Winning Ichi Ban skipper Matt Allen to get back on water

After six months stuck in the doldrums, the second half of 2020 promises nothing but smooth sailing for Ichi Ban skipper Matt Allen.

Matt Allen, skipper and owner of Rolex Sydney Hobart winner Ichi Ban, on Sydney Harbour. Picture: Ryan Osland

After six months stuck in the doldrums, the second half of 2020 promises nothing but smooth sailing for Ichi Ban skipper Matt Allen as competitive racing returns to Sydney Harbour, thanks to the easing of coronavirus restrictions.

The sport took a significant hit at the end of March when, to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing, bans on non-essential activities and restrictions on group gatherings caused the closure of most sailing clubs and prevented super yacht crews from going out on the water.

“As a sailer, there’s nothing better than being out on the water so that’s been strange to get used to over the last few months,” Allen said. “I have managed to get out for some fishing, which has been great, but it’s not the same.”

Community sport restrictions were eased by the NSW government from Saturday so that 20 people can now go out on a boat, with training and competitive sailing permitted.

Crews must adhere to social distancing of 1.5m between people where “reasonably practical”.

“It’s been great to see the harbour full of yachts again this weekend,” Allen said. The skipper, who competed in his 30th Sydney to Hobart in December and took out the overall title for the second time, said the hardest part about keeping the yacht moored for three months had been its effect on his crew’s mental health.

“You could really sense that people were missing the camaraderie, the mateship that comes with sailing,” Allen said. “As well as being good for you physically, sailing is also really good for your brain and your mental health and I think the isolation really got to some people.” 

Thankfully the yachting community didn’t have too many competitive events scheduled from April to June, and time off the water has given the Ichi Ban team the opportunity to modify its boat for the upcoming season, due to begin in September. “We’ve been working on a number of little modifications,” Allen said. “We’re ­always tinkering around and have used this down time to think of things we could do to improve the boat’s performance.”

Now that gyms have reopened across the state, the next modifications will be to the crew’s bodies ahead of competition time.

“We all need to go back to the gym and work on our upper body strength, which has probably deteriorated over the past few months,” Allen said. “Most of us have been doing a lot of walking but we’re going to need a lot more cardio now.”

The Sydney to Hobart, commonly referred to as the ocean’s greatest race, is expected to go ahead on Boxing Day but uncertainty still lingers over whether international teams will be able to compete.

“We typically have a great overseas contingent coming out for the race, but this year I’m not sure what will happen,” Allen said.

“Teams will have to pull the trigger on such decisions pretty soon, so it will definitely be interesting to see how different the starting line looks this year as a ­result of the pandemic.”