Bounder on the Hobart

We speak to Commodore Chris Little about his Rolex Sydney-Hobart campaign

Over the course of the Sydney-Hobart race's history a number of top English teams have taken part from one of the event's founders and winner of the first race, John Illingworth, to Prime Minister Ted Heath (winner in 1969, fourth in 1971) to property developer and avid yachtsman Mike Slade.

This year the top British team is that of RORC Commodore Chris Little who this year is campaigning a chartered Farr 49 he has renamed Bounder.

"It has been a long term objective," Little told thedailysail shortly before the start. "I’ve referred to it as being on my tombstone tick list! I think coming down to Australia most sailors have wanted to do this as some stage. It is one of the classic regattas of the season and you’ve got to do it. And I had the opportunity this year."

The first job was to secure a boat. Finding one which would both be competitive, structurally sound and also available for charter proved a challenge. Little eventually came up with the former Yendys in which Geoff Ross won the Sydney-Hobart race in 1999 on handicap and was subsequently campaigned by Terry Mullens as Sting. As Sting Mullens last year won the IMS divisions in the Sydney-Gold Coast Race, the Gosford-Lord Howe Race and was first at Hamilton Island Race Week.

"If you come down here you want to do reasonably well," says Little. With a top boat secured he also surrounded himself with a crack crew, including many of his regulars from his IC45 plus Alinghi navigator Andrew Cape and Team Tonic helm Jeremy Robinson.

The team arrived in Sydney a fortnight before the Rolex Sydney-Hobart race and took part in the Rolex Trophy Series (formerly the British Series) finishing fourth overall on handicap behind the two top IMS contenders - the new Yendys, Ichi Ban - and Syd Fischer's Ragamuffin.

Little says that their prospects in the Hobart race will depend upon how the weather develops: "I think the boat is up for it and it will be interesting against the new Yendys and we’ll have fun with Ragamuffin and Quest. They’ll probably be the sort of boats we’ll be racing against. Yendys was off into the horizon in the British Series."

While in Sydney Little has also been politicing with the local yacht clubs, comparing notes on race organisation. "The problems or the issues are the same and we can share experiences," he says. "It also helps communication when I get back to the UK."

Obviously top of the list of discussion topics is the new Grand Prix Rule and how it can be supported and implimented in the future. "We are still continuing to work on it and we are still working to the same timetable," says Little who is one of the main driving forces behind the new rule. "No one seems too unhappy about it. We have got to work with ORC, US Sailing on a rule that is mutually acceptable.

"I believe that Grand Prix racing has lacked direction for a number of years - perhaps as much as a decade since the demise of IOR - and if we don’t get together and create direction then people are not going to build boats and you are going to see parochial fleets growing up." As has happened already in Spain and Italy with the IMS Grand Prix fleet.

Personally Little will next year be back in his IC45 and will be taking part in much of the RORC program as well as Skandia Cowes Week. He also plans to take part in the Cascais race and then the Rolex Middle Sea Race. While other 'tombstone' events on the drawing board include the Bermuda race and Cape Town-Rio.

There is also the matter of a new boat... but this, says Little, will only come to pass with the advent of the new rule.