Rookie racer Renee Ilich has recounted her fear during deadly Sydney-Hobart storm
Glad to be safe: Rookie racer Renee Ilich describes her night of terror amid fatal Sydney-Hobart storm. What she said.
Tasmania
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Rookie racer Renee Ilich was terrified laying in her bunk listening to LawConnect getting hammered in the opening night storm that killed two sailors, washed another one overboard and caused millions of dollars in damage to the 104-yacht Rolex Sydney-Hobart fleet.
For her own safety Renee, 32, of Sydney, was kept down below for 20 of the 37 hours it took the 100-foot supermaxi to tame the beast and take line honours for a second year in a row in the early hours of Friday morning.
It was an experience she will never forget.
“It was cool to be first out of Sydney Heads and then we had an issue with a sail, which was challenging,” she said.
“We got back on track and we were picking up pace and getting closer to Comanche, which was leading at the time.”
Then the news came through.
“We heard [about the deaths] and the weather was starting to get really bad so I was downstairs from 8pm until about 4pm the next day,” she said.
“They put our safety first as people who don’t have a lot of experience.”
Renee was “safe” down below but it did not always feel that way.
“I was laying in my bunk hearing the boat smash against the waves,” she said.
“It was quite nerve-wracking and terrifying at the same time.
“There were howls of wind that I have never, ever heard before.
“It was pretty crazy.
“I was just trying to maintain positive thinking and calmness that we are going to get through it.
“These guys [LawConnect’s professional crew] are absolute professionals so I had a lot of faith in that.
“I was really glad to be back on dry land.”
Renee works for Sydney tech billionaire Christian Beck, who owns the supermaxi.
“My role on the boat was…I do a lot of media stuff, coordinating a lot of the live-streaming and interviews we do from the boat,” she said.
“And also making sure the crew has got food, tea, coffee, stuff like that.
“Sometimes they would say I am Chief Morale Officer.”
Renee was one of the “chosen few” to get a gig onboard LawConnect.
“I work at Leap [Legal], Christian Beck’s company, so I am head of global marketing there and I also look after marketing for LawConnect and the sponsorship,” she said.
“I have been part of the onshore crew for the past couple of years and this is the first time I have been able to do the actual race.
“Christian gives four or five employees the chance to do the race every year, which is pretty amazing – a one-in-a-lifetime experience.”
How does she rate it?
“Challenging and rewarding, and obviously hearing the very tragic news [of the two deaths] was very disheartening and we feel so sorry for those families and their communities,” she said.
Renee is still deciding if she will be a Sydney-Hobart one hit wonder.
“I’ve been thinking about that and I’m still not sure,” she said.
“It was pretty terrifying at times for me but I just love watching the sailors on this boat work.
“They are absolute professionals and to see what they do in weather like that is incredible.”
Originally published as Rookie racer Renee Ilich has recounted her fear during deadly Sydney-Hobart storm
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