Wild Rose claims Tattershall's Cup

Race veteran Roger Hickman's Farr 43 wins Rolex Sydney Hobart

Rolex Sydney Hobart veteran Roger Hickman and his 29-year-old Farr 43 Wild Rose have claimed the Tattershall's Cup for the handicap prize in this, the 70th edition of the race.

While the majority of the top ten boats to finish under IRC were in Division 3, Wild Rose was racing in the smaller Division 4, correcting out to take the win by 38 minutes ahead of another Rolex Sydney Hobart veteran Bruce Taylor (sailing his 34th race) aboard the more modern Reichel Pugh-designed Caprice 40, Chutzpah. As testament to the effectiveness of IRC in creating a level playing field, the podium was complected by Ron Forster and Phil Damp's production Beneteau 40, Ariel, which correceted out six minutes behind Chutzpah. 

Wild Rose's crew arrived at Hobart's Constitution Dock to be surrounded by the family and friends having fought their way to the corrected time lead when it was only put into jeopardy off Tasman Island when the steering cable broke, causing the boat to broach. They fixed it, continued to hold the lead and went on to win the Tattersall’s Cup.

John Cameron, Commodore of the CYCA, presented Hickman with that trophy and Jean-Noel Bioul of Rolex SA handed him the winner's Rolex timepiece.

For Hickman it was his second overall win on the same boat in 21 years. He also won as sailing master on SAP Ausmaid in 2000. Others on the crew had to wait 38 years, but for his brother Andrew, and sister Lisa, it was first time lucky and an emotional win, given the death this year of Roger’s mother Leslie, who used to plaster the fridge at her Hobart home with media stories of his successes.

“She lived her life through us kids,” Hickson said.

Roger Hickman’s adventures at sea go back a long way, to primary school days in 1950s Hobart when he and his friend Phil Endersbee did their first overnighter on father Jim Hickman’s extended Dragon design Bronzewing. Endersbee was on the crew again today.

So this was a family affair, one for the true believers, a victory for the closest and dearest of friends, people who have sailed through the good times and the tough and the tragic times. And this one was a battle.

“A battle? A battle? It was a tough yacht race,” Hickman said at the presentation. “From Sydney to Tasman was pleasurable, beautiful down the NSW coast and the lovely Tasmanian coast,” he said. “But Tasman Island to Hobart was just so tough: gales, winds, becalmed, hail. They say it’s a normal Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.”

Was it the hardest? “From Tasman to the finish, absolutely. That’s also because you think you might do well, you hope you might do well. You’re close; you know the boats behind you, the boats ahead of you. You add the anticipation and the challenge that you might win, will Lady Luck look on us favourably. So you add that and it is tough. We were losing time on the guys who’d finished, and gaining time on the guys behind us. It was tough. They’re always tough. And you know why it was really tough? Because it was the one that’s closest in your memory.”

Wild Rose, as the leader last night, won the race today after having to wait to see what redress would be applied to the seven yachts that stood by at Cape Raoul at about the same time as she was finishing last night, to see whether they could offer any assistance in a light plane crash incident at sea. All seven were given a one hour, 45 minute time allowance, but it was not enough to overhaul Wild Rose.

Race pundits have been observing that Wild Rose, was one of Bob Oatley's previous Wild Oats racing yacht, his latest 100 footer having sealed line honours victory for a record-equalling eighth time this year. In fact when Hickman won the race in 1993 with partners Bruce Foye and Lance Peckman ,when it was contested under IOR, the boat was called Solbourne Wild Oats.

With 38 Sydney Hobart races under his belt, Hickman, from the host club in Sydney, but a Tasmanian by birth, can claim the title for himself and his boat alone in the boat he bought from Bob Oatley for next to nothing.

“I feel lucky and privileged to have Bob Oatley’s boat,” Hickman said. “I sailed with Bob Oatley on this boat and with Hugh Treharne (America’s Cup winner 1983) and Rodney Pattisson. I did three Hobarts with Bob on this boat. When I bought boat from him in 1991, he almost gave it to me. I was a young merchant navy officer then. I was honoured and privileged to sail with him and the others. Six years later when I went to buy the boat, I only had half the money, so I asked Bob if he could wait while I tried to raise the rest. He said to me, ‘Roger, you were the only guy to ever go to the bar and buy me a drink, don’t worry about the rest’.

“He was so gracious and I wouldn’t have been able to get involved in that boat at all without that generous offer,” Hickman said, with tears in his eyes. “Bob Oatley has helped me and Ricko (Oats’ skipper Mark Richards) and so many others get where we are today. So now we have Wild Oats XI and Wild Rose in the winner’s circle – the Ricko and Hicko show."

Following the race’s briefing on December 24 at the CYCA, Hickman and other older and small boat owners were rubbing their hands in glee, knowing the weather patterns would play right into their hands. While it was never a guarantee, the forecast did give hope.

“It started about three to four hours after we left Sydney, the concern about Love & War – and it still hasn’t stopped,” he said. Simon Kurts' Love & War along with South Australian entry John Willoughby's Enchantress were among the handful in contention to win the race overall, but in the late stages, stopped to give assistance when a light plane crashed late yesterday near Cape Raoul.

“We felt we had enough distance, but not enough time on her," said Hickman. "It’s not a pleasant feeling, waiting to be told whether you have won. The anxiety goes up. To win this race is difficult at the best of times, to deal with this waiting game now. I certainly feel empathy for Loki and others I’ve kept waiting; now I know what it feels like. I also feel sorry for Bruce Taylor – he’s had to wait around yet again."

Hickman praised Samantha Scott, the 18-year-old daughter of his regular crew member, Andrew Scott. “She was brilliant. It was her first race, and believe me, nobody wanted to be doing the race for the first 24 hours, but she kept smiling and asking what she could do to help. When we had our whoopsy - when we laid the boat over - we wiped out a couple of times. We put pressure on the helm to get back on our feet, and that’s when the stainless steel fabricated piece that joins the cable to steering broke. It was the first time we’ve ever seen the keel.

“Rolex is a wonderful sponsor and we’re so pleased to have them – they have made our race so special,” said Hickman, who won the CYCA’s Ocean Racer of the Year in December. “We are going to have 30th birthday for Wild Rose this year – we are waiting to hear from the builder to know its exact birthday."

Of his Wild Rose, with which he has continued to win major races over the past 23 years, ‘Hicko’ said: “She’s absolutely the best. She was built by John McConaghy and he said to me repeatedly, ‘This is his absolute best boat, the best I ever built’. Bob Oatley gave McConaghy a blank cheque and said, ‘build me the best boat and name it’ so McConaghy did and that’s where the Wild Oats came from.”

Hickman changed the boat’s name to Wild Rose after its 1993 Hobart victory because it was confusing for people. "We always think of people who are not with us when we are racing. We had a little bear, Alice, who used to be on board with Sally (Sally Gordon, Hickman’s partner who died in the 2009 Flinders Islet Race with Andrew Short with whom Gordon was sailing) and she was with us. It’s a good win for little boats. It just keeps the interest if one can win every 10 years or so, I will dedicate this race to them, they add to adventure and character of race.”

He paid tribute to his crew of: Peter Inchbold, Phil Endersbee, Phil Warburton, Jen Wells, Kim Ketelbey, Sam Scott, Andrew Scott, Dan Morrow, Antonia Fong, Jackie White, Daniel Williams, Lisa Hickman and Andrew Hickman.

“I couldn’t have done it without them,” he said.