Finally CQS crosses Rolex Sydney Hobart finish line

• NEWS
• 28 Dec, 2016 06:11:00 PM

Finally CQS crosses Rolex Sydney Hobart finish line

Aboard Ludde Ingvall’s super maxi CQS this afternoon, crew member Michael Rummel told how they were in the Derwent not too far from the Rolex Hobart finish line at 6.15am, with the crew never expecting to still be there staring at the same line late afternoon into the afternoon, but that is exactly what happened.

“I thought we’d finish this morning,” a buoyant Rummel said, despite their day long sit-in in the Derwent. “We finally finished just after 4pm,” the Sydney Hobart first timer said of their 4.13.12pm finish this afternoon.

For Ingvall’s cousin and financier of the boat, Sir Michael Hintze, every minute was pure joy.

“The start was breathtaking – even the bit where the hydraulics didn’t work and we nearly capsized in Sydney Harbour.

“Then it was exciting sailing down the coast and frustrating sitting, not moving for hours on the river looking at the finish line,” he said of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s 628 nautical mile race.

“It was exactly what I expected from the race, even Bass Strait. And yes, I would absolutely do it again,” Sir Michael finished.

Asked would he be back for another Hobart, Ludde Ingvall, CQS’s owner and Sydney Hobart line honours winner of 2000 and 2004, said: “This is the race of all races. I could say now I would never do it again, but then tell my wife tomorrow ‘I’m going again’. It’s a real test of one’s manhood.”

This after he told how slow they were to start: “The problem with the engine stalling, the problem with the foil.

“We learnt a lot – and this is the race to learn a lot from. We still have a long way to go. We are taking the boat to New Zealand now to do some work on her and then we will take it to the Mediterranean to race,” he said as the crew relaxed over a few beers and the famous local scallop pies.

By Di Pearson, RSHYR media