Sailors’ spicy stake for Sydney rivalry

MOTIVATION IS NOT HARD TO FIND FOR SAILORS IN THE SYDNEY TO HOBART RACE BUT TWO COAST CREWS HAVE EXTRA INCENTIVE, AS TERRY WILSON DISCOVERS

A TOP-shelf bottle of spiced rum is at stake when Gold Coast rivals Another Painkiller and Ocean Pride tackle the Sydney to Hobart bluewater yacht classic.

Southport Yacht Club skippers David Hows (Ocean Gem) and Rod West (Another Painkiller) are not expected to feature in the line-honours battle that starts today in Sydney Harbour.

But they will stage their own private duel on water as three boats from the SYC go for the honour of being the first crew from the club to cross the finish line on Hobart’s Derwent River some time later this week.

The third racer is She, skippered by Philip Bell, which is in a separate category to Another Painkiller and Ocean Gem.

“I challenged Rod to have a wager and we’re going for a bottle of Sailor Jerry spiced rum,” Hows said of the side bet.

West has a huge advantage over Hows in that this will be his sixth Sydney to Hobart, but his first in the recently renamed Another Painkiller.

Hows and his crew of nine will be tackling the famous challenge for the first time in a 25-year-old racer which is a Beneteau 45 design, the same as Another Painkiller.

And another factor in the inexperienced stakes is that among the crew will be Lena Padukova, who flew into Sydney from Sweden only on Christmas Eve.

“We were a crew member down so we posted a vacancy on a yachting website and Lena responded,” Hows said.

“We were looking for someone with experience and she certainly has that.

“She regularly takes parties

I CHALLENGED ROD TO HAVE A WAGER AND WE’RE GOING FOR A BOTTLE OF SAILOR JERRY SPICED RUM ...

Another Painkiller previously raced as Alacrity but West renamed the racer to continue a saltwater tradition with a Caribbean cocktail as the inspiration.

“This is the fourth in the Painkiller line,” West said.

“There was the original Painkiller, then Painkiller Forte and Painkiller OP (for over-proof). Now there’s Another Painkiller but my wife is calling it Another Painkiller – And The Last.”

West has raced the Sydney to Hobart six times and finished all of them.

Also coming up, starting on Tuesday, January 2, is the annual Pittwater to Paradise ocean race that finishes off Main Beach.

Picture: ROD WEST Sydney to Hobart candidate Another Painkiller.

Ocean Gem skipper David Hows. by boat into the Arctic Circle.” There is also an interesting tale involving Another Painkiller, a yacht that West bought only three months ago.