The crew of Minerva are currently enjoying some "extra special treatment" in Eden, a welcome consolation given they had to retire from the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.
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Skipper Edward Cox had to turn around and quit the race after a problem with their rudder started leaking water into the boat as they entered Bass Strait.
"We couldn't make repairs at sea so we had to retire," he said.
"We stopped racing about 11pm last night (Friday, December 27) and made our way back to Eden. It was slow going with a strong northerly blowing.
"It's unfortunate as we were thoroughly enjoying the race...[but] we've had an excellent reception here in Eden."
That "special treatment" may have something to do with one of Cox's crew members being the son of Twofold Bay Yacht Club secretary Robyn Malcolm!
Cox said he has 10 people in the Minerva crew, with the yacht co-owned by his uncle Timothy, cousin William and himself.
He first raced in the Sydney to Hobart in 1994 aboard Asterix, with many of the same people on board. In that year Asterix had its mast break in Bass Strait resulting in their retirement to Eden.
"It's reminiscent of the 50th!" Cox said of his 2019 mishap in the 75th year of the race.
Since the early 1990s, as bit of fun, the Eden community has awarded a small trophy to the first yacht to retire from the Sydney to Hobart.
It is awarded to the boat whose crew crew is first to set foot upon the shores of Eden after retiring from the great race.
After enjoying the consolation prize of a berth in Eden, a couple of the Minerva crew members had planned family holidays in Tasmania at the conclusion of the race so will make their way there anyway.
Meanwhile, Cox said he and his team will look to effect repairs on Minerva in Eden before returning to Sydney.