sydney to hobart yacht race 2019

• Yachting World
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The inside story of the nail-bitingly close 2019 Sydney-Hobart race

• April 6, 2020

The 75th Rolex Sydney Hobart Race was a mentally taxing affair for all competitors in this anniversary year of the offshore classic, reports Crosbie Lorimer

The 1904 ketch Katwinchar rounding Tasmania’s Cape Raoul. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi / Rolex

Had any of the crew of the nine yachts that finished the inaugural Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in 1945 been able to comment on the race’s 75th edition, the phrase ‘walk in the park’ would probably have featured, such was the contrast in weather, and time spent at sea, between the first and most recent editions of this ocean racing classic.

The 628-mile ‘Hobart’, as it’s commonly abbreviated, is renowned for its challenging phases and varied moods. The first priority for any competitor is just getting safely out of Sydney Harbour, awash with an armada of spectator craft. Then comes the navigator’s first dilemma heading south: inshore for breeze or offshore for current?

If all is well you enter the fearsome Bass Strait in good order. You’ll need to; seasoned circumnavigators describe its seas as the worst in the world on a bad day. It’s boat-breaking stuff if you’re unlucky, as many were in the tragic 1998 storm.

The TP52 Ichi Ban powers south to an eventual second Tattersall Cup win. Photo: Crosbie Lorimer

Then somewhere down the line you’ll be running out of breeze, maybe on the Tasmanian east coast? But it’ll be back soon enough, just pray that a big southerly doesn’t catch you trying to round Tasman Island, as the seas will be immense and the rounding interminable. Into and across the usually aptly named Storm Bay – although quiet as mouse for most in 2019 – the course takes you finally past the Iron Pot at the entrance to Derwent River.

With only 11 miles to go, you’re nearly there; except you’re not if you’ve arrived early evening for a classic Derwent ‘closedown’. Many a race has been lost here within a sniff of the race’s famous ‘QLD’ (quiet little drink) at Hobart’s Customs House Hotel.

Despite its rugged reputation, for all but the tail end of the fleet in this anniversary race the greatest challenge in the uncharacteristically light to moderate running conditions to Hobart was to pick the best route through two large and complex light air transitions.

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That the race got away at all on Boxing Day was something of a relief, the lead-up SOLAS Big Boat Challenge had been cancelled when thick smoke from the bushfires raging on Australia’s east coast blanketed Sydney Harbour like dense fog, leading to talk of postponing – or even cancelling – should such conditions recur on start day.

But Boxing Day dawned bright, with only a slight smoke haze and the promise of a building north-easterly sea breeze to send the 157-strong fleet southward under spinnakers to the first of those light air troughs off the New South Wales south coast.

Those two transitions (the second off Tasman Island) were to tax the navigators of yachts large and small. “We were mentally in agony for about three days trying to make the right decisions,” said Ed Psaltis, skipper of the Sydney 36 Midnight Rambler . And the mental anguish is never worse than in the tormenting 11 miles it takes to sail up the Derwent River to the finish line, as the line honours winner was to find.

Accompanied by a fleet of spectator boats, Comanche heads for line honours in Hobart. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi / Rolex

Jim Cooney and Samantha Grant’s 100ft Comanche had passed the famous Iron Pot at the entrance to the Derwent River at dawn on the third day, holding a steady 12 knots boat speed, with a healthy eight mile lead over Christian Beck’s InfoTrack in the battle of the 100ft maxis.

But the breeze on this notoriously fickle river suddenly evaporated, leaving the super-beamy maxi yacht flat on its bottom, stock still and surrounded by a large, equally stationary spectator fleet. As Comanche ’s anxious crew looked south, InfoTrack could be seen on the horizon, entering the river with breeze. “It looked like a bad movie that we’d seen before,” recalled Comanche ’s navigator Stan Honey, who has seen this river in its many capricious moods.

After agonising minutes with a spotter aloft searching for any zephyrs, the collective exhalation aboard Comanche was almost audible as a light breeze returned and she crossed the finish to take line honours in 1d 18h 30m – nine hours outside her own record from 2017.

Maxis jockey for position at the start in Sydney Harbour. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi / Rolex

“Finishing this race here, that was traumatic,” said Jim Cooney on the dock. “That’s 30 minutes of my life I’ll never get back. Winning was relief more than elation!”

All was in sharp contrast to the original 1945 cruise-in-company-turned-race. After disappearing over the horizon under spinnakers as they turned right out of Sydney Harbour in a light north-easterly, the nine yachts racing 75 years ago went ‘missing’ for almost five days after a powerful southerly gale and huge seas scattered the fleet on the first night at sea.

