'Seen our share of crazy': the long journey to the Sydney to Hobart
It is the quintessential bucket list race.
That is why John Murkowski spent weeks bringing his yacht Joy Ride from the United States to Australia to compete in the Sydney to Hobart.
"I've been thinking about the Sydney to Hobart for at least 10 years," Murkowski said.
He decided to finally pull the trigger after winning the Vic-Maui race from British Columbia in Canada to Maui in Hawaii.
"Instead of turning around and sailing home like the rest of the fleet, about half of my crew wanted to keep going, so they turned it into an endless summer," Seattle-based Murkowski said.
"We've certainly seen our share of crazy out there, coming over from Hawaii."
The crew completed the journey in two legs with a stopover in Fiji to maintain the boat.
It took five weeks of sailing in total, said Murkowski, whose crew is one of 11 from overseas in this year's Sydney to Hobart.
Another international skipper, Privateer owner Ronald O’Hanley, agreed with Murkowski.
"It's been a really important bucket list race," he said.
"It's a real mission to get here and an even bigger mission to actually sail the race."
But O'Hanley is cautiously optimistic, saying his boat could be "the right horse for the course."
O'Hanley and Murkowski are from opposite sides of the United States, so the Sydney to Hobart will be their first race against each other.
It is a similar story for Shing Kin Chui, who is sailing on Apsaras, and Noahs II crewmember Hongquan Li.
Both boats are sailed by predominantly Chinese crews with Apsaras hailing from Shenzhen while Noahs II is based in Shanghai.
The two will meet for the first time in the blue water classic on Boxing Day.
Chinese sailing is growing fast, Hongquan said.
"More and more boats are joining [premier Chinese sailing regatta] the China Cup right now," he said.
Despite their overseas experience, Noahs II has been training hard in Australia since August.
"We joined the Boat Island race, we had a good experience and we feel that the sailing in Sydney is very good and very popular," Hongquan said.
Racing in the Sydney to Hobart is one thing, but getting home to ports thousands of nautical miles away is another.
Murkowski said that his crew will not be sailing back after their southern odyssey, sending the boat back via freight instead.
"It's a bit of a nasty sail to get back to Seattle from here. I don't have any crew that want to beat upwind for that long. They like going upwind in a 747 much better," Murkowski said.