Tired of the super maxis stealing the spotlight, the Sydney to Hobart's lesser lights have welcomed the introduction of the Corinthian division for this year's great race.
While only a handful of boats will battle it out for line honours, the Corinthian division offers the 36 all-amateur crews in the 117-strong fleet a genuine shot at some meaningful silverware.
Justin Brenan, skipper of 36-footer Alien, has been racing since 1968 and over the years has "watched more and more money being poured into the race".
"Not just this race, but racing in general," he said on Tuesday.
"Ocean racing by its nature is clearly not a spectator sport once you've got out of the heads and it all depends on participation.
"Professional crews gain an edge which the handicapping system just doesn't cater for.
"So this division is very important to keep the amateurs participating."
Declaring the Corinthian division overdue, Brenan said it was demoralising watching the professionals take over the Sydney to Hobart.
"It's not so much the racing, it's the preparation," he said.
"Half the race is the preparation and, if you're an amateur and holding down a job, paying your bills, finding enough time to get your boat prepared is not easy.
"When you see the guy next door with two guys flying over from New Zealand who have done it all before and they're here for two weeks, getting everything into top condition and all they've got to do is step on the boat the day before, that makes it a lot easier."
Relying heavily on tactics and strategy more so than technology and dollars, Brenan knows his crew still need the right conditions to contend for amateur honours.
"It's a fairly heavy boat, about 4.6 tonnes, so we're definitely in the race for cruiser category," he said.
"But if the wind is either very heavy and behind us or on a reach, it out-performs its handicap.
"Going into the wind, not so good. So once we get beyond the initial southerly, we're looking forward to picking up a bit of time and seeing how we go."
Brenan considers the South Australian 33-footer Enchantress as one of the Corinthian favourites.
And so does Enchantress veteran Noel Swan.
"Absolutely. We're here to enjoy ourselves but we're here to win it," Swan said.
"The age of our crew averages out at 60, so we're out there.
"We love our sailing. We do a lot of offshore sailing and Enchantress is a very light boat and a very fast boat in the right conditions, so we'll be out there giving it our all."
Share
