First National Real Estate is Home, but Impeccable Could Still Break and Enter to Steal the Cup.

• NEWS
• 30 Dec, 2003 07:12:00 AM

First National Real Estate is Home, but Impeccable Could Still Break and Enter to Steal the Cup.

First National Real Estate has arrived in Hobart leading the IMS and IRC divisions, and is well placed to take out Overall Winner

First National Real Estate, the Beneteau 40.7 skippered by Michael Spies and Peter Johnson, is in Hobart and in the lead for First Overall in the 2003 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

The winner of the IMS division is also the winner of the Tattersalls Cup for Outright Winner.

First National Real Estate crossed the line this morning at 5:23 am after a slow finish in a light south westerly breeze of 8 to 10 knots.

Spies and Johnson have until early afternoon to wait before knowing how firmly the Overall Handicap honours are in their grasp.

It was a frustrating night for the race leaders.  They were becalmed twice at Tasman Island, first for an hour and then for forty five minutes.  After that they took a wide course around the island, giving time away to the boats they could see around them, for fear of ‘parking’ a third time.

NSW entry Impeccable, skippered by John Walker, has the most time to challenge First National Real Estate needing to finish by 2.20 pm this afternoon but at 6 am this morning her estimated time of arrival in Hobart was 2.45 pm, giving the 81-year-old skipper 25 minutes to make up in the sixty five miles she has to sail to the finish and needing to average more than eight knots.

At the dockside at 7:00 this morning Spies said that he wouldn’t feel secure for another hour or so, when he would be able to see what the wind was doing around Impeccable, but he was reasonably confident.  “Its like the guys in a cricket team who can start to feel alright when the other side has to score runs off every ball in the last three overs,” he said.

Pippin (Tasmania) and Tilting at Windmills (Victoria) are only rank outside chances, both needing to finish this morning.

Twenty nine yachts have now finished their 2003 race, 16 arriving since midnight and another four now making the 11 mile journey up the Derwent to the finish.

First National Real Estate took three days 16 hours 13 minutes and 29 seconds to complete the 630 mile race from Sydney, and is in a strong position to take out the IRC division of the race, ahead of Impeccable and Bob Hick’s 31 foot Toe Cutter, as well as IMS.