Jessica and Crew Become Youngest Crew Ever to Compete in Iconic Race

26-Dec-2011

As Jessica skippered Ella Bache another Challenge across the start line of the 2011 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in Sydney Harbour today, they became the youngest crew ever to compete in the 66 year history of the iconic race.

It is a terrific achievement from this determined young crew who have been ably led by Jessica throughout the their campaign since coming together on 1 October. Jessica said they were now being taken very seriously by other crews in the race. She added that the pressure of media attention was something they were all coping with.

This morning, Jessica was excited as the start of the 67^th Sydney-Hobart race drew closer and said the forecast tough conditions after a southerly hits the fleet tonight didn't really worry her.

"If you got to the end in Hobart without experiencing some tough conditions, then we probably wouldn’t have that same, huge sense of achievement," the teenage skipper of the Sydney 38 said.

And Jessica was confident that they couldn’t have done any more with their preparation.

"We have trained really hard over the past three months and I have a great crew. I hope we can perform as well as possible, but handling the pressure is easier with a great crew aboard. And of course, we be doing our best to try to beat our coach Chris Lewin’s ‘Deloitte As One’ to the finish line!” she said.

After getting away to a bumpy start through Sydney Heads, they soon had the “Joy” spinnaker set and seeing good boat speed. The latest update after three hours of race time, saw Ella Bache another Challenge in 2nd place in the Sydney 38 Division, just behind Chris.

All of Jessica’s crew and team would like to thank all our generous sponsors for supporting this campaign – Ella Bache, Macquarie Life, IGA, ansarada, Deloitte, plus support partners Musto Bolle and Seven.

You can track Jessica’s progress online at:   

http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/standings_ext.asp?submitted=true&key=524&RaceID=97&standingsTime=current&frmYr=97&frmDay=0&frmHour=0&frmMinute=0&frmClass=416&frmDivision=&ordering=dtg&Send.x=41&Send.y=5

Pic 1: The "Youngest Crew Ever" to compete in the Sydney Hobart - from left to right: Alex Paton, Sean Lindsell, Mike Perham, Will Broughton, Jessica Watson, Pete Woodward, Genevieve Warlow, Cameron 'Herbie' Dale, Lisa Chamberlain, Leigh Thorne.

Pic 2: The crew wave farewell to sponsors, family and friends on the VIP boat shortly race start

Pic 3: Jessica doing some last minute checks