Syd Fischer's gets a new ride

Australian yachting stalwart Syd Fischer has announced he will skipper last year’s Sydney Hobart line honours winner, Investec Loyal, in this year's event.

Fischer, who took line honours in the 1988 and 1990 races and won overall under IOR in 1992 with two different Ragamuffins, joked this morning: "They say in yachting that the length of your yacht should reflect your age – so now I have to live to 100!"

The 85 year-old, who turns 86 in March, has leased the 100ft super maxi from its owner and last year’s line honours victor, Anthony Bell. "I’ve leased it for two years and then I’ll buy it," confirmed Fischer who has renamed the yacht Ragamuffin-Loyal.    

Although he would not be drawn on whether they could pull off two sequential line honours victories, he did confirm that Anthony Bell could be along for the ride. "Anthony looks like joining us -- he’s keen to keep promoting his Loyal Foundation this way -- so we’ll have some celebrities aboard too," he verified.  

"There’ll be a few more of my regulars, I’m not sure who yet," said Fischer, who has represented Australia multiple times, including at the Admiral’s Cup and Clipper/Kenwood Cup, captaining Australia multiple times and taking the teams to several wins.

Ragamuffin-Loyal is now at Fischer’s Sydney City Marine at Rozelle, where it will remain until Boxing Day when it will go head-to-head with Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI and Grant Wharington’s Wild Thing. In the meantime, Fischer said little will be done to the yacht, which he describes as: "In great shape. The only thing I might do is enlarge the galley -- it’s a bit small.

"I’m looking forward to sailing it," he said of the boat and the Rolex Sydney Hobart. "We’re going out for a bit of familiarisation on Friday, because a lot of the crew haven’t sailed a big boat before. After that, starting Saturday, we’ll be training inshore and offshore."

The start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race will be broadcast live on the Seven Network throughout Australia, webcast live to a global audience on Yahoo!7 and the Australia Network throughout the Asia Pacific Region.