Owned and skippered by the doyen of Australian ocean racing, Peter Kurts, Madeline’s Daughter was a member of Australia’s team which finished third in the 1987 Admiral’s Cup and won the AWA Southern Cross Cup later in the year. Kurts has already won two Hobart races, with Love and War in 1974 and 1975, and had fastest corrected time in 1985 with Drake’s Prayer, only to lose first place in a controversial protest. Placed fifth last year in race dominated by the maxi yachts.