religion. In France it is very cold right now. We don't really sail in winter; but I remember every year as a kid I watched the Sydney Hobart and still do.

"It is an amazing race to follow. This will be my sixth time in the race, but now my French crew get to race in it too. Many of the crew have never been to Australia, let alone sail in the race."

The start of the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race will be broadcast live on the Seven Network throughout Australia and live-and-on-demand on the 7Plus app, as well as on the official race website - rolexsydneyhobart.com - for viewers around the world.

For the full list of entries and more information about the race, visit rolexsydneyhobart.com.