Chris O’Neill’s J/99 arrived in Sydney at the end of October, later than anticipated. Little time was left to make sails, measure and rate the J/99, “But everyone is bending over backwards to help us,” says O’Neill. His co-skipper, Larry Jamieson, is a veteran of 35 Hobarts, whose thousands of ocean miles include international yacht deliveries. Blue Planet is the first offshore racer O’Neill has owned, but he has sailed since childhood, inclusive of three Sydney Hobarts. The pair will race in support of the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, an Aussie company focussed on the prevention and treatment of sleep and respiratory disorders, lung cancer and tuberculosis.