A group of ex-rugby players, including Australia’s second most capped Test prop Bill Young, and a bunch of guys who know a thing or two about yacht racing launched their Rolex Sydney Hobart campaign at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week.
Through his rugby connections, former 18 foot skiff champion David Witt has teamed up with two of rugby great George Gregan’s school mates, Paul Docherty and Jim Swan, and chartered a Volvo 60. Originally called djuice dragon and built as the sparring boat for the two boat test program for the 2001-2002 Volvo Ocean Race, the boat has recently raced as Getaway-sailing.com under owner Peter Goldsworthy, a CYCA member.
Until Witt and Docherty secure a naming rights sponsor, they are using the George Gregan Foundation name on the boat to raise awareness and funds for the Foundation, which focuses on delivering outdoor specialised playgrounds to children’s hospitals. At a recent fundraising dinner, a crew place aboard the VO60 for this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart was auctioned off for $25,000.
Between now and December, Witt and his yachting aficionados including Craig Malouf, Peter Davis and John Roe, the current Queensland Reds captain, are going to teach six rugby players who have never sailed before the basics of handling a powerful yacht that was built to sail around the world.
After the first few races at Race Week, former Wallaby Prop Bill Young acknowledged his surprise at the similarities between the two sports.
“Both sports have the brains trust at the back, the physical strength in the middle and the whippets at the front,” said Young. “The partying is pretty similar too,” he added.
George Gregan Foundation finished first in the Performance Racing division at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, an impressive debut for the recently formed crew.
In the lead up to the Rolex Sydney Hobart, Witt will take his charges on various overnight passage races to get them used to sailing around the clock. They will contest the CYCA Big Boat Challenge on Tuesday 11 December on Sydney Harbour then line up for the one of the world’s toughest ocean races, the Rolex Sydney Hobart, on 26 December – something the novices admit is a daunting prospect.
“We’ll have a crack at it and try and remind ourselves it’s for a good cause,” says Young. – Lisa Ratcliff
