A devil of a time

Jim Carnett

Orange Coast College’s beautiful 65-foot sail training vessel,

Alaska Eagle, will compete this holiday season in the infamous Telstra

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

The event claimed six lives last December.

The 55th annual race is set to begin in Australia’s Sydney Harbor on

Sunday, Dec. 26. The fleet of 84 yachts will head out into the Tasman Sea

and finish four days and 630 nautical miles later at the Royal Yacht Club

of Tasmania in Hobart.

Tasmania is an island state of southeastern Australia, separated from

the mainland by Bass Straight. Hobart is Tasmania’s capital city.

Australia’s bluewater classic--the final long ocean race of the 20th

century--is being touted by Aussies as “The Sail of the Century.” The

race, sponsored by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, includes entries

from Australia, the U.S., Hong Kong, Great Britain, Ireland, France,

Denmark, New Zealand and New Guinea.

Last year’s storm-swept race will long be remembered for the tragedy

that occurred in Bass Straight, an almost-constantly agitated body of

water that separates the Indian Ocean and Tasman Sea.

The savage storm swept six yachtsman to their deaths. Fifty-five

others had to be rescued from seven severely damaged or foundering

yachts.

“We decided to enter this race two years ago, prior to last year’s

debacle,” OCC’s sailing director, Brad Avery said. Avery will be an

Alaska Eagle crew member for the 1999 race.

“I must admit that what happened last year caused us to step back and

reevaluate our decision. Safety is our number-one priority, and the

Sydney to Hobart race is known for its wild seas. But we’re confident

we’ll be okay. We’ve had Alaska Eagle in challenging seas before, on

numerous occaisions--in the South Pacific below New Zealand and last year

in the North Atlantic--and she has always performed exceptionally well.

We have an outstanding crew in place and the boat will be well prepared.”

Race officials have added special precautions this year. A fleet of

search and rescue helicopters will be on duty throughout the race. Each

yacht will have an on-board beacon constantly broadcasting its exact

location. And, up-to-date weather information will be available to all

crews throughout the race.

Avery says OCC’s boat has established just two objectives for the

race: to compete the event safely and to do well in its class.

“Each boat in the race will be given a handicap, so we’ll have a

chance to perform well within our classification,” Avery said. “When all

handicaps are taken into consideration by the judges, the first boat to

cross the finish line won’t necessarily be the winner.”

Orange County residents will be able to follow Alaska Eagle’s progress

in the race on a Worldwide Web site, titled quokka.com.

“I’ll be writing daily reports and sending them to the website,” Avery

said. “Interested persons will be able to track up and see how we’re

doing.”

Alaska Eagle will sail the race with a crew of 12.

“Seven members of our crew are sailing professionals, while the

remaining five are very advanced OCC sailing students,” Avery said.

Orange Coast College’s boat will be skippered by the husband and wife

duo of Rich and Sherry Crowe. The Crowes have skippered OCC’s boat for

several years, taking her throughout the South Pacific, North Pacific,

Atlantic, Caribbean and Baltic.

Avery says OCC’s boat will be different from the others entered in

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

“Were I to draw a comparison, I’d have to say that the other boats in

the fleet are all Ferraris, while the Alaska Eagle is a Humvee,” Avery

said. “She’s very brawny.”

Designed by Sparkman & Stephens and built by the Royal Huisman

Shipyard in Holland, Alaska Eagle was launched as “Flyer” in 1977. She

captured the prestigious Whitbread Around-the-World Race in 1977-78 and

was donated to OCC in 1982 by yachtsman Neil Berg. She has sailed more

than 275,000 miles since her launching.

“Eagle was built for racing in 1977, but she was constructed according

to a different technological standard than we see today,” Avery said.

“She weighs approximately 80,000 pounds and is extremely sturdy. Newer

racing boats her size are half her weight--approximately 40,000 pounds.

They’re built for speed, but aren’t nearly as strong.

“All the boats that were severely damaged or foundered in last year’s

race were considerably lighter than Eagle. We’re confident that she’d

have been fine in those conditions.”

Avery will fly to Sydney on Monday, Dec. 20, to meet with the rest of

the crew.

“We’ll take a few days to get Eagle prepared for the race,” Avery

said. “We’ll sail her in the ocean outside of Sydney Harbor, and we’ll

also lighten her a bit. We’ll take off all excess gear and ship it ahead

to Hobart in a container.”

During the race, crew members will serve three-hour shifts on deck and

five hours below. A full-time cook will be on board serving meals to the

crew around the clock.

“The boat will cover between 150 and 200 miles a day,” Avery said.

“All crew members should be able to get plenty of sleep each day of the

race and we’ll arrive at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania in good shape.”

After the race is over, OCC’s boat will remain at the Yacht Club for

several days and crew members will celebrate the new year.

They’ll be able to welcome the new century 18 hours before friends and

families in Southern California. The clock will strike midnight, Dec. 31

in Hobart while it’s just 6 a.m. that same morning in Orange County.

“The new century celebration will be a great way to conclude our

Sydney to Hobart experience,” Avery said.

OCC’s Alaska Eagle is currently involved in a 14-month cruise to the

South Pacific and back.

She departed Newport Beach on July 1, with OCC students aboard, on the

first half of her adventure. That phase of the trip included stops in

Honolulu, Papeete, Pago Pago, Tonga, Fiji, New Caledonia and Sydney.

Following this month’s Sydney to Hobart race, she’ll take students

after the new year on a one-month excursion to the remote and exotic

Auckland Islands, located off New Zealand’s east coast.

“The islands are owned by the government of New Zealand and are an

environmental reserve,” Avery said. “The government limits the number of

visitors to the islands each year and we’re very fortunate to be able to

make several different stops there. We’ll have an opportunity to explore

the islands and take part in lots of offshore sailing.”

Avery said the islands are famous for 18th, 19th and 20th century

shipwrecks.

After spending time at several island locations, the students will

cruise to Wellington, New Zealand an will travel by bus to Auckland to

view America’s Cup racing competition.

Following a two-month hiatus, Alaska Eagle will launch her seven-leg

spring and summer Pacific sailing excursion on Sunday, April 2, 2000.

Ten students will take part in each leg of the trip. The journey will

include stops in Tahiti, the Tuamotos, Bora Bora, Hawaii, Vancouver

Island, Friday Harbor and Newport Beach.

Eagle will arrive back at OCC’s Sailing Center on Aug. 10.

OCC’s Sailing and Marine Program is the national leader for public

nautical schools. The college offers a comprehensive year-round

curriculum of classroom and on-the-water courses for college students and

the general public.

Last spring, OCC received the “Outstanding Year-Round Sailing Program

Award,” presented by U.S. Sailing Magazine and the Community Sailing

Council.

More than 6,000 people annually take classes at OCC’s waterfront

facility, located at 1801 W. Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach.

For information about the spring/summer 2000 Pacific voyage, contact

the Sailing Center at (949) 645-9412.