Central Coast sailors on Scallywag hit shark, miss podium in Sydney to Hobart
Central Coast sailor Nick Meyer has learned there is both agony and ecstasy in doing a Sydney to Hobart race.
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Central Coast sailor Nick Meyer was thrilled to finally make it to the end of a Sydney to Hobart race for the first time but he wishes he could have got there just a few seconds faster.
And he wouldn’t have minded missing out on a late race collision with what he believes was a shark but others on his crew are adamant was a giant sunfish.
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Things came unstuck for the Meyers ride south - the Hong Kong supermaxi Scallywag - in the final stanza of the Sydney to Hobart - but at least he made it to Tasmania this year.
Last race the supermaxi suffered race-ending damage just four hours after the start and returned to its Sydney base at Birkenhead Head the same day as it started.
“It’s good to be here. I just wish it was a little faster,” Meyer said from Hobart after Scallywag finished fourth over the line..
“It was amazing out there. Just amazing. I loved every minute of it.
“I can’t wait to do it again. I’ll be back.
“Everyone worked so well as a team. This is the most pumped I have been.’’
Less than a minute faster and Scallywag would have been on the podium, with Wild Oats beating her across the finish line by 38 seconds.
It was one of the closest finishes between two boats in the entire race which was won by Jim Cooney’s supermaxi Comanche over the line and fellow Sydney skipper Matt Allen’s 52-footer on corrected time
Central Coast sailors were well represented on the boat skippered by David Witt with Scott Salter also racing.
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