Quest

Yes, you are reading right. Former owner of this TP52, Bob Steel, is back. Paul Clitheroe purchased Steel’s Quest in 2014 and renamed her Balance. The two have come to an agreement to share the yacht, so she will race with Clitheroe as Balance up until just before the Hobart, when she will undergo a ‘Quest’ paint job. It works well, as both are frequently absent from home. Each owner has won the Sydney Hobart with this boat (Steel in 2008, Clitheroe in 2015), but Steel also won it with his previous Quest (2002) and says he is hoping to win a third Rolex timepiece – Clitheroe thinks that would be great. Steel entered Quest in the 2017 Sydney Gold Coast race, but retired with mainsail track damage.

Clitheroe skippered the boat to fourth overall to win Division 1 and was second overall under ORCi n the 2016 Hobart, showing what a thoroughbred boat and crew this is. Winning the race in 2015 converted to Clitheroe winning the Blue Water Pointscore on countback to Chinese Whisper after Balance set a new race record in the Sydney to Newcastle race as well as winning IRC and ORCi. Sailing master Mike Green has taken line honours and won the Sydney Hobart three times – twice on this great offshore boat. 

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