Meet the Sydney to Hobart entrant who didn’t even know where the Tasmanian city was and is scared of the ocean: ‘What did I sign up for?’
- Payal Pattanaik won her Sydney to Hobart position in an office lucky dip
- The Sydney-based sailing rookie wasn’t sure where Hobart was until recently
- Indian-born Pattanaik had a fear of the ocean which she has now overcome
Two years after arriving from India, Payal Pattanaik has conquered her fear of the ocean and will be aboard supermaxi LawConnect in the Sydney to Hobart race.
She wasn’t sure where Hobart was until recently, but Indian-born sailing rookie Payal Pattanaik has conquered her fear of the ocean and embraced the challenge of tackling the Sydney to Hobart race on a supermaxi.
Two years after arriving from India, Payal Pattanaik (pictured) has conquered her fear of the ocean and will be aboard supermaxi LawConnect in the Sydney to Hobart race
She wasn’t sure where Hobart was until recently, but Indian-born sailing rookie Payal Pattanaik (pictured) has conquered her fear of the ocean and embraced the challenge of tackling the Sydney to Hobart race on a supermaxi
Pattanaik works for one of the companies owned by LawConnect owner Christian Beck, who through a lottery each year, reserves a few places on the boat for some of his employees.
Software engineer Pattanaik has only been in Australia for two years and had never sailed back in India.
‘I didn’t read the whole description like what exactly the race is all about, so I just signed up (for the lottery) and put my hat in the ring,’ Pattanaik told AAP.
‘Then my name came up I thought I will be winning a prize or something and I will be going for some sort of sailing, then I read it was from Sydney to Hobart.
Pattanaik will join 19 other crew members aboard supermaxi LawConnect (pictured) for the Sydney to Hobart race
‘Because I didn’t know where Hobart was exactly I Googled and I saw it’s in Tasmania and I was like ‘oh what did I sign up for’.
‘All of a sudden I thought ‘OK, why not, let’s do this and challenge yourself’.
‘I had the fear of the ocean for sure and when you get an opportunity for free I don’t think anyone should miss that and getting a perk of being in an iconic race.’
She was part of the LawConnect crew for this month’s Cabbage Tree Island race, spending more than 13 hours out on the water.
Pattanaik has been designated the job of sail handler and is also part of the team responsible for looking after the live stream content coming out of LawConnect (pictured)
Pattanaik has been designated the job of sail handler and is also part of the team responsible for looking after the live stream content coming out of LawConnect, the first Sydney to Hobart boat to provide that service for the entire race.
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