Two local sailors battled a 40 knot southerly wind on board the Perlagic Magic last week as it raced in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.
Sam McDonald, a builder from Ulladulla and Erik Adriaanse from Bawley Point are no strangers to the race with Sam competing once before and Erik competing for the last 27 years.
Erik has also been on the winning boat three times, in 1993, 1997 and 2006 and was the veteran of the crew.
In the lead up to the event, the catastrophic conditions of the 1998 race were being brought up with tough swells and strong winds predicted.
Both Sam and Erik had their families concerned, with Sam’s young daughters worrying he might never come home and Erik’s wife, even after supporting him through many years of racing “a little bit worried.”
“I knew it wouldn’t be like ‘98 though” Erik said.
“It’s always tough, but I was particularly pleased with this crew and how they responded,” he said.
Sam said he was well prepared for the bad weather and the experienced crew simply put the sails down and steered through it.
“The wind conditions slowed us down,” Sam said.
“It was all just about fun and the experience though.
“It was a great race from the start,” he said.
The yacht also underwent major repairs in the lead up to the race, and was only back in action eight weeks ahead of time, meaning that a different boat was used for most of the training.
The crew was greeted in Hobart by a huge crowd of people, with more than 14 boats arriving around the same time.
Both Sam and Erik are keen to compete in this years race, with Sam already set to go on Pelagic Magic again.
Perlagic Magic pulled into Hobart at 5.51am on December 31 in time to see the last sunrise of 2015.
They came in 58th, and 21st over the line.
