Emily Nagel crossed another item off her “bucket list” after making a long-awaited debut in the iconic Rolex Sydney Hobart Race last month.

The Bermuda sailor competed in the 628-nautical mile course on board Sean Langman’s 69-foot yacht Naval Group that finished eighth in line honours and second in IRC-Div 0 with an elapsed time of 2 days 4hr 6min 32sec.

“I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to race in the 75th Sydney Hobart,” said Nagel, who has a master’s degree in engineering with naval architecture. “It was my first time competing and a race I’ve dreamt of doing since I was little.

“The race is renowned for dangerous conditions crossing the Bass Strait but we were lucky enough this year to have some pretty great conditions.

“The wind was between 15 and 25 knots for the majority of the race although did shut off completely each morning, which lost us a number of places the first morning.”

Nagel was among a vastly experienced crew handpicked by skipper Langman, who was making his 29th appearance in the prestigious race and is regarded as one of Australia’s most experienced offshore yachtsman.

“It was great fun to be part of a half pro team and to race once again with Justin Ferris, my old watch buddy from my time with Team AkzoNobel [2017-18 Dutch Volvo Ocean Race entry],” added Nagel, who served as a data analyst for Great Britain SailGP Team that finished fourth among the six nations that competed in the inaugural SailGP Championship last year.

“It’s a tough race that didn’t allow for much time down below asleep with many sail changes and tactical decisions. But with the race only taking us 48 hours, it was worth the sleep loss to push hard and fast.

“Overall, we were eighth boat across the line and came second in our division, which ultimately the owner was quite happy with considering we were a team of all pro sailors.”

Nagel was one of two Bermuda sailors involved in last month’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, the other being Mustafa Ingham, who competed on board the 100-foot yacht InfoTrack that finished second in line honours with an elapsed time of 1 day, 19:14:42.

“It was great to share the racecourse with Mustafa Ingham, especially as this race requires you to miss Christmas at home,” Nagel said.

“Always good to have a friendly face on the other side of the world.”