Overall leader switches as boats race ahead of wind change

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A two-boat duel for overall honours is coming down to the wire in the Sydney to Hobart. A yacht with only two crew is set to claim the handicap title for the first time in the race's history.

Transcript

00:00After four days of sailing here in the Sydney to Hobart, including that fascinating three-way

00:07dogfight for the Lion Honours on Sunday, it's now not too far off knowing who's going to

00:14win that handicap title here in the Sydney to Hobart.

00:18The current clubhouse leader and favourite is BNC.

00:22They're a new Caledonian double-hander that arrived just after 10.30 this morning.

00:27The other only real contender that can take the title off them is Crux.

00:32Now, they're from New South Wales and they're currently about 10 nautical miles from Tasman

00:37Island on the state's south-east coast.

00:39Now, whatever happens, whichever of Crux or BNC claims the title, it's going to be the

00:45first double-hander, which is a two-person crewed boat, to win the title of overall honours

00:52here at the Sydney to Hobart.

00:54Now, the wait is on and we'll wait and see what happens, but we did speak to BNC this

00:59morning.

01:00They said that they weren't taking anything for granted just yet, but were hopeful that

01:04they could claim that title.

01:06If they won it, it would add to a storied sporting career for skipper Michelle Quentin,

01:11who twice won the World Championships in windsurfing and also competed in the Olympics.

01:16It wasn't an easy journey for BNC over those past four days, including that particularly

01:21rough beginning of the journey.

01:23Here's what they had to say about their journey to Hobart.

01:26I'm never seasick and the first six hours I couldn't eat something.

01:31I was just vomiting all the time.

01:34So, we didn't eat during 24 hours.

01:37More?

01:38Our first real meal, two days after.

01:43Two days after.

01:44What about sleep?

01:46I didn't sleep for the first nearly three days.

01:51Three days.

01:52That sounded so rough from the beginning in those first three days and just kind of ploughing

01:58into that southerly wind and a swell.

02:01But what are conditions like now for the yachts coming in?

02:05Joe, there are about 31 boats still out on the water at the moment and it's pretty blowy

02:11here in Hobart and throughout Tasmania.

02:14It's a big southerly breeze that's right in the face of those boats heading down the southeast

02:20of Tasmania at the moment.

02:22So, if they're there like Crux, that double-hander that could win the overall title, it's pretty

02:27slow going.

02:28But once they turn and get into the River Dew in itself, it's not too bad.

02:33So, Crux is hoping to be able to make up that time and that target time is 9.47 tonight.

02:39If it arrives before then, it will have won the overall honours.

02:43So, it'll be a really fascinating watch over the next couple of hours to see whether it can make that

02:48deadline and watch history be made in the Sydney to Hobart.

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