Tasmanian crew set for tenacious Sydney to Hobart yacht race debut

Full of tenacity for the first of up to four Sydney to Hobart yacht races for local crew

Vaughan Lynch skipper and John Lawrie owner of boat Tenacity who are taking part in the Sydney to Hobart. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

It’s the beginning of something special for John Lawrie and the crew of his yacht Tenacity as the East Coast skipper makes his Sydney-Hobart debut in what could be four in a row on the lightweight flyer.

The huge amount of work and investment to prepare a yacht for the 628 nautical mile category one race has convinced Lawrie to play the long game aboard his Mills 41-design racer.

“We are going to do a minimum of three, and maybe four Hobarts – that’s the target,” Lawrie said.

Vaughan Lynch skipper and John Lawrie owner of boat Tenacity who are taking part in the Sydney to Hobart. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“There’s no point doing one because the preparation for the first year is astronomical and the second and third years, although there is still a fair bit to do, it doesn’t take as much as getting the boat through the first year.”

Tenacity’s skipper Vaughan Lynch joined Lawrie for its delivery to Tasmania when Lawrie purchased it from Malaysia two years ago.

Since then, it has all been about setting it up for a Sydney-Hobart.

“Boat-wise and equipment-wise, we are pretty much there, it’s now just about time on the boat,” Lynch said.

“This year the ultimate goal would be to do very well but it’s about getting ourselves home and finish the race without any damage or hurting anyone, and having a good time.

“Next year is the one where we are really going to have a go.”

Tenacity is part of Tasmania’s three-boat Southern Cross Cup team competing against other state teams.

“Our Southern Cross Cup team is Midnight Rambler, Kraken and Tenacity,” Lawrie said.

“They take our results for each of the boats and whichever teams has the lowest points-score is the winner.

“We should do really well if we get a southerly for a day or two because this boat really likes going to windward.

“When a lot of boats like their spinnakers up, we prefer our spinnakers down.”

John Lawrie's Tenacity powers toward Hobart. Picture: Flight Risk Media

Tenacity is one of seven Tasmanian yachts in this year’s race, along with AdvantEdge (Andrew Jones), Alive (Phil Turner), Hansen Tasmania (John Townley), Midnight Rambler (Ed Psaltis), Zephyr (Ian Johnston) and Kraken (Rob Gough/John Saul).

Lawrie will gauge Tenacity’s progress against two similar-sized Tassie boats.

“We’re racing against AdvantEdge and Midnight Rambler,” he said.

“AdvantEdge is really good reaching, we’re better to windward and Midnight Rambler has a fantastic [handicap] rating so they will give us a run for our money overall.

“We’d like to think that we can beat AdvantEdge if we get a day or so of southerlies because that will slow them down and make us go faster.”

Lawrie was buoyed by Tasmania’s strong representation.

“Our numbers have been up and down over the past few years but this year we’ve got some really good boats – AdvantEdge, Kraken, Alive, Midnight Rambler – they are all serious competitors,” he said.

“It’s good for Tasmanian sailing and I gather next year at least two other boats are going to be added to that list – Jazz Player and Porco Rosso – so I think next year could be even better.”