2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race- Breaking things is part of preparation for Fleury
MONDAY 23 DECEMBER 2024
DARLING POINT, SYDNEY
Damien Fleury is not particularly worried about pushing French boat Cocody to its limits during the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
“We’ve already done that during training, during other races,” he said just days out from the big race.
“We’ve done many hard training (days) in France, like going out in 50 knots of wind just to see if the boat can perform under those conditions,” he said, looking out over the marina at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, at Rushcutters Bay.
“And sometimes, of course, you break things, and that’s the deal. We always prefer to break things during training.”
He said the most difficult part of sailing boats was the mechanical and technical components.
International Entrants © Salty Dingo 2024
“Things like the engine, water maker, generator, things like that – because we know how to sail, but it’s those other things that create issues,” he said.
Fleury said the 17,000 nautical mile journey from France to Sydney had been a ‘delivery’ trip. “We kept the crew to a minimum, we stopped many times enroute, because the aim was just to get the boat here… we weren’t pushing ourselves,” he said.
The crew was complimented by a couple of “hitchhikers” as he calls them, who helped out on the way.
“They weren’t experienced sailors, but they could help with cooking, night watch and physical work when needed,” he said.
Post race, Fleury said there was an option of selling the boat rather than transporting it back to France.
“Because after you work with a boat, you want to go to a bigger boat, a faster boat, because we’re getting better and better,” he said.
And if they can’t sell it, that’s not a drama.
“Because there are many races in Europe. There is always something to do, so for sure, will not be unhappy to continue to sail the boat for a long time.”
Steve Dettre/RSHYR media
Six past Overall winners racing this year:
Alive (2018 and 2023)
Centennial 7 (2022), which won the race as Celestial
Love & War (1974, 1978, 2006), one of only three yachts to have won Overall on three separate occasions (Freya, Love & War, and Ichi Ban)
Porco Rosso (2013) which won as Victoire
Unicoin (1992), which won the race as Assassin
Wild Oats/Wild Rose, won in 1993 and 2014 respectively
Extra information
- The 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart starts in Sydney Harbour at 1300 hours AEDT on Thursday 26 December
- This is the 79th edition of the Rolex Sydney Hobart. The inaugural race was conducted in 1945 and has run every year since, apart from 2020, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- The race is 628 nautical miles
