Alive takes line honours in record time with Detail First crowned the winner of the 2020 Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race.
The race began at Beauty Point on 27th Dec 2020, with the iconic race of the Tasmanian sailing calendar celebrating its 14th edition in style as the fleet sail the 285 nautical mile race along the rugged northern and eastern coastline of Tasmania.
With the cancellation of the Sydney Hobart the focus of this year’s race continued to be the health and safety of all sailors, which remained a critical aspect for race management until the last moment and was completed successfully.
Tasmanian entrant Alive, owned by Phil Turner and skippered by Duncan Hine made a late switch to Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race with the entry confirmed by organising authority Derwent Sailing Squadron on Christmas Eve and became the favourite to set a new race record and take line honours.
With a crew of mostly Tasmanian sailors the yacht finished the race at 19:30:52 on Monday 28 December 2020, with a corrected time of one day, eight hours, two minutes and 16 seconds, beating the race record set by Crotty Legal and Dental (Gary Smith / Geoff White) in 2008 by one hour, 31 minutes and 42 seconds.
“The crew was legendary. There were tough bits in the race – last night for about six hours, we had 40 knots on the nose, which was heavy going, but overall, it was a lot of fun, and it’s a lovely thing to get a good race in to finish up the year,” said Hine at the finish.
After a tough two days of sailing, the Hobart-based team, Detail First, is the winner of the TasPorts Launceston to Hobart Yacht Race, with an IRC corrected elapsed time of 1 day, 22 hours, 49 minutes and 18 seconds.
The result for Detail First skipper Scott Broadby, sailing his Farr 1104, is a testament to the team’s hard work and grit on the race track, and to the race itself, in which boats under 40 feet can take the silverware.
“We feel absolutely elated and relieved to be home. It was a hard race, but our tough boat loves the tough conditions. The first night in particular when the gale came through was a challenge and was the first time that I have had two reefs in the main and no other sail up and just hanging on, but then we had some really good kite runs and we were lucky enough to get back before the breeze dropped out which was a big goal of ours,” said Broadby.
To add to this success, the Detail First team is also the provisional overall winner on AMS and performance or PHS handicaps, and Division 2 on IRC, AMS and PHS, while Alive has won on ORCi handicap.
And not many skippers can win an offshore race without leaving home. “A few years ago, my wife and I sold our house, and while we were waiting to buy another house, we lived on Detail First for a year, and we loved it so much, we decided to buy another boat which we now live on,” said Broadby.
Joining skipper Broadby in this year’s success were Will Sargent, Callum Hollingsworth, Thomas Males, James Butler, John Ryan, Max Cottier and Brian Corcoran.
“The crew was absolutely brilliant, I can’t speak highly enough of them, some of them felt sick throughout the race but they stepped up and kept doing their thing, including the younger guys onboard,” said Broadby.
Doyle yachts Jazz Player and Kraken 42S, alongside great results, were in the news for other reasons. For aspiring young sailors, the Launceston to Hobart provides an opportunity for offshore sailing development and experience. John Dryden’s, Jazz Player and Kraken 42S, co-owned by Mark Bayles and Andrew Sinclair have been leading the charge in developing younger crews during the recently Combined Clubs Winter Series and the 2020 Ronald Young & Co. Builders Pipe Opener would be a fantastic addition to the fleet.
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