2000 Telstra Sydney to Hobart Race Briefing & procedures for Boxing Day

by Peter Campbell on 22 Dec 2000 The 2000 Telstra Sydney to Hobart starts at 1300hours (1.00pm) on Boxing Day, Tuesday December 26, north of Shark Island. A fleet of 82 yachts will line up for the gruelling 630 nautical mile race to Hobart with the line honours and handicap trophies firmly in their sights.

Below is the information you will need to successfully cover the event. Please read all the points as they are pertinent to the media operations associated with the race.

Race Name

Telstra is once again the naming rights sponsor of the 56th Sydney to Hobart Race. They have supported the CYCA and its most famous event for the past six years and we ask that you refer to the race as the 'Telstra Sydney to Hobart Race' in all reports and articles.

Telstra Sydney to Hobart Race Briefing

The Race Briefing for the 2000 Telstra Sydney to Hobart Race will be held at the
Millennium Hotel, Kings Cross, at 9.00am on Sunday December 24. Skippers and at least three other crew members from each yacht must attend this briefing. Media are welcome to attend the briefing but we ask that cameras be in position by 8.30am.

The CYCA's Vice Commodore Martin James will be available for media interviews immediately after the briefing.




Telstra Sydney to Hobart Race start, Boxing Day, December 26 2000

From 6.00am until midday on Tuesday December 26, media access to the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia will be restricted to accredited print and radio journalists only. The only camera crews that will have access to the CYCA for filming purposes during these hours are those cameras organised by Ultravision.

Other TV crews are welcome to take skippers off the premises and to shoot from Rushcutters Bay Park looking back onto the CYCA Marina.

Media Boats for Boxing Day

Requests for Media Boat positions, via an accreditation form (which is available from the Media Centre at the CYCA and on-line at www.sydneytohobart.telstra.com ) must be forwarded to the Media Centre by midday on Saturday December 23. Please keep the numbers from your organisation to a minimum as places are tight.

Please do not turn up at the CYCA on Boxing Day and expect a position on a media boat unless you have spoken to Kelly Foster in the Media Centre on
(02) 9327 1139 and received verbal confirmation of your place.

Media that have received confirmation of media boat positions are required to be at the CYCA at 10.30am for allocation (Member's Bar) to media boats and a press briefing. Media boats will depart from the Club at 11.30am returning no later than 3.00pm. Drinks and lunch will be provided by Telstra.

Media Centre hours

Sydney

The Telstra Media Centre will operate at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia until 11.00pm on the night of December 26 and will re-open at 4.00am on December 27. The Sydney Media Centre will close at midday on December 27. The contact numbers for Sydney are:

(02) 9327 1139 phone
(02) 9327 3881 fax
Peter Campbell 0419 385 028
Lisa Ratcliff 0418 428 511
sydhobmedia@bigpond.com




Hobart

The Hobart Media Centre will also be operational on the December 27, from 7.00am to 11.00pm. From December 28 onwards, the hours for the Hobart Media Centre will be from 5.00am until 11.00pm, unless there is an emergency in which case we will be open 24 hours a day. The Hobart Media Centre will close at midday on January 3rd, 2001.

The contact numbers for Hobart are:

(03) 6234 1015 phone
(03) 6234 1080 fax
0419 385 028 Peter Campbell
0418 428 511 Lisa Ratcliff
sydhobmedia@bigpond.com

Position Report times

There will be two position reports (skeds) each day during the race at the following times:

26 December 2000 2005pm (one only)
27 December onwards 0305 hours & 1405 daily

Information will be available until approximately one and a half hours after each position report. The time delay is due to the fact that every yacht must radio in its latitude and longitude and these are then processed into progressive results. For your information, the official race frequency is 6227 kHz.

Progressive results will be given out in hard copy only but will also be available on the official race web site.

Official Race Web site

The most up to date information on the 2000 Telstra Sydney to Hobart Race will be available on the official web site at the following address:

www.sydneytohobart.telstra.com

Each yacht will be carrying an Inmarsat C unit, provided by Telstra and their partners Station 12, which allows them to be tracked via satellite. Positions will be updated on the official site every 30 minutes.



Media regulations

While media regulations have been relaxed to allow media to speak freely to skippers, crew members must still apply to conduct media dealings. If you wish to speak to crew, please be aware that they must complete and submit an application form to the Media Director. These forms are available from the Information Centre at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

Thank you for your support of the 2000 Telstra Sydney to Hobart so far. We look forward to providing you with up-to-date and interesting information on this great Bluewater Classic.