It’s not about luck, it’s about preparation

• NEWS
• 28 Dec, 2010 03:37:00 PM

It’s not about luck, it’s about preparation

It might be unlucky for some, but husband and wife team Jim and Mary Holley didn't believe there was anything ominous about setting sail for race number 13 on Boxing Day last Sunday.

It might be unlucky for some, but husband and wife team Jim and Mary Holley didn't believe there was anything ominous about setting sail for race number 13 on Boxing Day last Sunday.

The New South Wales couple is competing in the Rolex Sydney Hobart aboard their Newcastle based modified Farr 40 Aurora for the 13th consecutive year. The fact the 40 footer has competed in every race since 1998, and incredibly has never failed to finish, is believed to be a race milestone.

Aurora is currently 57th in the fleet sailing east of Green Cape, which marks the beginning of the journey across Bass Strait, the daunting stretch of water that this year has lived up to its reputation.  Based on current speed, Aurora is expected to cross the finish line off Hobart’s Battery Point at daybreak on Sunday, 2 January 2011.

For Mary as much as Jim the tough race this year has been just what they wanted. The challenge of one of the toughest ocean races in the world has become an addiction. Jim has 22 Hobarts to his name, Mary has 13, all but one of those completed with her husband at the helm.

“Completion is everything,” says Jim.  “We are absolutely meticulous in our preparation.  I take the mast out every year.  People say it is unnecessary but it pays off in Bass Strait, lying in your bunk not worrying that the rig is about to fall down.”

“We very rarely have any breakages, everybody is always well,” Mary says proudly.  The race and getting everything in order gives a focus to the whole year.  We start planning for the race, thinking about crew, in January.  The second half of the year it is pretty full on.”

“It does make it easier, though, when we are both involved, ‘’ says Jim. “There is so much to do, so much paperwork.  It must be very hard for a guy on his own to get it all done.”

The Holleys aren’t into cruising at all, they tried a circumnavigation of Tasmania once but “never cruise a racing boat,” Jim says, “it is even more uncomfortable than racing a racing boat.”

Like all the IOR boats of her day Aurora struggles under the IRC handicap system.  She needs a hard, mostly upwind race to make even a dent on the leader board, and so far it’s been a tailor-made race for Aurora thanks to yesterday’s gale force headwinds. 

“It is not so much the competition that attracts us to the Rolex Sydney Hobart each year,” Jim observes wryly, ”with our rating we can’t really compete.  It’s the voyage down there.  You either like the sea or you don’t.”

“And the satisfaction of getting down there,” Mary adds.  “When you finish in Hobart after all that effort, it is very satisfying.”

Mary is Aurora’s navigator and tactician, Jim is the skipper. He says Mary is also the person the crew will go to if there are any problems, though Mary insists that Jim “is very calm.  When there is strife he is very calming on the crew.”

This year the Holleys have taken on a new crew member fresh out of school.  At 18, Tasmanian James Hall just qualifies under the Rolex Sydney Hobart minimum age rule.  The couple has known him since he was six, when they escaped Hobart for a few days to Dover and some cottages that James’ parents managed. 

“He has always dreamed of doing the race” Jim says.  “He has already flown up from Hobart five times to train with the crew.  When he wakes up every morning his first thoughts aren’t about Christmas, they are about the Rolex Sydney Hobart.”

Mary concedes that when she first met Jim she had very little sailing experience.

“Mostly social bits and pieces,” is how she puts it.  Then she started joining her husband for delivery trips back to their Newcastle home after he had finished offshore races and she got the bug.

Mary is one of many women making their mark on ocean racing.  She says she can’t understand why women are letting men have most of the fun.

“Wives who leave their husbands to muck around on their boats alone don’t know what they’re missing out on,” she declares.  “It’s so much fun.  Challenging, but just so much fun.” 

By Jim Gale, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team