Another day in paradise

Every boxing Day thousands of Australians descend on the harbour to watch the start of the Sydney to Hobart sailing race.

We decided to join the throng. Sitting on the grass on a natural ampitheatre over looking The Bridge and the Opera House, we watched hundreds of boats jockey for postion at the start line and hurtle down towards the Heads and out to sea.

This famous race has claimed many lives and is always threatened by fierce Southerlys as the boats head over the Tasman to Tasmania. In 1998, six lives were lost and out of 90 boats only 40 made it to the safety of Hobart.

It was the most horrific Perfect Storm that created the tragedy and hopefully won’t be seen again but out of this came even more rigorous safety controls that makes this exciting race one of the worlds greatest challenges.

To compete in this race is one of my lifelong ambitions and I discovered, too late, unfortunately, that the company has a sponsored boat - next year hopefully!

So instead of stuffing myself on Christmas day I’ll be eating seasickness tablets and eating digestives!

If you get a chance have a look at some of the coverage on the official web site -  http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/