Tasmania's Richard and Megan Grant have sailed Magellan to a double-handed victory in 52nd M2H Race
by Ocean Racing Club of Victoria 30 Dec 2024 00:06 PST
Sailed double handed Magellan set to win from the start © Michael Currie
Magellan, the Knoop 39 skippered by father/daughter combination Richard and Megan Grant from the Bellerive Yacht Club, are provisional winners of the double-handed division on performance handicap in the 52nd Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race.
The passionate sailors, who are preparing for the 2025 Melbourne to Osaka Race which starts in March, took on the West Coast twice in ten days, delivering the boat to Melbourne before the sail back to Hobart.
"In a moment of holiday madness, we double-handed up the West Coast to Melbourne only a few days before, which was a non-stop three-day effort.
The Grants have been doing a lot of work on the boat in preparation for their offshore sailing challenges, which were put to the test in the 435 nautical mile race to Hobart.
"Putting an autohelm on was a great decision - there's no way that the two of us could steer this boat 100 per cent of the time, it would just be too hard.
"With the new dodger (that looks a bit like a caravan), we could get out of the weather and stay dry most of the time.
"The new instruments and the work we've done on the systems over the last year have made everything easier to do from back in the cockpit," said Richard.
Megan grew up sailing dinghies but relished her time on the helm reaching her highest speeds in the big seas of the Southern Ocean.
"We were halfway between Maatsuyker and South East Cape and there was a quite a lot of swell - we had 35 to 40 knots - I was helming at the time and we hit 18.2 knots which was our top speed, it was pretty quick.
"It was lots of fun...when you're going that fast in swells that big, you've got to pay attention all the time, because you can easily go up the face of a wave and get the speed wobbles, which can be a bit terrifying.
"Overall, I'm feeling pretty good after the race...I'm definitely more confident in my own abilities now.
"What this and other races have shown us is that Dad and I work really well together - we make a good team, we both understand how each other works and I think we'll do really well in the Melbourne to Osaka Race," said Megan.
All boats have now finished the race.
Presentations will be held at the Elizabeth Street Pier Race Village at 5pm tomorrow, 31st December 2024.
For Entry, Notice of Race and List of Entries, please visit: www.orcv.org.au/hobart/m2hyachts.