Celestial

With his previous Celestial, a Rogers 46, Haynes finished second in the 2012 Blue Water Pointscore and came from behind to take the trifecta of crowns under IRC, ORCi and PHS in 2014 series – one of the closest on record. He started that campaign by winning the 2014 Land Rover Sydney Gold Coast race and clinched victory with 11th overall and 2nd in Division 2 of the 2014 Rolex Sydney Hobart after finishing 3rd overall in the 2013 race, and 2nd overall under ORCi. There were other wins and podium places between the two races, with Haynes and crew coming into their own over the last three years.

This year, the Sydney vet bought the former Wot Now/Shogun IV/Fomo. As Wot Now (owned by Graeme Wood), she finished the Hobart third overall. As Shogun IV (Rob Hanna) was 3rd again in 2010, then 15th in 2011 and 9th in 2012.  Haynes’ first hit out with the new Celestial was the Gold Coast race, where he finished 23rd overall and ninth in Division 0. Next stop was Hamilton Island, where he placed 7th from seven in IRC Division 1, then sailed a good Newcastle Bass Island Race with 4th on line. Was looking good for 2nd overall, but finished 5th when the smaller boats came home in good pressure. Haynes will once again raise awareness of Assistance Dogs Australia, which supports disabled people by training dogs to help them.

Competitor Details