Nips n Tux leads IMS fleet in the Strathfield Pittwater to Coff's Race.

by Rob Kothe on 4 Jan 2001 At 8.10am this morning, in a light westerly breeze, the new IMX-40 Nips n Tux crossed the outer harbour finish line in the Strathfield Pittwater to Coff's Harbour race.

Winner of the 2000 Telstra Cup, it does appear that Nips n Tux will be the IMS handicap winner from the two Sydney 40's.

The chances of the rest of the fleet were damage, with different wind conditions splitting the fleet overnight. Confirmation of the division results are expected around the middle of the day, when the fleet of Beneteau 40.7's run out of time to win under the corrected time system.

Owner Howard De Torres was full of praise for the efforts of his crew.

'On the first night, we had solid 30 knots all night but last night we just duid sail change after sail change. We had 28 knots and we were comfortable with a 3, then back to the 1H, then the medium and at one stage we had only twelve knots of breeze, so up went the 1L.

Standing on the dock, a tired but very pleased Howard De Torres said 'We had a great crew, Bob Fraser and Andrew Parkes are worth their weight in lead, great Doyle-Fraser D4 sails. And a well engineered boat. The next IMX-40 is due in the country in March and it will be snapped up, when potential owners look at results so far. '