Yachting: Sydney-Hobart record still possible

SYDNEY - Alfa Romeo skipper Neville Crichton still thinks a Sydney to Hobart yacht race record is possible, despite adverse weather forecasts.

Nobody can say for sure this early what the weather will be like when the fleet heads towards Bass Strait next week, but New Zealand millionaire businessman Crichton said the indication was that there would be southerlies at some stage.

A week ago he said that Alfa Romeo and Wild Oats 11, the two supermaxis with revolutionary canting keel technology, might be able to smash Nokia's 1999 record by 10 hours.

Nokia won the 628 nautical mile race in the most favourable of conditions for years in one day 19 hours 48 minutes 2 seconds.

Now the weather patterns don't look terribly good for record smashing, Crichton admitted.

"But I don't think a record is out of the reach of maybe three or four of the front boats," he told reporters.

"These boats can get on a front and they are quick enough to carry a front all the way down."

Crichton, 60, said Wild Oats was his main opponent, rating Skandia the next best.

"I think on paper Wild Oats have a quicker boat but I think we have a better crew."

The Alfa Romeo crew will be finalised this week. It will be mainly a mixture of Australians and New Zealanders, with around six Team New Zealand personnel aboard.

Crichton said if it was a straight drag race, Wild Oats would be a short favourite to win, but he thinks he has the stronger craft.

"They also have to get down there and so far we have beaten them five out of six races, so who knows?"

Crichton warmed up for the Hobart classic with a win in the eight-race Rolex series which finished on Sunday.

Wild Oats has berthed for repairs after hitting a sunfish in the series.

Crichton has given most of the crew time off before the race start on Boxing Day afternoon, saying the yacht won't sail before then.

"Our preparations have been good. We would always like more time on the water, but we have done as much as we need to before the race."

Crichton, who won the race in 2002 with an earlier Alfa Romeo craft, had some good news today.

He has secured a sponsorship package from the international Alfa Romeo company to take the supermaxi to Europe to contest the leading blue water classic events through the northern summer.

Although Crichton's company, Ateco Automotive Pty Ltd, is the Australian and New Zealand importer of Alfa Romeo products, this didn't mean that winning the sponsorship deal in Europe to fly Alfa Romeo's name was a foregone conclusion, he said.

"The range of sponsorship options available to Alfa Romeo in Europe is phenomenal," he said.

"We have to prove that we can supply a commercial product that works for every European market in terms of media coverage, product linkage and beneficial imagery.

"This means we have to be as effective in Athens as in London or Helsinki at delivering Alfa Romeo's marketing message and we have to be cost effective."

The international company said that during 2003 and 2004 the sailing success of the previous Alfa Romeo produced media coverage valued in excess of A$40 million ($43 million).

Crichton said that if timing permitted, the yacht would return to contest the 2006 Sydney to Hobart race.

- NZPA