Sydney to Hobart 2019 results: Matt Allen’s Ichi Ban claims overall win
Ichi Ban means No.1 in Japanese and the yacht has lived up to her name and had a whale of a time in the Sydney to Hobart despite more than a few dramas.
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Sydney skipper Matt Allen and his Ichi Ban crew overcame two windless parking lots and thick sea mist while dodging sea life including sperm whales, dolphins and seals to secure their second - and best - overall win in the Sydney to Hobart.
Former investment banker Allen and his team had worked out they had wopn the race on Sunday but were only confirmed as the corrected time winner of the Tattersall Cup in the 75th anniversary race Monday morning.
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Matt Donald and Chris Townsend’s 52-footer Gweilo took out second place in the race fior the overall honours with Biob Steel’s Quest third.
Last year’s winner Alive finished fourth and the lane Cove yacht CVhiense Whisper fifth.
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It was the third win for eastern suburbs sailor Allen who also won overall on the Victorian yacht Challenge back in 1983 and the second for his boat Ichi Ban, which means No.1 in Japanese and is one of the best performed TP 52-footers in the world.
“This is amazing. We came so close last year but this year go the conditions in the Derwent River we needed,’’ said Allen, former Australian Sailing President and CYCA Commodore and current member of the Australian Olympic Committee Executive and World Sailing’s Oceanic and Offshore Committees.
“We came back really determined to get the second win for the boat.’’
But the race didn’t all go Ichi Ban’s way with the crew stopped dead for around four hours close to Wild Oats XI the first morning of the race and then hitting another ultralight wind spot at Tasman Island.
“We didn’t quite stop here but it was very light,’’ Allen said.
“There was also an enormous amount of sea mist. Not smoke haze. The most sea mist I have seen in my 30 races. Boats would disappear into the mist really quickly.’’
A tactic to push the boat under the cover of darkness rather that back off helped Ichi Ban collect more silverware.
“It was fast and furious sailing. We had periods of doing 27 knots, we were just ripping through the water,’’ Allens aid.
“We just kept pushing hard, kept pushing the boat through the night while in the day it was more tactical.’’
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