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  • Q & A | Shane Connelly of Local Hero

Q & A | Shane Connelly of Local Hero

Q & A | Shane Connelly of Local Hero
ALIVE, Bow: 66, Sail n°: 52566, Skipper: Duncan Hine, Design: Reichel Pugh 66, Owner: Phillip Turner, State/Nation: TAS Protected by copyright

Q & A | Shane Connelly of Local Hero

Shane Connelly, the owner of BH36 Local Hero, spoke to the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race at 4pm on Saturday afternoon to hear about their race so far and what they've seen on their journey to Hobart.

RSHYR: How are you going out there Shane?

CONNELLY: Yeah, we’re making good progress. The weather’s calmed down a little bit now down here so we’re moving south, but slowly.

At the moment we are off the Tasmanian coast, we’re between Flinders Island and Eddystone Rock. We’re about 60-70 miles out to sea.

RSHYR: What conditions are you experiencing?

CONNELLY: Conditions are good, at the moment, it was a pretty rough night last night, but at the moment it’s blowing about 10 knots of breeze from the west, nor-west and seas about one metre swell that’s not as confused. There’s a bit of sea-fog around actually.

RSHYR: What’s been the hardest part of the race for you so far?

CONNELLY: Last night, when we had no moon and conditions were pretty rough. So, the first and second night were without a moon and it was pretty hard to steer in. It’s been long hours on board, otherwise it’s been a good race for us – the crew’s in good spirits!

We’ve only had one breakage – we’ve torn one spinnaker – but the rest are in good order and we’re pretty happy with our performance thus far.

RSHYR: Is everyone keeping their dinner down?

CONNELLY: Haha yes, they are, and everyone’s eating their dinners. There’s very little sickness… we’re eating quite well.

RSHYR: Have you seen much sea life on your journey south?

CONNELLY: Yes, we’ve had whales. And we had a close call with a sun fish that was very close to the boat and just below the surface. A lot of birdlife, the usual story of petrels and albatross and things like that. But we’re quite a way out [to sea] so it’s been pretty quiet in the sea life department. Oh, and seen a few dolphins, in the rougher weather last night, we saw some dolphins.

RSHYR: Are you guys eating reasonably well on your boat, or are you into the freeze dried?

CONNELLY: No, no, we eat well! We do eat packaged food, but it’s not freeze-dried but you just heat it up and it’s almost vacuum-sealed and it’s fresh and it tastes quite nice. So, we are eating quite well.”

RSHYR: And finally, what are you looking forward to most when you arrive in Hobart?

CONNELLY: A rum and coke…. Maybe more than one!

 

Stay up to date with Local Hero's progress via the Race Tracker and standings. There photos and video throughout the race. Fans, participants and media are encouraged to follow the race on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as well as tag their Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race content with the official hashtag #RolexSydneyHobart on all social media platforms.