Rolex
Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2003 - 1746 AEDT - First
National Wins 2003 Rolex Sydney Hobart
Sydney/
Hobart, AUS
At
1746 local time Jim Cox the chairman of the Race
Committee declared the Beneteau 40.7 First National
the overall winner of the 2003 Rolex Sydney Hobart.
At sunset on Tuesday four boats were still at
sea. All eyes now turn to next year's 60th anniversary
of the first 'Hobart'.
The
59th Rolex Sydney Hobart is all but over. Of the
57 boats that were entered, 56 took the start,
three boats retired en route, one from a broken
mast and two because of other bits of gear failure,
49 are tied to the dock in Hobart, one of which
has been disqualified for failing to radio in
during the race, and four are still at sea.
The
overall winner of the Rolex Sydney Hobart is determined
using the IMS handicap system, the boat with the
lowest corrected time is declared as the victor
and awarded the Tattersall Cup. Michael Spies
and Peter Johnson's Beneteau 40.7 First National
beat Thorry Gunnerson's wooden-hulled Dory 41
Tilting at Windmills by almost 90 minutes on corrected
time. Third was Howard de Torres' IMX 40 Nips-N-Tux
correcting out not quite five minutes later.
Michael
Spies has had an illustrious Rolex Sydney Hobart
career to date. The 2003 edition was his 27th
race and he is only 44 years old. Spies was co-skipper
on board the Volvo 60 Nokia, the line honours
winner in 1999. That was the occasion when the
current race record of 1 day 19 hours 48 minutes
and two seconds was set. To top it all this year
First National not only won the IMS division but
IRC too.
The
Commodore of Britain's Royal Ocean Racing Club
Chris Little won IMS Class A with his chartered
Farr 48 Bounder. The pre-race favourite, Geoff
Ross' Yendys finish third in Class A and 17th
overall.
Next
year will be the 60th anniversary of the Cruising
Yacht Club of Australia's classic offshore race.
The 2004 Rolex Sydney Hobart is already on the
tip of the tongues of the 700-odd crew that competed
this year. An icon of Australian Summer Sport,
'the Hobart' continues to pull both massive media
coverage and crowds. At the start in Sydney on
Boxing Day more than 200,000 people lined the
shores of Sydney's beautiful harbour. The event's
official website has seen a threefold increase
in traffic over last year with over 5 million
page views in just five days. In Tasmania's capital
the race finish coincides with the Hobart Summer
Festival, the Taste of Tasmania food and wine
festival, the finish of another offshore race
from Melbourne and the peak of the summer season
in the Southern Hemisphere. Spectators and curious
fans are not in short supply.
The
Rolex Sydney Hobart uses a tracking system to
monitor the entire fleet, whose individual positions
are collected and updated every 10 minutes and
then graphically presented on the official website:
http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/yacht_tracker.asp?key=522
