May sets sights on 50 Sydney-Hobart races

Friday, 7 December 2018:

The sailor with the record for completing the most-successive Sydney to Hobart races is looking for even more landmarks.

Veteran navigator Lindsay May will extend his record for consecutive passages to 46 on Boxing Day when he sails south on 1971 line honours winner Kialoa 2.

May enjoyed handicap wins on Indian Pacific (1984), Atara (1991) and the much-loved Love & War (2006) and a line honours victory in 1997 aboard Brindabella.

Only six other sailors have done the race more times and just two have reached the half-century mark, which is a target for May.

"It's certainly on my horizon. I'd like to think I'll have the opportunity to do that," May told AAP.

May has no plans to stop contesting the race any time soon.

Only once in his record-setting run did he contemplate not doing it and, ironically, it turned out to be one of his best years.

"In 1984, I was intending to have a family Christmas in Western Australia," May said.

"About December 10, I got a call-up from a bunch of mates - who I'd sailed with many times - to go on Indian Pacific.

'"And '84 was a very very tough race, there was huge retirements from the race and we ended up winning the race on handicap."

He wants Kialoa 2 to beat her own personal best time for the race, which she set last year, despite a broken boom on the first afternoon.

While wins and records were always celebrated, May endured one especially torturous passage to Hobart.

"In 1974, I finished at 4:00am on New Year's Day on a little half-tonner and I don't ever want to do that again," he said.

"We were out drifting in the river going nowhere, watching the fireworks.

" We got to the dock at about 4:00am and we were greeted with three people and a dog and they were all intoxicated!"

Four of the five supermaxis in this year's race are scheduled to start in Saturday's opening race of the CYCA Trophy Series, with Scallywag the only maximum-length boat absent.






AAP






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