Creative solutions

The response to such challenging conditions and the determination to finish the race was as practical as it was unconventional to modern eyes. Some hove-to, others turned north with the seas, trailing sea anchors, while Bert and Russ Walker’s Saltair decided to get off the course entirely.

Racing again this year, the 1963 Sparkman & Stephens-designed Kialoa II won Sydney Hobart line honours back in 1971. Photo: Crosbie Lorimer

Finding shelter in a small cove on the New South Wales coast, Saltair ’s crew rowed ashore in their dinghy – one of the few ‘safety equipment’ requirements of that first race – shot two rabbits for dinner and even made time for a visit to the local cinema before resuming the race the following morning when conditions had moderated.

The rules for the inaugural race were also few and evidently flexible. When two competitors ran aground almost within sight of the finish line – one being towed free and the other motoring out of trouble – such was the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s desire to encourage future competitors, they quietly overlooked these minor indiscretions and neither boat was disqualified.

But above all, for the race pioneers just finishing was the goal; so the elapsed time of 11d 6h 20m for the last boat into Hobart remains a record to this day.

Every one of the 75 years the race has run is rich with epic tales and priceless anecdotes. In recent years Christian Beck, the self-deprecating owner of InfoTrack (formerly David George’s Rambler 100 , which famously lost its keel in the 2011 Fastnet Race ), has added some of the more memorable one-liners to the long catalogue of quotes from Hobart’s Constitution Dock that pepper the biography of this race.

A predominantly inshore sailor when he bought InfoTrack in 2016, Beck had famously called his new yacht ‘a bit of a dog’ shortly after he acquired her. So when this ageing super maxi led the four other 100-footers out of Sydney Harbour in this year’s race, Beck was obviously delighted.

Better still, InfoTrack was sailed to a close 2nd over the line, beating the Oatley family’s Wild Oats XI , Sen Huang Lee’s Scallywag and Peter Harburg’s Black Jack , all newer 100ft designs.

The Maxis Wild Oats XI and Black Jack pass Cape Raoul. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi / Rolex

Asked in Hobart whether he still considered his yacht a ‘bit of a dog’, Beck’s response was magnanimous. “Oh no, it is a dog of a boat, just very well sailed!” he laughed, heaping praise on his star-studded crew.

Remarkably, despite their varying ages and designs, all five super maxis had been within sight of each other as they sailed up the Derwent River. Even for Mark Richards, the skipper of nine-times line honours winner Wild Oats XI , who had to settle for 3rd place this year, the draw of the race remains as powerful as ever.

“There’s no doubt about it, it’s the best race for these 100-footers on the planet,” said Richards in Hobart, “It’s a great event, a great race. Technically there are so many variables involved in this race.”

The victorious Ichi Ban crew gets a champagne dousing from Rob Greenhalgh. Photo: Crosbie Lorimer

Tattersall winners

With the line honours contenders berthed in Constitution Dock, attention turned to the much-coveted Tattersall Cup for the overall handicap winner under IRC. Anyone aspiring to raise this splendid baroque silverware aloft must bring together an extraordinarily well-prepared boat (be it old or new), crew and strategy. Luck too will still play its part.

For Matt Allen, the skipper of the Botin designed TP52 Ichi Ban , a decades-long mission to bring together all those factors, and remove the element of luck, has involved countless hours working with his designers and crew analysing years of race and weather data, firstly to optimise the yacht’s design and then their race strategy. This laser-like focus was rewarded in 2017 when the recently launched Ichi Ban won the Tattersall Cup on her first race to Hobart.

As if to prove that the Ichi Ban team had reduced the influence of fortune, they repeated the achievement in 2019, beating the 11 other TP52s in a year when escaping the large windless ‘holes’ unquestionably involved a balance of good luck and good management.

The crew of Tribal Warrior are greeted with an Aboriginal welcome ceremony. Photo: Crosbie Lorimer

“We’ve spent so much time trying to get the boat ready, that is a good all round boat and I think this is a good size range,” said Allen shortly after being handed the Tattersall Cup,

“As the 50-footers have been getting faster and faster, it normally suits the arrival times into Hobart and we have a boat that really has no weaknesses. You might not want to go upwind in it in 40 knots of breeze, but then there’s probably no other boat you want to do that in either!”

Firestorm conditions

With the leaders having had a physically undemanding run south the race was already gaining the tag ‘benign’, but for the third of the fleet still on the race course that description would not remain true.

