Lou Abrahams from the Sydney 38 Challenge is preparing for his 44th Rolex Sydney Hobart to equal the record set by the late John Bennetto Ian Taylor

In a tribute resembling Mark Taylor’s declaration on equalling Sir Donald  Bradman’s innings run record, 79 year old Lou has hinted that once he draws level with his old friend’s ‘44’ he may hang up his Hobart wet weather gear forever.

Lou first sailed to Hobart as a 36 year old crew member on Winston Churchill in 1963 and achieved the rare double of two overall wins in Australia’s greatest offshore race in 1983 and 1989.

“I didn’t set out to chase records, it’s just happened that way,” says the quietly spoken Lou, who was also announced tonight as the winner of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s 2006 Ocean Racing Veteran of the Year Award.

“I like the race - it’s a good test of putting a team together and pushing hard.”

However, he’s cautious about the notion of a 45th race and a new record.

“You don’t commit yourself too far ahead,” he says.

Only five men have reached the 40 race milestone in the event’s 62 year history. This year, two more, Tony Ellis, crewman on Ragamuffin and Bill Ratcliff, co-skipper of Scrumba, will join the prestigious group. Tony Cable of Philips Foote Witchdoctor is the next heir apparent for the record and will rack up his 43rd race this year.

As his health has become a little less reliable, Abrahams now lets his crew do most of the steering and hard work on board while he focuses on his passion for navigating, which he mastered well before the technology used on yachts today was thought possible.

“If the sun didn’t come out for a few days you couldn’t get a sight in order to calculate your position,” recalls Lou.

“There was a bit of guess work involved and sometimes I wonder how we made it to Hobart.”

Joan Abraham, Lou’s wife of 54 years, is looking forward to spending part of Christmas Day with her husband but she knows that as soon as lunch is over, Lou will leave their home in Melbourne to travel to Sydney to prepare for the Boxing Day start  as he has done for the past 43 years.

“It’s become a habit - she knows where I’ll be at Christmas time,” says Lou.

Having contested every heavy weather Hobart since the mid 1960’s, Lou Abrahams has seen the worst Bass Strait can serve up and, while there might be a tendency to preach to the first timers in this year’s race, this modest man is not comfortable offering bucket loads of advice.

“Take plenty of warm clothes,” he suggests with a wry smile.

	Lou Abraham's Challenge sailing into Hobart Daniel Forster / Rolex

About Lou Abrahams

Lou’s sailing career began on Port Philip Bay when he was 16, sailing in dinghies. In his twenties he branched off into motor car racing, becoming a respected driver who also built a radical car he named ‘the Tornado’, which held the Australian land speed record.

His first Sydney Hobart was in 1963 on Winston Churchill, the veteran campaigner that sailed south for the last time in the disastrous 1998 race, when she sunk in heavy weather.

After Winston Churchill, Abrahams campaigned his own yacht Odin, for five years. Odin was designed by Trygve Halvorsen and was a steel version of Freya, the boat in which the Halvorsens took the 'hat trick' in the Hobart races of 1963 to 65. Abrahams then acquired Vittoria, a Sparkman & Stephens 40-footer. Abrahams did 10 Hobarts, with some very consistent performances, and represented Victoria in the Southern Cross Cup team in that boat.

He acquired Challenge II (there was already a vessel named Challenge on the Australian register), a 45ft S&S design, in 1979. Abrahams had his first Hobart victory in this boat in 1983.

From 1984 to 1987, he raced the carbon-fibre Frers designed Challenge III in which he represented Australia in the Admiral's Cup.

After 25 years and the acquisition and naming of his Dubois One Tonner, Ultimate Challenge, one could have been forgiven for thinking that Lou was anticipating the end of his ocean-racing career. No doubt the rush of adrenaline that accompanied his winning the 1989 Hobart race did away with that idea, and he campaigned that yacht successfully until 1995, representing Australia in the Admiral's Cup and coming a very close second in the 1991 Hobart.

Frustrated with handicapping system at the time, he turned to one design racing at 73 years of age, acquiring the Sydney 38 Another Challenge in 2000. He went on to win the National Sydney 38 championship in the Whitsundays that year and the following.

With is his current Sydney 38 called Challenge he won the Sydney 38 division in last year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart and is always a strong chance for another class win this year.

Back in July, Abrahams received a ‘Services to Yachting’ Award for his achievements spanning half a century, and his significant contribution to the future of the sport including assisting young sailors to compete in championship events at national and international levels.

A Past Commodore and Life Member of Sandringham Yacht Club in Victoria, he has won many yachting awards including the 2002 Commonwealth Medal for Services to Sailing.

Lou Abrahams is the recipient of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s 2006 Ocean Racing Veteran of the Year Award for the third time. - Nicole Browne/Lisa Ratcliff