After twelve years in Hong Kong, Matt Hanning returned to Sydney with a new plan for sailing.
His love for sailing had developed when Matt was invited out with a friend of his in Hong Kong to take part in some cruising and racing, it wasn’t long before the enjoyment and comradery he found with sailing led him to purchase with that friend and some others a Kerr 40 which they named Signal 8 (“Typhoon Signal 8” being the point at which offices closed for “The Big Wind”). While campaigning the yacht in Asia, Matt slowly but surely became more competent onboard and his enjoyment wasn’t waning so he decided to ramp it up and take Signal 8 to the UK, where he and his crew took part in the Commodores Cup.
He arrived back in Sydney keen to find the perfect vessel where he would be able to step up his own responsibilities safely and a yacht that was more manageable from the outset – this journey led him to purchase a Sydney 36 cruiser/racer. The utmost importance to Matt was finding the ultimate balance between being a racing yacht and being the right platform where he could bring friends together to share the enjoyment he has found being on the water, especially racing.
Matt had a great group of friends that were sailors, but that had stepped out of the scene or didn’t have a current boat, so he began the task of bringing all of these friends together so that they could all join up regularly and enjoy a shared activity.
With time on the water becoming more valuable to Matt and his family, the decision was made to move to the next size up for a more comfortable journey and Matt is honest about the attempt his family made to convince him to buy a power boat. Ultimately still being able to share his passion for sailing with his friends and family was what he wanted, but with more space for cruising.
Three factors played into the decision behind a Beneteau First 53. First and foremost, he wanted something comfortable enough that could be used as a day boat on Sydney Harbour. Second a yacht that could take part in some offshore and blue water racing. Thirdly, he wanted something that was approachable by friends and family, something with all the creature comforts, but able to be competitive in her class.
Matt first noticed the Beneteau on Facebook. A high performance, dynamic, well priced yacht that was a picture of beauty. As he discovered a little more, he learnt that with a production boat, you are never going to be short of features, which he liked. Matt had always liked the striking elegance of Palm Beach motor launches and to him, this was the right yacht, and after consultation with his family, ODIN, a stunning Beneteau First 53 was bought.
Since taking delivery of Odin, a number of race tweaks have been made as well as putting her into commercial survey as Matt has plans to make his yacht available for charter on Sydney Harbour. He had a strong existing relationship with Shane Guanaria at Doyle Sails Sydney and Shane was the first stop when it came to sails.
“When I inherited a few Doyle Sails, the obvious choice was to stay with Shane, however I did want to give the other sailmakers in Sydney the opportunity, and that is what I did. At the end of the process what resulted was an agreement with Doyle Sails Sydney which gave me the confidence that I would continue to receive the support and service I wanted long after the deal was done. I describe the yacht as performance oriented with also a ‘gentleman’s racer’ and Shane understood that.”
Doyle Sails is always about the people. Not only the Doyle Sails team but the people we work with and our fellow sailors, Matt continues, “my relationship with the person is important, I don’t want to just become another number and with Doyle Sails, Shane was more than half the reason I continued to buy Doyle Sails”.
Not only did the Doyle Sails Service deliver, Matt has also converted to the exclusive Cableless Technology throughout his previous yachts and has already included it in the Odin cruising inventory.
Matt explains the game changing moment, he personally realised that Doyle technology wasn’t all just hype.
“We were in the middle of preparing for the Gold Coast Race and we thought we needed a Code Zero. I spent a bit of time researching the Cableless technology against other options on the market and came up with the view that the Doyle Cableless technology was leading so I ordered one.
“After 36 hours beam reaching with our new Cableless Code Zero in the air, we were leading overall, the result came from using that sail”.
Odin, is unique, not only in performance and elegance, but in name. Matt’s wife suggested the name after being unable to settle on anything else. The couple felt the yacht was deserved of a strong name and they decided on Odin, a Viking god.
Odin is available to charter and has the capacity for up to 16 passengers, including 4 crew. Visit odin53.com where you can get in touch with their team who will create a unique and memorable experience for you.
ABOUT DOYLE SAILS SYDNEY
Doyle Sails Sydney is 100% Australian owned and operated from our Sydney based loft. Located in Gladesville within close proximity of all the major sailing clubs, our mission is to help our customers from the start by guiding them through the design process, to manufacturing and ongoing optimisation of the finished product.
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