FIRST LIGHT

SAIL NUMBER: 5200

OWNER / HELM: Peter White

Crew: 

Ben De Coster, James Wilkie, Mike Green, Mark Burgess, Matt Brooman, Maike Muth, David Biddle, Jeremy Spear, Henry Welch, Aymeric Motte, Max Downey, David Kneen, Luca Gambacorti, Seamus Smart.

BIO

First Light is the second boat of this name for owner Peter White, following from his Hanse 505 cruiser/racer. She was bought in September 2022 & renamed First Light, she is a Farr design built in 2005 by Cookson NZ. She was originally launched as Rush & raced successfully in the USA for 2 seasons, then sold into Australia as Cougar II sailing out of Victoria. She was bought by Michael Spies & raced as Fifty Two Hundred, she then moved onto Ian Short ownership in 2017 & raced under the same name with notable success offshore, finishing a credible second in Div 1 to Ichi Ban & 3rd overall on IRC in the 2018 Noakes Sydney Gold Coast race, she then finished 2nd on IRC in the 2022 Pittwater to Coffs Harbour race.

Our program is predominately a corinthian one, many of our core crew sailed with me on the Hanse 505, The TP is a significant step up from the Hanse, however we are thoroughly enjoying the challenge whilst building a committed crew & learning to sail one of these magnificent grand prix yachts. Ben De Coster from Hood Sails is helping to manage the program & we hope to continue to improve by competing in all the TP52 Gold Cup Regattas,  the CYC Winter Series & then heading north for Hamilton Island Race Week.