Cahalan carves in name

IT’S a highly polished wooden board sporting the names of some of Australia’s most famous ocean racing sailors and now the first woman has etched her name on it.

Adrienne Cahalan, a motherof-two, round the world navigator, former Australian sailor of the year, skiff skipper and lawyer, was on the weekend honoured as the first woman to sail in 25 Sydney to Hobart yacht races after racing south aboard Ragamuffin in the 2016 event.

Dubbed the Hobart Heroes, sailors who have achieved the feat of 25 races are honoured at the annual Quiet Little Drink fundraising event with their names added to an honours board.

At the same event on the weekend, Brad Kellett became the youngest sailor at 40 to achieve the feat of 25 Hobarts with Andrew Taylor, Peter Sheldrick, Michael Bellingham and Bruce Clark all honoured for reaching the milestone.

While Cahalan, who wants to sail a Sydney to Hobart with her daughters when they reach the minimum age of 18, is the first woman to make the club, she is one of the most successful sailors on it.

She has the extraordinary record of six line honours wins from sailing on Nicorette and Wild Oats along with two overall wins and two race records. She was also the first Australian female sailor aboard a line honours winner back in 2000.

Also honoured on the night was Sue Crafer for contesting her 15th Sydney to Hobart, round the world sailor Stacey Jackson for completing her 10th and Wendy Tuck for the same feat.

Tuck is currently at sea as a skipper in the Clipper round the world race. In the last Clipper race Tuck was the first female to take on the role of skipper and won the Sydney to Hobart leg of the round the world race in 2015, a feat she will attempt to repeat.