I’ve been in Australia for close to two weeks now, and what can I say... I love the place! I’ve been intrigued by Australia (and New Zealand) for years and have often thought that I would like to live here, despite never having visited. Now that I have visited, well, I still think i’d like to live here... at least for a while. The parts of Australia that i’ve seen, people i’ve met and ways i’ve consumed my time are very very similar to the life that I live in California, although profoundly different in a uniquely Australian way. As an avid traveler and adventurer, I love being in foreign countries and the lifestyle and people here suit me to a T. A nation with a deep respect for sailing and surfing, stunningly beautiful scenery (both geographical and female in nature) and a healthy, happy group of populous that are generally stoked on life, being outdoors and constantly doing cool stuff... Need I say more?
The mighty Archambault 40 "One for the Road" in full-on prep mode in Sydney.
Personal reflections and initial impressions aside, I traveled to Australia for a reason; to sail in my first Sydney- Hobart yacht race. If you don’t know about the Sydney- Hobart, well, let me try to summarize it. Beginning in Sydney, which lies on the eastern coast of Australia, the race travels 628 nm down to Hobart, Tasmania (the large island south of the southeast corner of the Australian continent. Tasmania is one of the 10 states that comprise Australia.) Despite being less than a third the length of a Transpac race, the S2H is quite notorious and well-known for being one of the most grueling (and dangerous) races in all of sailing. Not quite a long-distance ocean crossing, but definitely not a mere overnighter, the Sydney- Hobart is a full-on, brutal sprint of a race that will probably last for about 4 days for myself and the crew i’m sailing with. Now less than 3 days from the start, the weather scenario is beginning to look a bit more defined and it shows that the conditions will be typical for the race... Beginning with a downwind start, we should see everything from light, fluky breeze to moderate downwind to 35-45 knots upwind (!!!) during the second half of the race. No sense in writing out the whole forecast, the weather will do what the weather will do. Needless to say, i’m quite interested to know what words i’ll be writing in these pages once all is said and done...
As for the boat that i’m sailing on, I am immensely proud to be sailing on Kym Butler’s Newcastle-based Archambault 40 One for the Road