Mystery, frustration for last-minute Syd-Hob scratching
Jasper Bruce |
Ricky Roberts is frustrated and confused after his boat Yendys was forced to abandon a Sydney to Hobart campaign that cost almost $100,000 about 10 minutes before the start of the race.
Yendys had been sailing on Sydney Harbour in preparation for the 1pm starting gun when she broke one of her two backstays, the carbon wires that run from the top of the mast to the stern.
Racing competitively would have been impossible without the backstay, which helps to keep the mast upright.
The incident left Yendys with no option but to withdraw from the 80th Hobart before it had even begun, reducing the fleet to 128 starters.
Skipper Roberts, who has sailed nine previous Sydney-Hobarts, was baffled how a carbon backstay built to withstand 10 tons could have snapped with no weight on it.
“We just spent $8000 with the riggers on a few ropes and we thought the boat was looking pretty good,” Roberts told AAP.
“We weren’t even under load and a carbon running backstay went that should have a breaking strain of about 10 tonnes, and there was nothing on it.
“It’s very disappointing and it’s a bit of a mystery. I don’t understand what the f… went wrong.”
That $8000 was a drop in the ocean compared to the almost $100,000 spent on new gear and getting the Queensland-based yacht to the starting line for a first Sydney-Hobart since 2014.
“We’d invested in some new sails, we just spent a lot of money on cordage on the boat. It should’ve been reliable,” Roberts said.
Roberts had been confident Yendys could have made the best of the southerly conditions forecast for the NSW Coast.
“This boat goes like a train uphill,” he said.
Yendys had also performed well off-shore this year, placing 13th on line honours in the Cabbage Tree Island Race and ninth in the Brisbane Gladstone race.
“We had high expectations we were going to finish in a respectable spot (in the Hobart),” Roberts said.
“It showed good signs on the Cabbage Tree Island Race, we were really happy with the performance of the boat.”
The crew returned to the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia on Friday afternoon as reigning line honours champion LawConnect led the fleet out of the Sydney Heads.
Two crew members had flown out from the Philippines especially to race on Yendys in their first Sydney-Hobart.
The remainder planned to begin the slow journey back home to Queensland on Friday afternoon.
AAP
