Magic Miles to hitch ride with Mother Nature
TASMANIAN yacht Magic Miles looked for a boost from Mother Nature last night as it headed out to sea on the opening day of the 73rd Sydney to Hobart yacht race.
Skipper Mike Crew said the strategy was to sail far enough east to pick up the southerly current and catch a free ride towards home.
Magic Miles had a steady start when the gun fired at 1pm on Sydney Harbour to send the fleet of 102 yachts off on the 628 nautical mile race.
“It was a good, safe start but a little bit of a slow start for us,” Crew said.
“We had eight knots of breeze and we could only make four knots of boat speed.
“When we came through the Heads, most of the other boats were over the horizon.”
The 68-footer, weighing 35 tons, had settled into its race systems by late afternoon.
“We’re heading out about 12 miles to get the southerly current and that will help our boat speed,” Crew said. “We’ll enjoy the sail down the coast tonight. We’re looking forward to getting safely to Hobart.”
Magic Miles was 92nd in the fleet and seventh in PHS Division 2.
Tasmania’s other SydneyHobart competitor, Oskana, skippered by Michael Pritchard, was 24th for line honours and as high as sixth in IRC Division 0.
Peter Harmsen, a freelance cameraman from Hobart, should collect spectacular footage as he films the SydneyHobart campaign of InfoTrack for a documentary, with wind of 20-30 knots from the nornorth-east forecast for today.
Before the race he said: “I hope we get it fully wound up one afternoon in bright sunshine and the pictures look fantastic.”
Wish granted.