Land ahoy with Australia in his sights

At 74 years old, Alister Dickson will be the second oldest competitor to ever enter the Solo Trans-Tasman yacht challenge, beaten only by his brother Malcolm.

Having spent the better part of the last 12 years diligently tinkering away on the boat ‘Frontier” in his backyard, it is now almost ready to set sail for Australia in a nearly two-week-long solo race across the Tasman Sea.

With a career spanning more than three decades in boat building for his brother's company, Dickson Marine Refits, Alister says he used all of his expertise to create a boat that could both traverse the open seas and be a home for him and his wife, Kim, to live in after the race.

“It’s been in the works for a while, I’m fully retired now.

“We’ll live on the boat indefinitely, for a while, until we get sick of it.”

With the boat moored off Monaco, he and Kim are down there almost every day, putting on the final touches as he prepares to sail out to the race start.

“The hardest thing about the race is getting to the start line. There’s a whole heap of rules and things you have to get.

“We’ve been around the bay quite a bit, but for this race, you need to do a 500-mile open ocean qualification offshore.

“I headed out towards Australia, and when the mileage ticked over, I turned around and came back.”

Being a life-long competitive road runner, he says he hasn’t had to do extra training to prepare his body for the gruelling race.

Having also competed in the Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge in 1998, finishing second, Alister says it’s interesting to see how the technology has changed.

His new boat has all of the gadgets of modern life, with a satellite link that means he can still make texts and calls while checking the forecasts from anywhere in the world, while auto-pilot means that once you’ve set your route, it’s almost hands-free sailing.

“The most important system on board is the electronics. The power supply on boats is really important.”

He says the weather predicting apps now offer multiple choices of course options and weather models, which is where time can be made up on other competitors.

His boat in 1998 took just eight days to reach the finish line, but this time around, he expects it to be slower going.

“She is not as fast, being a heavyweight comfortable liveaboard, and is very new and untried, but should be a comfortable, if slow, ride.

“We had perfect weather, and I had a fast boat (last time).

“Obviously, it’s a race. But it’s more of an adventure race where getting to the finish line is an achievement.”

He expects it will take about two weeks to reach the finish line, weather dependent.

“I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea doing a trans-Tasman by yourself. . . but when you get to the other end and finish, the satisfaction is immense.”

He believes his previous experience doesn’t give him much of an advantage on the water but has calmed his nerves heading into the race.

“It gives you confidence.”