“I find myself a little mystified being surrounded by these incredible sailors with their great experience,” the Californian yachtsman said ahead of his first Sydney Hobart.
“I’m a lifelong day sailor who started to race a couple of years back,” the bemused Epstein said.
“I think our campaign is the triumph of joy and optimism over good sense that a San Francisco Bay sailor comes out here to sail in the Sydney Hobart,” Epstein said of why he named the yacht Bacchanal, which he christened yesterday at the CYCA.
And what a great debut Bacchanal has had. With her majority Australian crew, she placed sixth in her first race, the Bird Island (November) and third in the Cabbage Tree Island (early December) race.
Built at Innovation Composites in Nowra, NSW, was she christened yesterday with Tasmanian Jansz, “Under the idea that it would be the first of Tasmanian water that the boat would taste, but not the last.”
The yacht, he said, is named after Bacchus – the Roman god of wine, hedonism and joy.
“So, Bacchanal means it is our party – our wine soaked, happy, joyful party of being out on the sea,” Epstein said.
Epstein hopes that when the boat crosses the finish line, the crew will be celebrating an overall win for his first ever Sydney Hobart.
“I think it would be tremendous, not just to wave the American flag, but to show that it doesn’t take 30 years of sailing to win,” Epstein said.
“But we’re feeling pretty good. The boat’s done amazing things. It’s a strong boat and we hope we’ll get through without any problems.”
Jules Hall, owner and co-skipper of double handed entry, Disko Trooper_Contender Sailcloth, said: “This morning’s best weather routing, has got us getting into Hobart at about 1am on December 30 – a hell of a lot quicker than we’ve done before.”
Hall and co-skipper Jan ‘Clogs’ Scholten, aim to replicate their 2021 Sydney Hobart win in the Double Handed Division. Rupert Henry and co-skipper Corentin Douguet are their major competition. Having won the division in 2022 and again in 2023 when they finished an impressive sixth overall.
“Both boats [Disko Trooper_Contender Sailcloth and Mistral] are going to push bloody hard. There will be no prisoners taken,” Hall said.
79th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 20244479th Edition – Quick Info – More to ComeThe 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart will be the 79th edition of the race.
The Race will start on Thursday 26 December 2024 at 1300 hours AEDT
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