'Accidental' sailor Lillian Stewart competes in third Melbourne to Hobart race
Amateur sailor Lillian Stewart is competing in this year's Melbourne to Hobart yacht race on White Spirit. (Supplied: ORCV)
In short:
The Melbourne to Hobart yacht race began in 1972 and takes sailors down Tasmania's west coast.
A new race record has been set by multi-hull line honours winner, Rushour, which arrived at the finish line late on Saturday night, well ahead of the record set last year.
What's next?
Handicap winners are yet to be announced.
It began as an exercise in logistics and has become a challenging, albeit lower-profile, alternative to the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.
The Melbourne to Hobart race was started in 1972 by Stan Gibson from Hobson's Bay Yacht Club in Melbourne and Joe Cannon from Hobart's Derwent Sailing Squadron.
Not wanting the hassle of getting their boats up to Sydney, they chose instead to sail down Tasmania's west coast.
Peter Riddle’s 41-footer ‘Mary Blair took line honours in the first Melbourne to Hobart yacht race in 1972, taking 2 days, 16 hours, 19 min and 7 seconds. (Supplied: ORCV)
Now, 52 years on, the annual race — also known as the Westcoaster — has attracted sailors of all stripes, including amateur sailor Lillian Stewart, who is competing in the double-handed category with co-skipper Cyrus Allen on board White Spirit.
It is Stewart's third Melbourne to Hobart.
The marine scientist took part in her first ocean race a year after "accidentally" getting involved in sailing when she joined a friend on a twilight race in Hobart.
She said the test of skill, knowledge application and physical strength drew her in.
Lillian Stewart (right) and Ocean Racing Club of Victoria Commodore Cyrus Allen onboard White Spirit. (Supplied: ORCV)
"I'd never sailed before in my life, so it was quite a steep learning curve, but I do really enjoy that.
"I figured if I can sort of stick out the season, acquire the skills, and if I really don't like it, that's fine, I've given it my best shot.
"But I actually really fell in love with it, and I got into the ocean racing side of things — and that, for me, has been a real thrill."
Stewart said races offered a chance to see "some of the most beautiful, and, at times, intense environments … that a lot of people won't get the opportunity to experience".
"And that, to me, is just wonderful," she said.
"I crave it."
Scarlet Runner took out line honours in the monohull category of the Melbourne to Hobart race. (Supplied: Michael Currie)
Stewart said the Westcoaster came with risk.
"There are not many ports of call should you run into trouble," she said.
She said westerly winds had been of "reasonable strength and consistency", making for favourable conditions.
"This has certainly been the fastest race that I've been a part of."
Lillian Stewart onboard the yacht White Spirit. (Supplied: ORCV)
Race record set by line honours winner
Catamaran Rushour was the first Melbourne to Hobart yacht to cross the finish line.
Arriving at 11:31pm on Saturday with a time of 1 day, 13 hours, 31 minutes and 50 seconds, Rushour beat the multi-hull record set by Peccadillo last year of 2 days, 18 hours, 4 minutes and one second.
Peccadillo, finishing third on line honours, also beat the record.
Rushour skipper, Queenslander Drew Carruthers, said the Melbourne to Hobart was "something different" for him.
While new to this race, Carruthers and his crew have circumnavigated New Caledonia twice in the Cat-2 Groupama Race, and competed in several Brisbane to Gladstone and Brisbane to Hamilton Island races.
Rushour set a cracking pace down Tasmania's west coast in this year's race. (Supplied: Michael Currie)
Monohull line honours was claimed by Scarlet Runner.
Rob Date skippered the Scarlet Runner, winning the category and was provisional line honours winner.
He said they had near-perfect winds for the event, allowing the yacht to reach speeds of close to 27 knots along Tasmania's west coast.
"We knew the race record was possibly achievable given the weather forecast,"Date said.
"It was just a matter of making sure we didn't tip the boat and then surf down a wave. Unfortunately, part of that process was we just got covered in water … all the bedding, all the electrics, everything is wet."
The race covers 435 nautical miles from the start in Port Philip to the finish line at the River Derwent in Hobart. (Supplied: race.bluewatertracks.com)
He and his crewmates hadn't slept since Boxing Day evening, and were looking forward to a rest in Hobart.
Carruthers said they were cruising around the coast of Australia, and decided to enter the race as a bit of fun — ending up breaking the record for multihulls by almost 30 hours.
"As long as we didn't tip the boat over or do something stupid, we were always going to break the record," he said.
Both men encouraged more entries for next year's event, with entries down on previous years.