Jim Delegat's Volvo 70 Giacomo was confirmed the winner of the Tattersall's Trophy this afternoon. While the trophy was almost guaranteed by Wednesday evening, the wait for theofficial announcement was a long one for Delegat and his team as they watched the fleet slowly arrive at Constiution Dock.
The victory was made all the more special for the Kiwi who was competing with his two sons, Nikolas (19) and James (18). James only just made the cut off to compete after celebrating his 18th birthday earlier this month. “I think it is every dad's dream to have family participate in a sport that they are passionate about,” Delegat said. “Being based on the Hauraki Gulf, it wasn't hard to get the boys into sailing, it was more how to get them off the boats.”
With the goal of finishing fifth across the line, it was quite an acheivement for the 70 footer to cross in second, ahead of two 100 footers and Wild Oats XI's 2012 record time. But the icing on the cake was being announced the winner of the handicap trophy, the prestigious Tattersall's Cup.
“This is more than just a yacht race, this is a high profile yacht race that's loaded with professionals and people that have been racing for 25 years in the quest of wanting to achieve a good line result or even a trophy. In many ways we are still coming to grips with the fact that technically we have beaten a lot of boats.”
“To have won the Tattersall's is an absolute delight. We have beaten a lot of boats that should have beaten us on paper, that was more than we had hoped for.”
Jim later made a joke about taking the Tattersall's Cup back to New Zealand and putting it on display next to the Bledisloe Cup.
– Kimberley Wilmot in Hobart