The Algarve sailor Luís Brito, who yesterday, the 30th, finished the difficult Rolex Sydney Hobart Yatch Race with the rest of the crew of the «Challenge», in 53rd place among 108 vessels of different classes, is at 19th in IRC class, 12th ORCi and 9th Corinthian, he says that "a few hours after having crossed the finish line, I feel like sailing."
In statements to the Sul Informação, after having finished the race in the city of Hobart, on the Australian island of Tasmania, the sportsman from Portimo makes an assessment of the race that allowed him to fulfill an old dream: «this edition of sydney hobart it wasn't one of the hardest ones, but it was one of the longest. Even so, more than 30 boats abandoned the race due to technical problems caused by the strong southerly winds and the sea with which we sailed on the first night and second day of the race».
The start, recalls Luís Brito, “was a unique moment, with 110 boats setting off in Sydney Bay with the aim of covering 628 nautical miles. despite the linda At a distance, no vessel wanted to be left behind and the struggle for a more favorable position was intense until the buoys came out of the bay».
Then, “it took about 9 hours to sail aft with winds between 15 and 30 knots and reaching speeds of 20 knots. Fun, but risky, enough to have ripped a spi and lost control of the Challenge several times», confesses the Portuguese sailor.
But the adventures did not stop there. “Suddenly, and in no more than 5 minutes, the wind went from 30 knots north to 35 knots south. Here it was a bit chaotic for the inexperienced crew of the Challenge, but after we scoured the mainsail and put the stay in place. of storm, we started to recover some distance to our more direct opponents and, at the end of the second day of racing, we are 3rd in the classification of our class».
Then came «some more frustrating moments, with a windless night and therefore without progression, which was interspersed with moments with variable wind direction and around 10 knots of intensity throughout the third day».
On the fourth day, we woke up to see some islands that predate Tasmania and the north wind that reached 25 knots helped us to descend the entire coast of the island, he recalls.
The entry into the Derwent River, as far as the city of Hobart, «was made with a light southerly wind and, at 22 hours and 40 minutes local time, we cut the finish line and completed Sydney Hobart 2015».
In a final balance, Luís Brito says that «it was a long and difficult regatta, especially due to the lack of experience of a large part of the crew of the Challenge». Alex Gilbert, an Australian who was also part of the Challenge crew, considered Luís as «one of the best oceanic sailors I have ever sailed with», underlining not only the quality of the Portuguese sailor, but also the spirit of camaraderie that lived on board during the four days of the test.
Also for this reason, Luís Brito emphasizes that the regatta was «a great learning experience and a moment that can only be experienced once a year».
For this reason, he adds, "I have the will to come back and overcome this challenge more often."
After a few drinks with his fellow adventurers to celebrate and the well-deserved rest, the Algarve sailor says that "now is the time to celebrate and start planning for the next year and the next adventures".
Luís will stay until the 9th of January in Tasmania, discovering the secrets of this huge island south of Australia, and then he will return to Portugal and the Algarve.
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