Sibling rivals now brothers in arms
FOR years, the Noye brothers have competed against each other — out to prove who was the best sailor in the family. Today, the Hobart siblings, Lewis, 23, left, and Elliott, 26, will join forces to pit themselves against the best as the world’s greatest blue-water classic, the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race, starts on Sydney Harbour.
The brothers will be on board Black Sheep in the 73rd running of the race. “To do a Sydney-Hobart together will be very special,” Lewis said.
THEY have grown up racing together and competing against each other.
And now boating brothers Lewis and Elliott Noye will do the world’s greatest blue water classic together — the 73rd Sydney-Hobart starting today.
The Noye boys — Elliott, 26, and Lewis, 23 — are two of the most talented sailors the state has produced in recent times. They will put their skills to the test racing on Sydney yacht Black Sheep, along with fellow Tasmanian David Morris.
“I’ve done one race before but this one will be a bit better having Elliott alongside me,” Lewis said.
“We’ve sailed a lot as juniors together. We’ve worked together.
“To do a Sydney Hobart together will be very special.”
Lewis, a carpenter, made his Sydney-Hobart debut last year on Black Sheep, a Beneteau 45.
“They say every SydneyHobart is hard. Some harder than others. We had a spinnaker run from Sydney Heads to Tasman Island,” he said.
“You can’t complain about that too much but as a bowman there’s still a lot of sail changes so it wasn’t that easy.”
Elliott, also a carpenter, has been thrown in the deep end on debut, being assigned a heavy burden from the start.
“I’m tactician for the start — so hopefully I’ll get us off the line in a fairly decent spot,” he said.
“I’m confident in the role. I’ve done it quite a bit, but I know it’s going to be a different ball game on Sydney Harbour.”
Elliott is also Black Sheep’s sailing master.
“I will be steering and trimming and trying to get our sail changes going well,” he said.
Lewis’s advice to big brother: “Get us out of the heads in good shape and then relax and enjoy it.”
The mystique of the race was lure enough for Elliott.
“I’ve always heard it’s a very challenging race — it can throw at you a lot of different conditions,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge and getting to the finish. And having a beer at the end is going to be great.”