As temperatures in Hobart reached a record 40°C on the fourth day, a hot and violent north-westerly blasted across Tasmania’s south coast, whipping up a large bushfire north of Hobart, closing the Race Village and leaving the smaller and slower yachts still at sea wrestling to complete the race, as they battled gusts of 40 knots and large seas.

Proud to make the finish: the indigenous Australian crew of Tribal Warrior . Photo: Crosbie Lorimer

For Wayne Jones, skipper of the Beneteau 47.7 Tribal Warrior , getting to Hobart was a matter of honour and pride. “We prepared for the gale, we had everything right and it just smashed us,” recalled an exhausted Jones as he and his crew stepped ashore in Hobart. “It set us back about six to seven hours. It was blowing the boat sideways. We got pounded.

Tribal Warrior was the first officially entered indigenous crew ever to participate. “I came up with this idea in 2014 and here we are in 2019 and we’re finally in the race and we finished it – oh my God,” said a deeply relieved Jones at a very emotional arrival for all the crew. “I call it the people’s boat. It’s been wonderful, even the other yachtsmen we’re racing against are patting us on the back and saying it’s a really nice thing,” added Jones,

Crewmember Naomi Cain, who had only been sailing for six weeks before this race, found the experience challenging but deeply rewarding. “Mother Nature and our ancestors threw everything possible at us, but we made it here”, said Cain, who lives in a country town a long way from the ocean, but is keen to get more indigenous people involved in sailing.

For Michael Spies, a 42-time veteran of this race and sailing master aboard Bill Barry-Cotter’s beautifully restored 1904 ketch Katwinchar (the oldest yacht ever to race to Hobart), the last hours in the river were also hard work thanks to the diminutive double-ender’s low freeboard and tendency to ship water across the decks in a seaway.

Katwinchar , built in 1904, is the oldest yacht ever to compete in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race. Photo: Carlo Borlenghi / Rolex

“We were down to the rail and then it just got worse and worse. But it just goes faster and lower and lower. The snorkels come up and away you go!” Spies explained.

Southern warming

For many sailors around the world it is these tales of dogged determination to battle through the extreme conditions that this race so often serves up that places it at the top of any racer’s bucket list.

But while the drought and unprecedented bushfires sweeping across Australia are symptoms of wider changes in the climate, it is changing this race too. Renowned ocean racing navigator and marine biologist Will Oxley (navigator aboard Ichi Ban ) explained in Hobart that the run of mostly downwind races to Hobart over recent years is not simply an aberration, but rather the result of the warming of the Southern Oceans.

“As a result of that we’re getting less of the cut-off lows; so in Sydney to Hobart terms that means we’re more likely to have these running conditions and less of the brutal southerly busters,” said Oxley. “That’s not to say that we won’t have a massive southerly blow, just that the probability of them occurring is decreasing” he added.

One suspects that British Naval Captain and much respected ocean racer John Illingworth, who turned the idea of a cruise into this famous race, would be hoping it loses none of its tough reputation. As Melbourne’s The Age newspaper so aptly observed in the lead-up to the 1953 race: ‘…to the devotees of “ocean walloping”, few sports offer the enduring satisfaction of bringing a small yacht safe to port ahead of all its rivals.’

First published in the March 2020 issue of Yachting World.

Sydney to Hobart 2019: Comanche leads in its bid for a third line honours title, as it happened

Topic: Sailing

Comanche took advantage of stronger than expected winds to establish a solid early lead in the Sydney to Hobart. ( AAP: Dean Lewins )

Two-time line honours winner Comanche has got the jump on arch-rival Wild Oats XI on the opening afternoon of this year's Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

This year's race, the 75th edition, got off to a fine start on Sydney Harbour, with InfoTrack leading before stronger winds pushed Comanche to the front.

A couple of dozen yachts in the fleet of 157 are ahead of Comanche's 2017 race record, but predicted lighter winds this evening are expected to change the race.

Look back on the action, as it happened.

Live updates

A by andrew mcgarry.

The internationals

Imagine if the race organizers let Multihulls join in. I would love to see Idec Sport, Spindrift 2, MOD70 etc in the race, then you would see the records tumble. -Terry Dactyl

Nine’s Wide World of Sports

Sydney to Hobart 2019 guide: All you need to know about the annual yacht race

Sydney to Hobart. It's that time of year again, when the magnificent yachts light up Sydney Harbour and race south.

The 2019 edition of the famous race features a stack of familiar contenders, with the supermaxis vying for line honours amid a fleet of 157. This is the race's 75th year.

