PRESENTATION OF PRIZES FOR
THE 2010 MELBOURNE TO HOBART YACHT RACES
BY
THE HONOURABLE PETER UNDERWOOD AC
GOVERNOR OF TASMANIA
DERWENT SAILING SQUADRON – SATURDAY 1 JANUARY 2011
Well, here we are again. And I must say that it so good to see so
many here for this prize-giving event when no more than 10 hours have
elapsed since most of you were in full flight watching the fireworks and
downing the odd glass of champagne! It’s hard to believe that a year has
passed since I was standing here and congratulating Matt Short and his
family and their huge success down the west coast of Tasmania in the
Melbourne to Hobart race, and equally hard to believe that this is the
third year that the Melbourne to Hobart could be sailed down either the
West Coast or the East Coast. However, I suspect that the first three races
have been so successful that the “Westcoaster” and the “Eastcoaster”
have already become firm fixtures in the summer ocean racing calendar.
The jury might still be out on which is the fastest route to Hobart
but it is interesting to note from the written history of the Derwent Sailing
Squadron that the origin of the Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race
paradoxically began in 1969 as a Tasmania to Victoria race, “to provide
competition for yachts returning to the mainland after the Sydney-Hobart
blue-water classic.” But only two such races were held, and they did not
attract many entries, one reason being that apparently the Sydney-Hobart
yachts were “actively discouraged from participating!”
2
But then the idea of sailing south as a complementary race to the
Sydney-Hobart had instant appeal. The first design proposed, quote, “a
sailing and navigational challenge that would have involved sailing into
the eastern waters off Bass Strait, including into the Sydney-Hobart fleet”.
Despite strong advocacy for such a course, the Derwent Sailing Squadron,
which had become involved in negotiations regarding handling the
Hobart end of the race, strongly suggested that the course be down the
west coast … The proposed race, and the west coast course, drew
widespread criticism from many sources, including the newspaper
media, with one Melbourne newspaper warning of hidden reefs and
hazardous anchorages. The fearsome reputation of the West Coast of
Tasmania led critics to describe the race as some kind of ‘Russian roulette
with yachts’. Another headline warned, ‘Don’t Go West Young Man’.
The reality however was that “a long study of weather patterns had
shown that over summer months prevailing winds are primarily of a
northerly nature, swinging from the north-east to the north-west. There
are also long periods of easterly weather during summer months …”i
So the Westcoaster was born in 1972. And it seems to me likely that
the Governor who is standing here in 50 years time will be saying that the
Eastcoaster was born in 2007 which was run down the East Coast instead
of the West Coast to honour the 100th anniversary of the ORCV Rudder
Cup and was so successful that the Eastcoaster came into being as an
option in the race to Hobart.
3
The fact that the Melbourne to Hobart race – now races – are still
going so strong today is due in no small measure to the sponsors,
particularly
the
consolidated
global
mining
giant,
Heemskirk
Consolidated, and I express my appreciation for all that support.
I congratulate all those who took part in the two Melbourne to
Hobart races this year, especially of course, the winners. But to all of you,
as I said last year, “Ocean racing can be a very expensive sport and
naturally the public gaze focuses upon the larger yachts fitted out with
the latest carbon fibre sails and the latest technology, but when you are at
sea and racing on a handicap, it makes little difference whether you are
sailing one of those modern machines or sailing a smaller and more
conventional boat for it is a high level of seamanship, and the discipline
and teamwork of the entire crew as well as personal courage and
endurance that prevails.”
To the sailors and to all the organisers who have made this race
possible I say well done and we look forward to seeing you in Hobart
next year.
i
Rex Kerrison and Richard Johnson, Ebbs and Flows: a Short History of the Derwent Sailing
Squadron, Sandy Bay, Derwent Sailing Squadron, 2005, pp.158-9.