Sailing Into Record Books

Newcastle Herald

Saturday January 1, 2000

LIZ Wardley has became the first woman to win a division of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

The 20-year-old from Port Moresby, the youngest skipper in the race, won Division Two of the Performance Handicap (PHS) category in her 36-footer Phillips Foote.

It is also believed to be the first time that a Papua New Guinea yacht has won a division in the bluewater classic.

Wardley said she was delighted to have taken a major prize, and being the first woman made it even better.

`It was a great race, the most enjoyable race I've been in,' she said.

Her triumph came in her third Sydney-Hobart.

She was among the many forced to retire during last year's storm-ravaged race.

Wardley, who was born in PNG, paid tribute to her mainly Australian crew, which included her sister, Tiffany.

`They worked together really well,' she said.

Western Australian yachts broke a long spell without a win by taking two other divisions.

Ron Lally's Red Jacket won Division C of the IMS category and Lance Woods' Impulse won Division D in the IMS. Lally said it was the first WA win since 1975.

Results for all categories were announced yesterday, although they remain provisional until the last yacht has finished.

In a year in which 16 boats smashed the race record, at least five seemed certain to spend New Year's Eve on the water battling 30- to 35-knot southerlies.

Victorian boats Eneseay and Midnight Rambler had an ETA of close to midnight while Epsilon and Grand Chancellor had computer-predicted arrival times between midnight and 12.30am.

At yesterday's 3am sked, 37 yachts had finished the testing 630-nautical-mile race and 30 had retired, leaving 13 boats yet to finish.

Rarely before in the race have the winds proved so fickle.

Perfect north-easterly conditions for the biggest and fastest boats made for record times, only to change dramatically and leave the rest struggling against fierce southerlies.