Final crew announced for sailing record

More than 120 sailors from around the world tossed their hats into the ring when Ian Thomson called for volunteers to have a crack at beating the record for the fastest circumnavigation of Australia in a fully-crewed monohull yacht.

Thompson, the founder of the environmental group Save Our Seas, broke the solo circumnavigation record by 26 days when he circled the continent in May and June of last year.

To further draw attention to the damaging environmental impact of plastic, Thompson approached Jim Cooney, current owner of the famous Australian racing yacht Brindabella, with the idea of breaking the record for the fastest fully-crewed monohull around Australia. The record is currently held by David Pescud’s Kaz and stands at 37 days, 1 hour, 23 minutes, and 57 seconds.

Thompson and Cooney aim to beat this time by at least seven days.

Brindabella holds the elapsed time record for a conventionally-ballasted yacht in the Sydney-Hobart race and is still considered to be a fast yacht in all sea conditions. The powerful 79ft maxi-yacht's graceful lines still draw admiring looks and comments whenever she leaves the dock.

Cooney bought Brindabella last year and has spent time, money and effort to restore her to former glory.

Nineteen men and women have been named as the crew for the attempt. With a core group of nine of Brindabella's racing crew on board, a further 10 were selected through a rigorous process from those who applied from around the world. The orignal 120 applications were whittled down to a shortlist of 30.

The successful 10 applicants were named this week after the final sailing trials last weekend.

The new crew are: Luke Parkinson (WA), Daniel Taylor (WA), Damien Parnham (NSW), Martin Kirkerterp (Denmark), Nash Stahmer (VIC), Colin Dymond (WA), Kyle Rose (QLD), Tom Connal (NZ), Annie McComb (TAS), Grant Jones (NZ).

They will join the existing crew for the race:  Ian Thompson (QLD), Jim Cooney (NSW), Bluey Sutherland (NSW), Matt Pearce (NSW), Sophie Cistek (VIC), Charles Kosecki (QLD), Wendy Tuck (NSW), David Ward (WA), Craig Greenhill (NSW).