Mr Kite, the smallest boat with a canting keel to compete in the CYCA’s long ocean races, was launched at last year’s Hamilton Island Race Week by owners Andrew Buckland and Andrew Hunn. After a disappointing offshore debut in the Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race when their canting keel component broke, Buckland, a highly experienced ocean racer and 18 foot skiff sailor, and Hunn believe their radical carbon fibre “mini Volvo 70”, which successfully completed the Sydney Mooloolaba in later July, is ready to tackle Bass Strait.