Leopard skipper arrives in Sydney ready for Hobart hunt

• NEWS
• 12 Dec, 2007 06:07:00 PM

Leopard skipper arrives in Sydney ready for Hobart hunt

The skipper of UK maxi City Index Leopard arrived in Sydney from London this morning and immediately declared the sturdy, purpose-built yacht a certain line honours chance in this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart.

The skipper of UK maxi City Index Leopard arrived in Sydney from London this morning and immediately declared the sturdy, purpose-built yacht a certain line honours chance in this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart.

Mike Slade was bright and chatty after his long-haul flight, entertaining everyone at this morning’s media conference with his charm and English humour.

City Index Leopard was built by McConaghy Boats in Sydney. Slade took possession of the boat in the UK in May before going on to smash the record in the Rolex Fastnet Race, the boat’s one and only outing. This will be Slade’s third attempt at a Rolex Sydney Hobart line honours win and while he’s good friends with Bob Oatley, he will ‘reluctantly’ spoil Wild Oats’ party to achieve his second major goal with the boat.

“Bob Oatley has been a gentleman and a great host since the boat has been here and while it would be great to win, I don’t really like the thought of spoiling his party either,” said Slade today.

“It’s a bit like watching your mother-in-law drive your new Ferrari over a cliff – you don’t know whether to be happy or sad.”

Behind the friendly rivalry and banter, Slade is serious about making this Rolex Sydney Hobart finish a winner.

“This is a race that any serious offshore sailor wants to win and I think we’ve got a good shot at getting line honours,” said the affable Slade.

“We’re very confident we’ve got enough people in the crew who’ve done enough Hobarts and in fact maybe they’ve done too many, so I’ll be looking to keep it simple and keep the communication open in the crew.

“The boat is still almost virginal. We’ve come here [to Australia] with only 43 hours full on time on the boat. There’s an awful lot still to learn and plenty of room for improvement.

“Its probably 10 tonnes heavier than the other maxis in this race. It has been built strong….it should stand up,” said Slade when asked how he thought City Index Leopard would fair in conditions similar to those that broke ABN AMRO and Maximus last year.

“It’s not always the fastest boat that wins, it’s the boat that goes the right way and stays in one piece.

Slade also believes Maximus could be the one to watch, the “joker of the pack”.

“If it was just Wild Oats and ourselves, we could cover each other comfortably but with Maximus, Wild Oats and us, I think two boats will stay together and one will split,” he said.

“I’d be surprised if the three stay together and I think we’re more likely to split. We are perfectly happy in stronger offshore conditions. We’ll be happy to go offshore to get the strong southerly current.

“I just hope my words don’t come back to haunt me later,” smiled Slade, all too aware that the weather will determine which boats reach Hobart and the final line honours outcome.

Following the withdrawal of Integrity, the Rolex Sydney Hobart fleet stands at 85.- Nicole Browne/Lisa Ratcliff