Rookie skippers happy to be the Black Sheep of Sydney to Hobart race

They may own the boat, but Tasmanian brothers-in-law Rob Gourlay and Matt Pilkington are the black sheep of their own crew.

Rob Gourlay, left, and brother-in-law Matt Pilkington are crew members on Sydney to Hobart entrant Black Sheep. Pictures: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

THEY’VE put together a crack crew of Tasmanian sailors for this year’s Sydney to Hobart yacht race and the only rookies onboard the Black Sheep are the boat’s new joint owners, brothers-in-law Rob Gourlay and Matt Pilkington.

They bought the 45-footer for next year’s 75th anniversary race and decided to give it a shake-down a year early.

Rob, 41, and Matt, 36, both of Hobart, have known each other too long to expect their relationship to be put to the test under pressure on the high seas.

“Matt and I raced together as kids on a mirror class dinghy and our families all grew up sailing at Lindisfarne,” Rob said.

“We’ve known each other for 25-odd years so in terms of testing relationships, we are well and truly past all that.”

Matt said their crewmates were an invaluable back-up.

“We’ve got a really experienced crew so with their support it would prevent any issues. There will be plenty of advice on board,” he said.

Matt, who is married to Rob’s sister, said they were not worried about being race rookies.

“All the others have got races under their belt so it’s quite an experienced crew, including our navigator Richard Hewson, who won the Clipper Round the World race as helmsman,” he said.

“He’s a great person to have onboard, and a lot of crew we’ve known for a long time.”

The Black Sheep, a Beneteau 45, is one of three Tasmanian entries in the 74th Sydney-Hobart, along with Greg Prescott’s Farr 40, 2Unlimited, and Phil Turner’s Reichel Pugh-design 66-footer, Alive.

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