Hobart lights up Kerrin’s dream

SHE has sailed the seven seas but until four weeks ago Tasmanian Kerrin Lovell had only set foot on a yacht once.

A former Royal Australian Navy boatswain’s mate on HMAS Kanimbla, HMAS Darwin and HMAS Melbourne, Lovell received a phone call in November that would change her life.

“I was asked if I was interested in taking part in the Sydney-Hobart and I said yes,” she said. “The Sydney to Hobart has always been on my bucket list, being Tasmanian.

“You hear a lot about it growing up. I never thought I would get to do it.”

Kerrin, 31, of Launceston, sailed aboard one of two Invictus Games yachts in the 73rd Sydney-Hobart.

She was starboard watch leader aboard Down Under, which sailed against, and lost to, the UK Invictus yacht Great Britain. The boats were crewed by six sailors and eight veterans with a physical or mental impairment. Kerrin has lumbar scoliosis. “I have chronic pain in my back,” she said.

“That was one of the reasons I left the navy.

“The race was challenging physically and mentally for me, with my back.

“Sometimes I struggle to lift my son, but here I am having sailed the Sydney to Hobart.”

Kerrin praised the teamwork on Down Under and the camaraderie between the boats.

“Everyone worked amazingly well together considering four weeks ago we’d never met each other,” she said.

“Some people aim to do this their whole lives and I got a phone call and four weeks later here I am.”

The build-up, the start and crossing Bass Strait were memorable moments, but there is one that stands out.

“Seeing the lights of Hobart at midnight and coming in with everyone’s friends and families on the dock to meet us,” she said.

Unlike some Sydney-Hobart, this one threw up a rare challenge.

“We had a lot of windless times,” she said.

Kerrin’s only previous sailing experience was a Soldier On Sail Day on Sydney Harbour in October.