Record worth waiting for
JULIA Cooney thought she had missed the milestone of being the youngest female sailor on a Sydney to Hobart linehonours winner.
But when a time penalty for a rule infraction sent Wild Oats XI crashing out of first place, the medical student claimed the honour.
“When I read it originally we were second and I thought, ‘I’ve missed it, that was my only chance to get it’, ’’ said the 20-year-old who raced with her father Jim and brother James on Comanche. “It’s nice to have it now.’’ Former world match-racing champion Nicky Souter had held the female age record after she sailed on Wild Oats XI when it claimed line and overall honours on debut in 2005 when she was just 21.
Cooney and her brother James, 19, will also go into the record books as the first siblings on a line-honours winner after their father bought the former American 100-footer just a fortnight before the race.
The Sydneysider said celebrations had been slightly subdued after the international jury ruled them, and not Wild Oats XI, as winners.
“It is pretty exciting but a little painful it had to come this way,’’ she said. “But the race was incredible. It’s very draining and full-on.
“When you know it is short you don’t go to bed or anything. Just keep going.
“And you have 30 knots plus so there is a lot of force. You have to be vigilant. It is quite mentally and physically demanding but I’d rather do that than bash upwind.”