Santa brings gifts for Sydney to Hobart crews
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Santa had no trouble tracking down the 27 international crews competing in this years' Sydney to Hobart yacht race to spread some Christmas cheer.
Father Christmas swapped Blitzen for a boat, paying crews from as far as the UK a special visit at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.
"There's people from all over the world, the race invites people from ... amateurs to people who just enjoy sailing," Noel Swan, temporarily referred to as Santa, said.
"It's a great time here at Christmas."
Santa's sack was filled with plenty of Australiana, with sailors receiving cricket bats, boxing kangaroos and stubby holders as gifts.
The all-Chinese crew of Mahligai was also paid a visit, as were crews from New Zealand, the USA and Uruguay.
South African sailor Sello Moroko had never seen the sea before he started training for the Clipper Round the World race earlier this year.
And he had also never received a Christmas gift.
"I got my first Christmas gift ever," he said.
"I've never got a Christmas gift from anyone.
"I got some cricket bats. I'm going to play with my brothers at home."
Charlie Garratt from the UK was spending her first Christmas abroad.
She said Santa's visit eased the blues of being away from loved ones on Christmas Day.
"My family are all texting me because its Christmas Eve back at home, so I'm getting that pang of 'oh I miss everyone'," she said.
"But then you come out and see everyone dressed up, it's lovely, it really boosts me."
Conditions set to break records
While the Bureau of Meteorology has declared the 103-strong fleet will only experience light to medium strength winds in the first two days of the race, the crew of super-maxi Wild Oats XI believes the race record will be broken in 2017.
"Right now, it's a given that the record will be broken. The only unknown is by how much," Wild Oats XI skipper Mark Richards said.
It's an about-face from Richards, who stated the race would be a tough one for the 100-footers following the official weather briefing on Christmas Eve.
Last year, Perpetual Loyal set the current race record of one day, 13 hours and 31 minutes.
But meteorologist Roger Badham is predicting that mark could be slashed by four hours.
The BOM will update its official forecast at 8:30am tomorrow morning.
Topics: sport, sailing, sydney-2000
