Race still on for two yachts

• NEWS
• 31 Dec, 2003 08:43:00 AM

Race still on for two yachts

The two boats look like having a slow day’s sailing ahead of them. The forecast is for light, variable winds from the northwest to the southwest, with a chance of a sea breeze this afternoon.

Two yachts are still racing in the 2003 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

At 0800 today Berrimilla, Alex Whitworth’s Brolga 33 still had 76 miles to go to the finish line.  The little yacht was about 10 miles east of Maria Island.

Whitworth has sailed his classic yacht in the past ten Hobarts, and while her size will always ensure that Berrimilla is down the list in terms of line honours, she has always placed well on handicap.  She won the PHS division in the brutal 1998 race, and last year she placed third in the same division.

Another 30 miles astern of Berrimilla is the smallest boat in the fleet, Katinka.  Paul O’Connell is skippering the little Currawong 30, and the he and his five crewmembers have to cover 103 miles in sixteen hours if they are to get to Hobart before 2004.  Katinka is 7 miles north east of Cape Sonnerat

The two boats look like having a slow day’s sailing ahead of them.  The forecast is for light, variable winds from the northwest to the southwest, with a chance of a sea breeze this afternoon.

Back in Hobart, the results of the 2003 Rolex Sydney Hobart will be officially announced at 11 am, at a presentation ceremony when Michael Spies and Peter Johnson’s First National Real Estate will be handed the Tattersall’s Trophy for overall winner.  The winning skipper will also be presented with a Rolex watch and his crew with medallions to mark the victory.

The winning yachts and placegetters in the IMS, IRC and PHS divisions will also be presented with their pennants.