Crichton skippers Alfa Romeo to Sydney to Hobart yacht race victory
Dec 29th, 2009
Neville Crichton witnessed success in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race for the second time this year after skippering Alfa Romeo to victory in the competition.The New Zealander was also triumphant in the 628-nautical mile challenge in 2002, but on this occasion he had to produce the goods to upset the much-fancied Wild Oats XI.
Still winds made the race challenging for all the competitors, with the British yacht ICAP Leopard among those struggling to keep tabs with Alfa Romeo, who were never caught after grabbing the early initiative.
Alfa Romeo finished almost 15 hours outside the race record with a time of two days, nine hours and two minutes, which was enough to see off Wild Oats.
Leopard skipper Mike Slade praised the winning team afterwards, particularly for their successful decision-making skills in pivotal situations and their ability to find the small amounts of breeze when it appeared.
He said: "Alfa Romeo has had a superb race, getting the major calls spot on."
Leopard eventually finished in third position as 95 teams successfully completed the race, with another UK team, Ran, taking fifth spot.
Posted by George Clifford
"I would recommend Dream Marine to others. Everyone was easygoing and helpful. I didn’t mind who I talked to. It was all good. Shame having to come back to London afterwards.
Come on Chris… when’s the next one?"
Come on Chris… when’s the next one?"
