As the 1250-mile Sydney-Auckland Race progressed from the start on Saturday, October 7th, it was clear that Mike Martin's veteran TP52 Frantic - originally Eamonn Conneelly's first Patches, and known with her crew lineup as "The Irish Boat" - was setting the pace despite the presence of the 70-ft Antipodes. The leaders are now in the Royal Akarana Yacht Club in Auckland, and the news is good.
Leading Frantic crewman and helm Trevor Smyth - formerly of Clontarf - delightedly confirms the news of the overall win with the information that although they had been contemplating an early Trans-Tasman return to Australia,
they're now staying on in Auckland for a day or so to cheer on Ireland in the Saturday rugby match in one of the local sailors' favoured waterfront bars. Doing that among so many fired-up Kiwis might just be the most dangerous thing they've done so far in an otherwise outstandingly successful campaign.
Trevor Smyth with the winner's Lipton Cup, orginally presented to the Sydney-Auckland Race organisers, the Royal Prince Alfred YC, in 1919. If you'd just raced 1,250 miles flat out in a TP52, you might also be a bit red-eyed.