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On Boxing Day 1973 Lindsay May stepped aboard Onya of Gosford to compete in his first Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. A bright-eyed 24-year-old, he had no idea what he was getting himself into.<\/p>\n
Fifty years on, he is still bright-eyed and eager as he approaches his 50th race where he will sail with Antipodes. May will be the first person to reach the milestone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn \u201973, my first race, I never thought I\u2019d get to 50, and I had no idea what I was in for. I\u2019d done very little racing, it was my first [race] really offshore,\u201d May said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just one of those things, you get on and if you do a good job, people to say to you \u2018do you want to come along next year?\u2019, and that\u2019s just what\u2019s happened year after year.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the 49 races he has done so far, the 74-year-old has seen it all. He won the race three times, first in 1984 with Indian Pacific, again in 1991 with Atara, and most recently in 2006 with Love and War.<\/p>\n
He was part of the 1998 race, the deadliest in the events\u2019 history, when six people died, five yachts sank and just 44 of 115 yachts finished the race. May, aboard Brindabella, was one of them.<\/p>\n
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Antipodes navigator Lindsay May will be competing in his 50th Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race on Boxing Day.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Louise Kennerley<\/cite><\/p>\n But among the victories and the disasters, the one that stands out is 1993.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most memorable race was 1993 for me, we rescued a man who had been in the water for five hours. We didn\u2019t get to Hobart that year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d lost our mast, we had been hit by a huge wave … found out there was a man overboard 22 miles out to the northeast, and so we went out.\u201d<\/p>\n The man overboard was John Quinn, whose safety harness snapped when his boat MEM was knocked sideways, throwing him overboard.<\/p>\n Lindsay May is Antipodes navigator for the 2023 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Louise Kennerley<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cHe went over, he was in the water, and it was rough terrible conditions, and they [his crew] couldn\u2019t get back to him, they just couldn\u2019t find him,\u201d May said.<\/p>\n Against all odds, Quinn survived, picked up in the lights of an Ampol tanker almost five-and-a-half hours after he entered the water. May and the Atara crew recovered Quinn from the water. \u201cIt was a miracle,\u201d May said.<\/p>\n This year aboard Antipodes, May is the navigator \u2013 the most experienced crew member onboard followed by the boat\u2019s sailing master Bradshaw Kellett who will be doing his 31st consecutive race.<\/p>\n \u201cI never set out to do 50 consecutively, it\u2019s just happened, and I look back, and I\u2019m shocked at how fast it\u2019s happened. It\u2019s scary,\u201d May said. The only interruption to his Christmas schedule since 1973 came in 2020, when the event was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n But the race takes its toll, and with number 50 still ahead of him, May is unsure if he\u2019ll get to 51.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the years have rolled on, it\u2019s taken me longer to recover,\u201d he said. \u201cI find I\u2019m more tired as the years go by.\u201d<\/p>\n May planned to sail to England this year but suffered an injury and only got as far as Panama.<\/p>\n \u201cI dislocated my shoulder, I fell down a hatch,\u201d he said. \u201cI call it a one-man demolition derby.\u201d<\/p>\n And as far as the future, is he planning to compete in 2024? \u201cPeople ask me about 51, and I\u2019d like to think 51, but I\u2019ve got to have a boat to sail on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve just got to wait and see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n Sports news, results and expert commentary.<\/i><\/b> Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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