STARTER’S ORDERS

The duty of firing the starting cannon, five and ten-minute warning signals has been bestowed upon Norman Hyett, Richard Wilson and Noel Cornish AM for the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

American Eagle was the first boat to win the coveted double since Rani in the inaugural Sydney Hobart.

This will be the second time Norman has been involved in the starting sequence. He was on board Trygve and Magnus Halvorsen’s Freya for the historic third successive handicap victory in 1965 and fired a five-minute warning signal in 2015, on the 50th anniversary of that race.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, I can’t believe it’s been 50 years [since American Eagle’s win],” Norman reflected.

Eagle.

Start cannon – Norman Hyett

Norman Hyett will fire the replica start cannon at 1pm on Boxing Day to get the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race underway.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Line Honours and Overall win for Ted Turner’s 68-foot sloop American Eagle, on which Norman was a crew member.

“It brings back memories of starting the race with the friction and the excitement. It’s an honour to do it.”

Norman reflects fondly on his time sailing with Ted Turner and the victory in 1971.

“I had a good relationship with Ted,” Norman said. “The crew were very good sailors who he trained and it was an honour to be invited to sail with him and then stick with him through all those years.

“We had quite an easy run really. The breaks suited us. It was an honour to sail with Ted Turner because my sailing experience has always been to sail with someone better than myself and Ted was the pinnacle of that.

“What I remember most is the comradeship and sail-handling. Ted would recite poetry while steering the boat for hours, then suddenly the wind would change and the crew knew exactly what to do and to jump to it.

“He would say ‘well done crew’, then ‘where were we?’ and continue with his poetry.”

Speaking from his home in the USA, Ted reflected on American Eagle’s historic achievement.

“The start of the Sydney Hobart on Boxing Day is a festive event in Australia,” Ted said. “Australians were very familiar with the 12 Metre Class, having challenged for the America’s Cup three times in 12 Metres in 1962, 1967 and 1970.

“The race across the Tasman Sea can be windy with the “southerly busters” challenging the fleet. We were thrilled to win the race!

“More importantly, we had great fun in Australia and enjoyed competing against so many friends from Down Under.

“It is hard to believe that 50 years have passed. I wish good luck to everyone sailing in this year’s race.”

Five-minute warning signal – Richard Wilson

Richard Wilson will fire the five-minute warning signal. Richard is the son of the late Brin Wilson, who owned and skippered Pathfinder to the Overall win in the 1971 Sydney Hobart.

Border closures prevented Richard travelling from New Zealand to be involved in last year’s race, but he looks forward to celebrating his father’s achievements on Boxing Day.

“It brings closure on my dad’s yachting career,” Richard said. “I think it was undoubtedly the highlight of his sailing career, a career that he and we expected to continue well beyond where it did.

“[The 1971 win] has been huge in yachting circles locally. Most yachties in my age bracket remember the occasion. It is brought up at yacht clubs, business circles, social occasions and more.

“At the start of this year’s race I will reflect on the win, a fantastic crew, captained by Brin Wilson, who we might describe as a winner.”

10-minute warning signal – Noel Cornish AM

Noel Cornish AM will fire the 10-minute warning signal in recognition of the extraordinary challenges faced during his two-year tenure as Commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

Noel was elected Commodore in August 2020, amidst the growing uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 restrictions forced the cancellation of all of the CYCA’s major races during Noel’s time as Commodore, other than the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart.

“It’s a great privilege to fire the 10-minute cannon and one I never believed would come about,” Noel said. “I’m full of gratitude for the opportunity to do this.

“The greatest relief I felt was when the race got away last year. Up until that point in time, you never knew what would happen.

“We were six days out in the previous year before the race was cancelled so even though we were confident, we didn’t know until the start gun went and boats headed out to the ocean, which was a great thrill.”