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This was published 7 years ago
Aaron Rowe to take charge of Beau Geste on his maiden Sydney To Hobart
By James Buckley
Owner Karl Kwok will entrust his yacht Beau Geste to rookie Sydney to Hobart skipper Aaron Rowe, with the 80-footer set to contest the race for the first time in three years.
Rowe teams up with former Olympian and Sydney To Hobart veteran Gavin Brady for his maiden voyage across the Bass Strait, less than 12 months after buying his first competitive yacht and entering the world of sailing.
Beau Geste will compete in this year's Sydney to Hobart race. Credit: ANDREA FRANCOLINI
Kwok is unavailable to skipper the yacht as he did on its last Hobart voyage in 2013 – he'll be watching from afar on a family vacation in Hawaii.
But he will compete in Tuesday's annual Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour, which also features super maxis Wild Oats XI, Perpetual Loyal and Scallywag.
The Hong Kong-based owner will train alongside Rowe, Brady and the rest of the team aboard Beau Geste until the end of the week before the crew disperses and reconvenes, less Kwok, on Christmas Day.
From there it will be up to Rowe to lead his experienced crew on the largest challenge to date of his short sailing career, and the hedge fund manager is hoping for rough weather in his first Sydney To Hobart.
"At the start of this year I set a goal of doing the Hobart and I thought the best way to do that was to buy a boat, immerse myself in the sport and get sailing," Rowe said.
"The weather we're hoping for is probably the weather that no one is hoping for, and that's a 30-knot southerly the whole way.
"We have a very good boat that goes very fast upwind, it's very strong and those sort of tough conditions will suit us.
"It might not be the greatest race but that's what we're hoping for. We are hoping for a tough race with some pretty tough conditions."
Rowe bought himself a TP52 yacht at the start of the year and soon met Brady who has been partnered with Kwok for almost a quarter of a century.
Brady brought the two boat owners together and a partnership was formed, with this year's Sydney To Hobart in mind.
"A big part of what we've stumbled on there is a really enthusiastic, young fit guy that's really interested in the sport," Brady said of Rowe.
"He really likes to dive into all the areas which is good, and he wants to have an understanding of every area.
"He may have only been in the game for a year but boy he's committed some time to it. When I'm sailing with him or whatever we're doing, it doesn't feel like he's only been in the sport for a year."
And Brady has already loaded Rowe with plenty of advice ahead of his Sydney To Hobart debut.
"There's not a day goes by that I don't remind Aaron it's all about manpower and man hours," Brady said.
"By the time you let the dock lines go on the 26th, about 50 per cent of your result's already been decided.
"We look at it very simplistically, it just purely comes down to a mathematical equation. You've got X amount of people and X amount of time and you've got to use your time correctly.
"Not get distracted on silly projects, things that don't really matter. Stay on point and deal with the things that we know contribute to winning the race – sails, management of the yacht and people."
SOLAS BIG BOAT Challenge, Tuesday, December 13
Starts off Steele Point, Vaucluse at 12.30pm