Tribal Warrior

The 75^th Sydney Hobart is the perfect launching pad for Australia’s first Indigenous entry. Wayne Jones, who owns a Beneteau 473, has chartered Marguerite from Eastsail Sydney, renaming her Tribal Warrior. The crew have been training since 2015 on the Volvo 70, Southern Excellence, on which they sailed from Sydney Hobart outside of the 2015 race. Sailors With DisAbilities on Kayle has been their other training vehicle. Jones says 80 percent of the crew are indigenous: “I call it ‘The Peoples Boat’ – we are a mix of nobodies.” He says taking part in this race is a gift: “The indigenous community is proud of Cathy Freeman and all our footballers. They haven’t known any indigenous people in yachting, but now they are saying Australia wide, ‘This is our boat’.” It is a powerful message. Crew ranges from a 64 year-old elder from La Perouse to a 40 year-old Redfern woman.

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