Comanche’s reservation
WHILE Kristy Hinze-Clark managed to convince her husband to bring Comanche for a second crack at the Sydney to Hobart, the American flyer won’t be back for a third shot at the trophy next year.
Texan billionaire and Netscape founder Jim Clark cited distance, logistics and expense as reasons for not making a third assault with his world record breaker in 2016.
The Comanche campaign is estimated to have cost more than $1 million and is logistically difficult, with the yacht needing to be shipped here and her crew flown in from around the world, accommodated and fed for the entire race period.
“People don’t realise how far away you are from the rest of the world,” Clark said.
“It’s a good four-month excursion to get down here, counting shipping the boat, preparing and then shipping it back.
“I don’t think I’ll come back next year no matter how we perform, because it’s a lot of time, a lot of expense for one race – or sometimes two.”
The yacht, built for speed, to win races and break records, was shipped to Australia from Italy in November, arriving on a container ship off Sydney Heads in early December, with a shore team putting it back together at Woolwich Dock.
Round-the-world guru Ken Read and key sailors flew into Australia just over a week before Christmas, with the yacht put through its paces offshore to prepare it for the race.
While Clark was tempted back because American rival Rambler had committed to the race, Read said Comanche’s loss to Wild Oats had been a driving force for the crew.
The loss – by a mere 49 minutes in her maiden ocean classic remains the only blot on the yacht’s copybook since her launch last December.
“It stung for sure,’’ Read said. “It’s been a motivator.’’
The hi-tech carbon-fibre ocean mauler came into this year’s Sydney to Hobart on a 16-race winning run plus the world 24-hour speed record for a monohull of 618nm at an average of 25.75 knots.
It also came packed with star power in the form of Clark’s wife and an ace crew.
The last American yacht to claim line honours in the Sydney Hobart was US billionaire Larry Ellison’s Sayonara, which won in 1998.