Sydney to Hobart yacht race 2019: Wings’ Janelle Orth prepares for first race

It was a plan hatched as a child but it will be realised after more than three decades when the fleet sets sail in the 75th anniversary Sydney to Hobart on Boxing Day.

Janelle Orth is doing her first Sydney to Hobart on Wings.

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At the age of seven Janelle Orth turned to her sisters as they joined hundreds of thousands of other spectators to watch the Sydney to Hobart fleet begin its trek south and announced she was going to do the race one day.

Now, more than three decades on, the Sydney sailor is preparing for her maiden voyage.

Two years ago Orth set herself the goal of being part of the fleet for the 75th anniversary race which starts on Sydney Harbour at 1pm on Boxing Day.

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“We used to live near the lighthouse at Vaucluse and I’d run across the road with my sisters and dangle my feet over the cliff while watching the first boats leave,’’ Orth said.

Janelle Orth is doing her first Sydney to Hobart on a boat called Wings. Janelle is raising money for children cancer research as part of her Sydney to Hobart campaign.

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“I remember saying to my sisters, ‘I am going to be in one of those boats one day’. I was about seven. I’m now in my early 40s.”

And while she had done a few twilight races in the past and spent time mucking about boats as a child, never has Orth sailed seriously - or offshore - until recently

“It’s taken me two years to be able to reintroduce myself back into the sport after a 20-year break and get the skills I needed to do the race,” said Orth, who is racing aboard the 46-footer Wings with owners Ian and Lindy Edwards.

“I’ve had the most wonderful time getting back into sailing.”

Orth, whose son Lachlan, 16, and daughter Tayla, 15, will fly to Hobart to greet her, will race aboard the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club boat based at Pittwater with three other women also doing their first Sydney to Hobart in Elyse Guevara, Janease Graham and Katy McDonald.

Janelle Orth and son Lachlan, 16, who will be in Hobart to see her at the end of the race.

Members of the public at Hornby Lighthouse in Watsons Bay watching the start of the race.

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“I love just being on the water, love the team work aboard, working together to get to a destination,” said the executive assistant from Darling Point.

“The personalities on-board are beautiful.

“And I’m not dreading anything about the race at all.

“We had bad weather coming back from Magnetic Island, huge seas and 50 knots winds.

“I feel if you can ride the storm there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

“I’m happy to have smooth sailing but it wouldn’t be a challenge if there wasn’t other elements.”

The 2019 race has attracted the biggest fleet since the 50th with more than 150 yachts heading off at 1pm from four different start lines on Sydney Harbour in the vicinity of Shark Island on Boxing Day.

Janelle Orth with race with a mixed crew in the 75th anniversary race.

The fleet headliners include the last two line honours winners in Wild Oats X1 and Comanche with the top contenders for the overall honours also including the last two handicap winners in the Tasmania boat Alive and the Sydney yacht Ichi Ban.

Orth and crewmates are also doing the race to raise money for the The Kids Cancer Everyday Hero charity with the donate page https://rolexsydneyhobart19.everydayhero.com/au/wings

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