Wedding proposal after Patrice arrives in Hobart
HER official name is Patrice but Tony Kirby’s 46-footer has been renamed the love boat after a romantic wedding proposal on her arrival in Hobart.
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HER official name is Patrice but Tony Kirby’s 46-footer has been renamed the love boat after a romantic wedding proposal on her arrival in Hobart.
Just minutes after docking at the end of the Sydney to Hobart nervous crewman Geoff Bauchop jumped ashore, lowered onto his knee and proposed to girlfriend Paula Dredge.
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She said yes but Bauchop admitted he had been more nervous about getting the engagement ring safely to Hobart in his waterproof gear bag than her answer.
“Every time I went down below I kept checking it to make sure it hadn’t dropped in the bilge (dirty water on the bottom of a boat),’’ Bauchop said.
Bauchop said he wanted to propose on the dock because the Sydney to Hobart race has been a major part of his life for so long.
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The former 18-footers skiff sailor turned ocean racer won the Sydney to Hobart overall on the old timber yacht Love & War back in 2006.
On the flip side he also survived the deadly 1998 race which claimed six lives when a massive storm exploded over the fleet.
“I decided I wanted to do it on the dock here because of all the memories,’’ he said at the end of his 22nd race.
And while Patrice missed out on the overall win — claimed by Matt Allen and his IchiBan crew — Bauchop still feels like a winner.
“He got me instead,’’ laughed his new fiancee.
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A FAREWELL TOO
Well-known skipper, sailor and former Commodore John Messenger has been given a special farewell at sea in the Sydney to Hobart.
Messenger’s cousin Peter and friends aboard Tony Kirby’s Patrice honoured Messenger by scattering his ashes near Tasman Island during the race.
It was a special honour for the well known sailor, official and volunteer who was also a former Commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, which runs the Sydney to Hobart.
Messenger, who died earlier this year, contested 21 Sydney to Hobart races and was part of the famous Messenger family which included his rugby league playing cousin Dally Messenger and his father Charlie, who sailed in the first Sydney to Hobart back in 1945.