Pelagic Magic, a yacht skippered by Batemans Bay man Simon Dunlop, successfully completed the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, as it finished 70th overall in the line honours category.
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Dunlop and his crew arrived in Hobart at 2.20pm on Sunday, December to record a time of four days, one hour, 20 minutes, and 34 seconds.
Dunlop said the weather down the coastline made the trip an enjoyable one.
“It was a lovely time sailing for most of the race,” he said. “It wasn’t the kind of weather we needed to be competitive, but it was still perfect sailing weather.
Pelagic Magic started with every other boat on Boxing Day in Sydney Harbour, then ventured south alongside more than 80 other vessels.
While the journey itself is important, Dunlop said the highlights were the start and finish.
“Leaving Sydney Harbour was fantastic,” Dunlop said. “The sun was out, and there were thousands of spectators around the place. It was close to a perfect day.
“When we got into Hobart, the welcome here was unbelievable. They have a big festival down here called Taste of Tasmania, so there’s probably about 10,000 on the wharves, and they cheer every boat that comes in.”
Despite the fairly easy run, the boat did face tougher conditions a couple of times during the race.
“We were leading our division for about half the race, then we got down into Tassie and fell into a hole off Mariah Island for about three hours,” Dunlop said. “We didn’t go anywhere, there was no wind, and we were just drifting.
“We picked up eventually, but when we rounded Tasman Island into Storm Bay, the wind disappeared again. It took us 14 hours to do the last 40 miles. It felt like we were just going around in circles.”
Dunlop said this year’s race was unique because they were always in sight of at least one other boat.
“It was unusual this year because we could see boats all the time, which makes it fun,” he said. “There’s a boat who beat us over the line by about 30 seconds after 97 hours of racing.”
Dunlop will sail Pelagic Magic back to Sydney later this week, with the help of a small crew.
“Four of us will leave either on the third or the fourth, and we’ll just sail her back,” he said. “We’ll be in the Bay hopefully before the 10th, then we’ll take her back to Sydney and drive home.”
