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Hugh Treharne, part of the Australia II crew during their unforgettable 1983 America’s Cup triumph, is sad Australia won’t be contesting the famous competition for a fourth straight time.
A list of 18 teams from 12 nations were last week registered as challengers for the 2010 Cup, with Australia again not amongst the competitors.
Treharne, who will soon contest his 29th Sydney to Hobart, lamented it was increasingly difficult to pull together a truly national team for the Cup.
“All the teams are made up of international sailors from every country, it’s not a national sport any more,” he said.
“It’s like a Formula One racing car.
“They just get the brains and the power and the design and the expertise from wherever they can get it.”
He acknowledged the cost of contesting the event was “quite incredible”.
“I’m always quite amazed how New Zealand can manage to do it and Australia can’t,” Treharne said.
“Anyway, it doesn’t matter, there’s plenty of opportunities for sailors who want to get involved in America’s Cup sailing, it’s just that it’s not local anymore.
Australia last fielded a challenger in 1995 and wasn’t represented in the 2000, 2003 and 2007 events.
Treharne will sail south to Hobart from Boxing Day aboard the 50-year-old Sanyo Maris, skippered by another distinguished sailor Ian Kiernan.
It was, however, his son’s participation this time around which drew Treharne back to the race.
“He is looking forward to it, he’s in good company, he’s with experienced people and reckons it’s going to be a wonderful experience.
“Sailing with his old man (in a Sydney to Hobart) for the first time is a bit special, I suppose.”
His family has already had something to celebrate, with his nephew Nathan Wilmot teaming up with Malcolm Page to win the Olympic men’s 470 class in China.
“The Wilmot family comes from a long line of sailors, his father and his uncle and his aunties were all very skilled sailors,” Treharne said.
“They’ve won national and international regattas all over the place, so it’s not surprising Nathan turned out to be such a good sailor.”
Treharne didn’t expect the striking old Sanyo Maris to make a particularly fast passage to Hobart or be a serious contender for handicap honours.
“Everyone in it has some sort of chance (on handicap) but this is a pretty slow boat by modern standards,” Treharne said.
“Some of these big boats with the forecast northerly winds are going to be finishing inside two days and we won’t be even be halfway there probably.”
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