WHEN it comes to passion for a sport, Kiama 90-year-old Geoff Ruggles admits Boxing Day is extra special, and he will be glued to his television for the start of the 70th Sydney to Hobart yacht race.
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Ruggles is one of only two remaining members of the first fleet that sailed into the unknown in the inaugural race in 1945.
"I lived in Mosman and in 1939 had joined Mosman Sea Scouts at the age of 15 in what was the start of a real love for the water," he said. "It was a bit of a tough time in Australia at that time as a lot of fathers had gone off to the World War II, and a lot of young boys were sent along to the sea scouts to get a bit of discipline.
"When I left in 1944 after I had turned 20, I still had a burning desire to race boats. So I joined Griffiths Yachts who had six very nice large yachts and competing with them really taught me to sail.
"Griffiths at the time were seen as a bit elitist and on the edge of professional, but we never got paid and were just learning to sail."
The following year, Ruggles had the opportunity to take part in the first Sydney to Hobart.
"There were eight boats apart from our boat Wayfarer; Ambermerle, Archina, Horizon, Kathlene, Mistral II, Rani, Saltair and Winston Churchill.
"It was quite an adventure - I was only 21 and had never been to sea, although others had, and although I had no real trepidation, I think in the back of my mind there was some concern.
"That concern was well-founded when on the first night the fleet was hit by a southerly buster and we had well-worn cotton sails which were ripped to shreds - we were wrecked.
"To make things worse, with petrol rationing at the time we had a small amount of petrol in a tin can in our quarters and in the chaos it leaked, making all of us really sick - apart from one of our crew who was a chemist - he was used to fumes.
"So we stumbled south and pulled in for an overnight stay at Broulee Island, but when we got back on the water I developed an impacted wisdom tooth - luckily one of the crew, Arthur, was a dentist and he pulled the tooth.
"We seemed to be spending an enormous time trying to mend sails and after more stops and a real battle across Bass Straight, where we had to take what remained of the sails down, we finally arrived in Hobart in a time of 11 days, six hours and 20 minutes - the time remains the slowest trip to Hobart in the 70 years of the race.
"At one stage we 'tacked' 18 times in a row and in the end we just dropped anchor - off the Island of the Dead, which was a bit ironic."
To their surprise, when they arrived in Hobart there was still a big crowd to welcome them.
The crew got together for the second Sydney to Hobart and halved their first time.
"I think we got our reputation back second time around," Mr Ruggles said.
On his third attempt Wayfarer sprung a leak off Jervis Bay, but while repairs were being made, Mr Ruggles headed to Melbourne to get married - marking the end of his Sydney to Hobart dream, his wife and seven children that followed taking priority.
