The Hynes Honeymoon!

Author: Seth
Picture: The start of the Sydney to Hobart Sailboat Race, where the boat ICAP crossed the line first. Despite the terrible conditions, it was a spinnaker start on the line and Elizabeth (in blue) and my Mom (in yellow) were out to witness it...

We had a great Christmas week with my family on board. In total, we sailed around the bay, opened presents moored in a national park, saw a show at the Opera House, visited the Art Gallery of New South Whales and went to many amazing fine restaurants. But the highlight of the week had to have been witnessing the start of the Sydney to Hobart sailboat race.

If you know anything about sailboat racing, you know about the 630 mile race from Sydney to Hobart. For those of you unfamiliar, it can only be described as the pinnacle of off-shore racing. Hundreds of boats participate, including some of the world's fastest and most expensive yachts. There is usually a North American entry or two, but this is mostly all about Australia versus New Zealand, and down here they take their sailboat racing very seriously.

The favored (and local favorite) was an Australian Maxi Yacht (100 feet long) called Wild Oats XI. This particular boat won the race the past four years and were the strong favorite for this year's race, but it wasn't meant to be as the New Zealand favorite (Alfa Romeo) crushed them and took line honors.

Aboard Honeymoon, we watched the chaos ensue. No further than 50 meters past the starting line, we sat defending our position on the line between two massive passenger ferrys and a few smaller water taxis as we watched the start. Then, as soon as the fleet of hundreds past the starting line we were off, racing at full speed with all the spectator boats toward the harbor entrance where the racing yachts were headed. It was a sport unto itself, avoiding collisions in order to see who took the lead.

Despite Alfa Romeo's daring strategy to cut in front of the pack before the official start, it was the maxi boat ICAP that crossed the starting line first, claiming starting honors over the two favorites. But Alfa Romeo was second, and Wild Oats third. As they passed the starting line, all the boats hoisted their spinnakers, making for a colorful start despite the rain.

It was a great thing to witness, and was certainly a highly of the week. If not the year...

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Vessel Name:	Honeymoon
Vessel Make/Model:	2004 Lagoon 380, Hull 279, Owner's Version
Hailing Port:	San Francisco, CA
Crew:	Seth & Elizabeth Hynes
About:	Seth & Elizabeth met in 2004 and have long since agreed that they did not want to live "the typical life. [...] More
Extra:	OUR EXPERIENCE: Seth is a lifelong sailor with over 25 years of boating experience. His family taught him to sail via ASA instruction and through many weekend trips on their family boat, a Benateau 35, sailed on Lake St. Clair, Michigan. He then moved to San Francisco where he raced with two [...] one-design sailing teams before joining his families racing boat "Shadowfax," a classic Wianno Senior design based in Osterville, Mass. Elizabeth is an adventurer by spirit and has traveled all around the world for both pleasure and work. While living in England she sailed in Croatia on the Med and also with the Hynes family in the Grenadines. Elizabeth is also part of the "Shadowfax" racing team and she looks forward to becoming a more confident Captain over the course of the next year. THE BOAT: Having never sailed a catamaran before in our lives, choosing to purchase one was very difficult. However, the more we researched the boats the more we liked them. Catamarans are great for cruising with their shallow draft and large living accommodations. They also feature inherent back-ups which improve safety; like two hulls, two rudders, two engines and props. Once we learned that Cats crossed the oceans regularly, we took a solid look at the options out there, of which there were plenty. In the end, the Lagoon 380 stood out from the rest of the fleet for its dependability, successful production history and interior comforts. Our boat is a three berth "Owner's Version" that has never been chartered and has a larger head with a standing shower. When this was discovered, the search was over. After all, if Elizabeth is happy, Seth will be happy! THE ITINERARY: From the beginning it was always our plan to sail from the East Coast of the US to Australia, stopping along the way in the Caribbean and Central America. However, being new to the cruising life, we didn't want to force ourselves to do anything we didn't want, so the itinerary was left open. Not surprisingly, we loved our time cruising in the Caribbean but yearned for more of an adventure and opted to cross the Pacific Ocean in search of islands less visited. What we found was exactly what we were looking for. And in the end, Australia was a perfect boat market for a Catamaran and an end to an incredible 18 months of sailing. Below was our itinerary: SEPTEMBER, 2008: Refit boat in Norfolk, Virginia USA OCTOBER, 2008: Refit and sail Chesapeake to Annapolis, MD NOVEMBER, 2008: Caribbean 1500 rally to BVIs British Virgin Islands, Caribbean DECEMBER, 2008: St. Martin, St. Barts, Ile Fourche, Statia, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat JANUARY, 2009: Dominica, Antigua, Barbuda, The Saints, Guadeloupe FEBRUARY: Guadeloupe, Bonaire, Curacao, San Blas Islands, Panama MARCH: Cross through the Panama canal, Galapagos APRIL: Pacific Ocean Crossing, Marquesas French Polynesia MAY: Marquesas, Tuamotus, Tahiti JUNE: Moorea, Huahine, Ta'haa, Bora Bora JULY: Bora Bora to Suwarrow, Cook Islands AUGUST: Niue and Vava'u Tonga SEPTEMBER: Tonga and Fiji OCTOBER: Fiji and Vanuatu NOVEMBER & DECEMBER: Eastern Australia, Bundaburg to Sydney JANUARY: Fly home from Sydney to San Francisco. Quickly get jobs during a recession. Start a family. Buy a house. Start fanatically reading other sailor's blogs. More
Home Page:	http://www.sailblogs.com/member/honeymoon/