Pittwater LIfe December 2019 Issue

came third overall on IRC.
“I’ve had four thirds
overall, so one day I’ll get a
second and a first,” he says
with a smile.
When I meet 74-year-old
David Suttie at the Royal
Prince Alfred Yacht Club he
shows me his 50-foot Don
McIntyre-designed boat
‘Pekljus’. He’s racing under
PHS, a performance handicap
rating, and came first on
PHS in this year’s Sydney to
Southport Race and second in
last year’s Sydney to Hobart.
He says the boat will never
do well on IRC, the rating
under which most boats enter,
that rates different designs
of keelboats according to
lengths, weights, drafts, rig
sizes and sail areas plus
additional features, and
determines the winner of the
coveted Tattersall Cup.
‘Pekljus’ has a 12-man crew,
including his son Robert,
who is the leading forward
hand. In the 2017 race Robert
took a diamond ring with
him, and stepping ashore
at Constitution Dock, fell to
one knee and proposed to
his fiancée, Olivia Holtz, now
wife, who had flown to Hobart
to meet him.
Down below David Suttie
shows me the pie warmer,
explaining that pies will be
their staple food, as they can
be eaten with one hand, but
they’ll also have muffins,
fruit, muesli bars, cups of
coffee and plenty of water to
ensure against dehydration.
Suttie doesn’t get seasick, but
says that some of the crew do,
and despite applying patches
or taking medication, in really
rough conditions they are
physically sick.
The boat has a water ballast
system, which enables over
2000 litres of saltwater to be
transferred from tanks on
either side. This will be essential
in 2021 when he plans
to compete in the two-handed
Sydney to Hobart Race.
Last year Ian Edwards did
his first Sydney to Hobart
on ‘Wings’, a Dehler 46 he
owns with his wife Lindy.
‘Wings’, Edwards explains, is
a fast cruising boat, rather
than a dedicated racing boat.
It has an oven, a fridge, a
freezer, and even an expresso
machine. I have visions
of the crew whipping up
cappuccinos, but he says that
they take too much time and
energy, especially if there’s
heavy winds and the boat’s
heeling, so a coffee’s “usually
a straight black or white.”
Although Lindy chooses not
to do the long offshore races,
their son Paul is one of the
crew. There are four women
on the boat for the Hobart
race – Janease Graham and
Katy MacDonald, who both
have offshore skippering
experience, Elyse Guevara
and Janelle Orth, and are all
of them are doing the race for
the first time.
As a young girl, Orth,
now in her early 40s, lived
in Vaucluse. On Boxing Day,
she used to watch the boats
heading down the coast from
the cliffs at The Gap, and said
to her sisters, “I’m going to
be doing that race one day.”
The grandfather of a friend of
hers had a boat on Pittwater
and she sailed on it during
the holidays, then after school
she moved to the Northern
Beaches and worked for a man
who closed his business every
Thursday afternoon, and took
all his staff sailing.
Orth got married and had
children and didn’t sail for
nearly 20 years. When she
got back into it she trained at
Eastsail, before completing
her competent crew, first aid,
safety at sea and marine radio
courses, and took up every
sailing opportunity she was
offered. Last year she sailed
with yachtsman Tony Kirby
from the CYCA in Rushcutters
Bay on his Ker 46, ‘Patrice’.
For over 10 years he has been
raising money for the Kids’
Cancer Project doing the
Sydney to Hobart. However,
he recently sold ‘Patrice’ and
won’t have a boat for this race,
so with the encouragement of
Janelle Orth, who had Stage
Two cancer, but who made a
full recovery, the ‘Wings’ team
has taken on the Kids’ Cancer
Project, and as it’s the 75th
Sydney to Hobart are aiming
to raise $75,000. (Donations
at rolexsydneyhobart19.
everydayhero.com/au/wings)
This is a yacht race
that requires guts, grit
and determination, not to
mention sailing skill and
expertise. To participate in
the Sydney to Hobart is an
enormous achievement, to
win an absolute triumph,
and the best of luck to all the
Pittwater crews heading south
on Boxing Day.
Special Feature
The Local Voice Since 1991
DECEMBER 2019 33