Chatting on the docks at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia on Saturday 29th July – just prior to the Noakes Sydney Gold Coast race, Spies said he and his crew were excited to race this year, even though their preparation was less than ideal.
“The boat got out the shed a week ago because we had to do some testing. We thought it would take us about ten days to get down here – we were supposed to get down here about a week ago, but we had some problems and we got stuck in Coffs,” Spies said.
“We wanted to do Sydney Hobart last year, but we suffered damage on the way to the start and so this boat had to be re-built in the shed,” he said.
Preparing for unusual happenings is part of what sailing is all about, but this recent adventure to Sydney, even took veteran sailor Spies by surprise.
“We had some contaminated fuel and we didn’t get here as easily as what we had thought. But the guys are all very good, committed and experienced, so hopefully we can work through it. Still, this is basically a brand new boat to us, even though we have had it almost 12 months” he said.
Purchasing a TP52 last year, Spies said it was a case of ‘if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em’ when they decided to purchase this boat and become part of a somewhat ‘dominant class on the Eastern seaboard of Australia.’
Modifications and essential boat maintenance put the crew a little behind on prep this winter, but even thirty minutes from the starting line, both Maritimo’s skipper and navigator were remaining flexible about their overall strategy.
Talking to Spies he sounded philosophical, driven and yet somehow resigned to the race’s vagaries. A bit like someone who is giving birth to his tenth child. The labour could be long and unpredictable, but he’s confident that his experience will be worthwhile.
Experience, it seems, is the magic ingredient on Maritimo, where the crew has a strong mix of old and young talent.
“Yeah we have crew on board that we have sailed with before, but we have a few new guys on this race too, because that’s important. You have got to keep the young guys coming through.
“It’s a revolving door, at the back of the boat, none of us are getting any younger. But you know, we have got Matt Levings there who swum the 1500 hundred metres for Australia at the Commonwealth Games, and a great navigator Murray Spence.”
When asked about strategy, Spies said the decision about whether to stay in or head out would come down to the wire.
“Look it’s not going to be a record breaking race, it is going to be quite docile, but even in light air, this race can be quite challenging, quite taxing mentally.
“Before you came here we were just talking about strategy and tactics for the race and that isn’t set in stone yet either, there are lot of factors and variables to consider. It will be an interesting race! Normally you have a set game plan, but I think for us, along with all our opposition, it is going to be a race where you have to be flexible.
“The models haven’t quite lined up yet and I think it is race there are two schools of thought and whilst we could sit here and talk for ages, it is not conducive to a predictable breeze.
“The old saying in this race is stay in and you win – go out and you shout.”
We hope they picked a winning course. They are currently in 10th place.
We wish Maritimo well with this race and their whole Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore campaign. We look forward to seeing them at Southport Yacht Club.
