carries industry’s hopes in Sydney to Hobart

However it will be his first time at the helm of his 60-foot Nautor Swan, Lady Godiva, one of the most beautiful yachts operating in Australian waters. Commanding a crew that he admits is tending towards middle age, at least, he is pleased with the yacht’s handicap and is confident of a good showing.

The annual arrival of Lady Godiva into Sydney Harbour for race preparation, from its winter anchorage in the Whitsundays, is a welcome sight for many of Currie’s customers who vie for the pleasure of an afternoon cruise during the festive season. All December long the luxury craft, which boasts a state of the art sound system with a 100 CD stacker, can be seen ploughing the harbour with a full contingent of happy sailors.

After the race it will spend some time at its home berth at Royal Brighton on Port Philip Bay.

This year there was a hair-rasing interruption to race preparations when the yacht was loosed from its moorings in the dead of night at the Cruising Yacht Club in Rushcutters Bay. Five ropes and a power line were untied and the yacht pushed out into the channel. A solitary crewman asleep below decks was woken next morning by Water Police banging on the hull as the yacht drifted perilously close to rocks at Elizabeth Bay.

Kids mucking about, thieves who did not realise there was someone on board, or even more sinister explanations remain mere conjecture in the absence of security videos. Suffice to say that Mr Currie was not amused.

So, keep an eye out for the elegant lines of Lady Godiva on the three or four day trip down the east coast after Christmas.
And never discount a handicap placing.