Competition is on as Lucky continues Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race lead

MEDIA RELEASE

Bryon Ehrhart’s Lucky (USA) continues to lead the Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race (S2A) on the water this morning, barrelling along at up to 20 knots across the Tasman Sea, her destination in Auckland, approximately 1022 nautical miles away at 8.30am.

Jono Rankine said from Lucky, “We’re currently doing 18-20 knots in 15 knots of wind with a FRO (Fractional Code 0), J4 and a full main up. Beautiful sailing conditions.”

Around 85 nautical miles behind the Juan K 88’ grand prix yacht, Geoff Hill’s line honours and race record holder, the Santa Cruz 72, Antipodes (Hong Kong), continued her overnight battle with defending overall title holder, Mick Martin’s Frantic (NSW).

The two were within sight of each other until early this morning, when Antipodes put eight miles between her and the TP52 from Newcastle north of Sydney.

“We cannot see Frantic anymore,” Antipodes navigator, said Brad Kellett, going on to describe their first night at sea and their morning.

“It was a beautiful night’s sail on the Tasman Sea. We’ve crossed the EAC (East Australian Current) and now in an eddy pushing us towards New Zealand at the moment.

“The red moon rose at midnight to provide the spotlight until the rising sun appeared on the bow this morning as we head east. We’re sailing in an 8 knot west/nor’ wester under spinnaker and the boys are cooking bacon and eggs for breakfast.”

Meanwhile, Frantic’s crew are on the chase. Martin, an ex-Wallaby player, is just as competitive in yachting.

Regular racing crew member Jane Roberts explains: “Antipodes started sneaking away from us after a sail change around 10pm last night, but we’ve gradually pulled them back in over four hours this morning.”

Roberts said the sailing has been enjoyable. “We had 10-18 knots last night from north/north/west and it’s been easing around to 10 knots from the same direction. Lovely conditions.”

Frantic’s crew were enjoying themselves so much this morning that they got stuck into a sea shanty, which will be shown on social media later this morning. Don’t miss it!

Like Kellett, Roberts spoke of the evening’s beautiful moon rise and this morning’s sunrise. Sailing at its best.

“Mick (Martin) is cooking up some bacon and egg slice for breakfast. Everyone’s in good spirits and looking forward to a day of great sailing, with our focus on hunting down Antipodes!”

When the opportunity arises, Frantic loves nothing better than a good long leg stretch and always sees the distance out. In 2018, the Martin claimed line honours and broke the Ponant Sydney Nouméa race record (4 days 2h 23m 34s) and won the 2013 Gosford–Lord Howe Island Race, so watch this space, not to mention winning the 2023 S2A in 2023.

Those behind the top three and experiencing similar conditions in the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club’s (RPAYC) biannual race, sponsored by Harken and Palm Beach Motor Yachts.

Up ahead of all is RPAYC Commodore, Rob McClelland, whose First Picasso started the race a week before the rest as an entry in the new Rally for Cruisers Division. The Jeanneau 57 has stopped 111nm away from the Auckland finish line near Royal Akarana Yacht Club (RAYC), as disaster struck.

“Tuesday, the engine ceased on us, so we pulled into the Bay of Islands. It’s going to take, I don’t know how long, to repair, so we’ll drive to Auckland tomorrow and leave the boat at the marina,” said McClelland this morning, taking it in his stride: “These things happen.

“We’ve had a fantastic trip. We motored for the first 16 hours (allowed under the rules for the Rally division), then Monday we ran into 45 knots and went down to a triple reefed main only. We were in that for 24 hours. The next day we were in shorts and t-shirts having champagne and hors d’oeuvres!

“It was a first crossing for everyone except Virginia (his wife) and I and everyone said how different each day was,” the Commodore ended.

The S2A started at 1pm on Sydney Harbour yesterday and is co-hosted by RPAYC and New Zealand’s RAYC.

Enthusiasts can follow the fleet’s every move via the Yellow Brick tracker at: https://pro.yb.tl/S2AOR25 or download the Yellow Brick app.

For all information on the Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race, please visit: www.sydneytoauckland.com

Di Pearson/Sydney to Auckland media

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