(Sydney, Australia)- Maybe.
Sydney to Fremantle is only 2,485 miles driving!! But, the distance
from Bristol, Rhode Island to Sydney is over 11,000 miles! Total J/70 traveling distance before it’s first sail?! 13,485 miles minimum, no wrong turns! Here is the story from Malcolm, her new owner:“What I got for Christmas and how it became the most travelled J/70 in the world??
It all started when I met Rod from VicSail WA (the J/Boats Western Australia dealer) at the Mandurah Boat show where he had the first J/70 in Western Australia on display. I had done my research on the J/70 and, after seeing it, ordered one!
As it happened Rod & Tony of Vicsail Yachts WA’s Sydney colleague, Ray from Yachtspot, had placed an order for two and the second one had no name against it. So, it became mine! With a promise of delivery before Christmas!
However,
the odds began to stack against the J/Boat guys in Australia. The J/70s
left the Port of New York on time but the freighter ran into problems
in Jeddah and was delayed by several days. This delay impacted the
arrival time in Singapore to the point the container had to be
trans-shipped and placed on another freighter from Singapore.The original delivery time into Sydney of the 2nd December was now in serious doubt. Fate struck again when the ship was delayed in Brisbane, Australia but it finally arrived in Sydney on the 12th December. Sweet! Still plenty of time! Or, so we thought. Then, a strike by the Stevedores in Port Botany! Good Lord, now another few days of delays and my Christmas boat in jeopardy once more.
The J/70s finally trucked from Port Botany to Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club to be un-packed on 17th December and this is when the service from the J/Boat guys really kicked in. They were now finally in control of the boats.
I spoke to Tony and he advised, ‘No worries Malcolm, we will have your boat un-packed, keel fitted, prepped for the journey and on a waiting trailer today (Wednesday the 17th). We are meeting Ray at the “Big Galah” on Friday the 18th and he said his own J/70 can wait until he returns.’
The
“Big Galah” for the non-Australians amongst you is the name of a famous
landmark featuring a giant model of a “galah” 8.5 meters high and
situated halfway between Perth in Western Australia and Sydney on the
east coast. Tony, Rod and Ray made this amazing trip of 2,100 km each
in 2 days and met with my boat at the Big Galah on Friday 19th December.
Tony & Rod delivered my J/70 to Royal Perth Yacht Club on Sunday
20th December after its memorable journey from the USA, and an even more
incredible delivery of over 4,200 km across Australia! Amazing!Thanks to the combined efforts of the J/Boats Team in Australia, my new J/70 arrived in time for Christmas as they promised! Thanks a million, Malcolm”
Recent reports from Malcolm is that he’s one incredibly happy guy! Loves the boat, especially since it’s about the only sport boat in Fremantle that can handle the daily 20-30 kts TWS! Malcolm has promised some “amazing video” soon!
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