Stunning win after year of hard work
13 January 2010
IT started off as a rag tag and bobtail exercise to form a sailing crew from across the RAF trades. It ended with an amazing victory on the other side of the world in the Rolex Sydney Hobart (Inter-Services) race.
Team captain Flt Lt Pete Cooper led his charges on a Challenger 67 yacht, Discoverer, alongside boat skipper Beckie Walsford, in what can only be described a nerve-jangling race, which featured the best of RAF teamwork and seamanship to outgun the Navy and Army.
Flt Lt Cooper said: “This race was all part of the ex-Transglobe, which saw all three Services compete with each other inside the Sydney/Hobart race.
“We raced for the Oggin Trophy, and under current cut-backs and restraints it might be the last time this is done. We have not been close to winning the trophy for a long time, so to do so now and probably retain the trophy outright is something special.”
For Flt Lt Cooper the exercise began back in January last year, when he was tasked with opening the race to all-comers from the Service. Having competed in the Inter-Services, where they finished second and then the Fastnet race, the team has had time to bond, learn together and, as this incredible win shows, work together.
Cooper said: “This result really shows that sports can help RAF personnel shine together. Whatever their experience, this team took responsibility for their actions and their roles and rose to the challenge, which they do in Service life.
“We were disappointed to miss out on the Inter-Services and we felt that the Navy may have thought they had the edge over us. It was a close-fought battle, probably the best and closest I have ever been involved in with the RAF.”
With superb support from families, Station Commanders and colleagues to enable the correct training and time off to prepare for the race, the team utilised their various skill sets to tune in and succeed together.
And their hard work has provided a fabulous way to kick-start what already looks like another excellent year for RAF sport.
Cooper said: “The team were fantastic, they performed really well, we had all sorts here and it worked out.”
RAF Sailing Admiral, Air Chief Marshal Chris Moran, said: “Sailing, in all its forms, is an ideal way of testing and developing the RAF’s people, as well as improving the quality of life for Service personnel and their families.
“This opportunity allows the RAF to give something back that would not be available in another walk of life.”
The team’s race was anything but easy, with a freezing start at a rain-soaked Sydney Harbour, making it more akin to the Solent. Then in a nip and tuck battle with other Services, the 45-ton Challenger ended up battling the Navy boat picking up the east Australian current to drive it along the coast.
The two crews were neck-and-neck for 36 hours, before, on the final night, the RAF crew, who were underdogs at the start, made a superb break, only to find themselves 18 miles ahead as they entered the final stretch into the Derwent River, which leads into the harbour and finish line, without any wind.
The Navy began to close and Flt Lt Cooper, nails chewed to the quick, could only wait as his race seemed to be ebbing away.
Then they picked up some wind to run along the river towards the finish, only for it to die again as they approached the finish line.
Cooper said: “I really thought we would have to anchor up within sight of the finish, but we somehow crept over.”
The team and Discoverer were then towed along a packed harbour area to great applause.
The team brought home a copy of the Oggin Trophy and, like the cricket Ashes urn, this one will not be going back Down Under.
Images courtesy of Andy Scott
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