Wendy Tuck and Meg Niblett's dream of racing a boat in this year's Sydney to Hobart lay in tatters when their original yacht failed to meet the safety requirements just two months out from the iconic race.
While fearing their campaign could be over even before it started, the desperate women's duo didn't give up.
Despite the insurmountable odds, they opted to send an SOS via a WhatsApp chat as a last throw of the dice to get another boat.
And what a masterstroke that proved to be!
Borrowing a boat and finding sponsors takes months, but trailblazer Tuck and Englishwoman Niblett will now be one of three all-women double-handed teams to take on the 628-nautical mile journey from Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day to Hobart’s Constitution Dock.
Tuck recalled how she turned to the ‘Sydney Two-Handers’ WhatsApp group chat - ironically started by her after her first attempt at the blue-water classic on board a two-handed yacht in 2021 - for help at Niblett’s suggestion.
“We had about a week and a half to find a new boat before the deadline of entering the Hobart race,” Niblett said.
“We really had a week to find a boat which is really, like, unimaginable, and it was a massive task but we were pretty adamant and determined to find a boat.
“If it was meant to be, it was meant to be and it was.”
Tuck added: “It was virtually impossible because who has a boat just sitting there pretty much ready to do Hobart?”
Fellow two-handed sailor Robert Drury did, and came to their rescue.
Within five days of their text, the pair had their ride - a 37-foot yacht called Gizmo, docked and waiting at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Sydney.
Tuck and Niblett have only sailed on Gizmo once ahead of the Boxing Day race, but they fancy their odds.
“I like the challenge. And I guess we like to suffer, don't we?" Niblett said.
It is also their first Sydney to Hobart together, with Niblett admitting to “fan-girling” over her sailing idol.
Tuck has completed the journey to Hobart 16 times and is a two-time winner of the Jane Tate Memorial Trophy for being the first woman skipper to cross the finish line.
Outside of the Australian race, Tuck is the only woman to have ever won an around-the-world race - doing so in 2018.
“Wendy's been one of my inspirations from before we first met,” Niblett said.
“When she did my exam for my yacht master, I was already fan-girling a little bit.
“It’s an honour to be able to finally be sailing with (Tuck).”
