The final yacht to cross the end line within the Sydney to Hobart has overwhelmed the brand new 12 months down the Derwent River by simply 18 minutes after 5 days at sea.
Currawong was the one hundredth boat to complete with 9 having retired within the 109 robust area, 27 hours after the 99th finisher Gun Runner.
However whereas the road honour winners Andoo Comanche and total winner Celestial bought all of the plaudits, Currawong bought the perfect welcome into Hobart.
Helmed by NSW sailors Kathy Veel, 70, a retired instructor, and Bridget Canham, 62, a retired nurse, they had been welcomed by 1000’s of New Years revellers chanting their names as they arrive into port on their 48-year-old 9.1m yacht.
“I anticipated there’d be a bunch of our associates to welcome us, [but] then the fireworks, and this roar … I didn’t know what it was, then I labored out they had been saying ‘Currawong, Currawong’,” Veel informed the ABC.
The pair had been joined by a cruise ship and different boats as they approached Hobart.
Arriving at 11.42pm, the pair additionally achieved their dream of finishing the race earlier than 2023.
“Our race was to get right here earlier than midnight, and that’s what actually saved us pushing so laborious to get to that stage,” Ms Canham stated.
“We couldn’t have had a greater entry.”
Veel added that regardless of the pair needing to take shelter at Eden earlier than trying to cross the Bass Strait because of robust winds, that they had by no means thought of retiring from the race.
“We’re finishers,” Veel stated.
“We’ve already proven in different races that we’ve finished, that we’ll see one thing via.
“That’s what’s hardwired into every of us, that when we decide to one thing we’ll decide to it and simply do it.”