Here is all the key information.

DATE AND TIME

The Sydney to Hobart will start from Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day (December 26), at 1pm AEDT.

HOW TO WATCH/FOLLOW

Channel Seven will broadcast the start of the race live, on 7Mate.

The Sydney to Hobart website will stream the race start and also offers a race tracker throughout the dash south.

Some 600,000 people will stack various vantage points on the Sydney Harbour foreshore to watch the race begin.

Wild Oats XI at the start of last year's Sydney to Hobart.  Getty

LINE HONOURS CONTENDERS

WILD OATS XI ($3.25)*: Competitive in almost all conditions, the peerless supermaxi is still a chance to increase her race record of nine line honours wins despite undergoing significant repairs after suffering damage last month.

COMANCHE ($2.80): Skipper and co-owner Jim Cooney has avoided major modifications to his imposing boat which is almost impossible to beat in favourable conditions and will push for a third line honours win.

BLACK JACK ($3.75): Widely tipped to threaten the Wild Oats XI-Comanche duopoly of recent years, this boat took line honours in 2009 as Alfa Romeo and has raced extensively this year and undergone changes.

SHK SCALLYWAG 100 ($7): The Hong Kong supermaxi has finished second and third across the line in previous attempts and was second in this year's Fastnet Race. Owner Seng Huang Lee has invested in modifications which should make her very competitive.

INFOTRACK ($10): Working on a tight budget and with a smaller crew than last year, this is the outsider among the five supermaxis, but given the right conditions she can trump the rest as she proved in 2016 as Perpetual LOYAL.

*TAB odds, correct at time of publication.

Wild Oats XI, Comanche and Scallywag at the start of last year's Sydney to Hobart.  Getty

OVERALL CONTENDERS

ICHI BAN: The most consistently-successful boat in major Australian ocean races over the past couple of years, Matt Allen's TP52 looms as the boat to beat after taking overall honours in 2017 and finishing fifth in 2018.

QUEST: A two-time overall winner under different names and skippers, this is another TP52 which is always in the mix for a handicap win.

DAGUET 3: Now representing France, this 46-foot yacht has Hobart form under her original name Patrice, finishing third overall in 2017 and recently won Division 2 in the 2019 Sydney to Gold Coast race.

MAVERICK 49: This well-performed 49-footer from Guernsey has racked up good results in the Transatlantic, Middle Sea Newport- Bermuda and Transpac.races.

MIDNIGHT RAMBLER: One of the best chances if it's small-boat race, this 36-foot yacht scored overall IRC wins in the 2019 RYCT Channel and Maria Island Races.

Ichi Ban skipper Matt Allen.  Getty

The Sydney to Hobart course is a thrilling 628 nautical mile stretch (about 1163km).

From Sydney Harbour, the fleet sails out into the Tasman Sea, down the south-east coast of Australia, into Bass Strait, along the Tasmanian east coast, then up the Derwent River to the finish line in Hobart.

Bass Strait, the open ocean gap between the Australian mainland and Tasmania known as 'The Paddock', is the race's trademark leg. It can be completely calm or utterly treacherous, with sailors at the mercy of the weather and their own nerves.

WEATHER FORECAST

The heavy smoke from bush fires surrounding Sydney has made weather predictions for the start of the race more difficult than usual.

However, it has become clear that this won't be a record-setting journey. Nor will conditions be extreme. It should be a decently-quick race, starting with nor-easterly winds on Boxing Day. afternoon and evening.

Forecasters are seeing a mixed bag in the looming weather that may actually favour smaller boats, such as 52-footer Ichi Ban, to some extent rather than the supermaxis.

Air quality around Sydney and its harbour has been dismal amid huge surrounding bush fires.  Getty

RACE RECORD

LDV Comanche set the Sydney to Hobart race record in 2017: one day, nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds (01:09:15.24). The time beat the record set by Perpetual LOYAL the previous year, by more than four hours.

The result was somewhat controversial, given that LDV Comanche actually finished about 27 minutes behind Wild Oats XI. Yet Wild Oats XI was penalised one hour for breaching the rules with a tacking manoeuvre at the start of the race, dropping it to second. LDV Comanche was elevated to line honours and ownership of the race record.

LDV Comanche and Wild Oats XI during their 2017 battle.  Getty

RECENT WINNERS (LINE AND HANDICAP)

There are a raft of trophies on offer in the Sydney to Hobart, but the main prizes are the The George Adams Tattersall Cup, for the overall winner (on IRC rating corrected time), and the John H Illingworth Challenge Cup, for the line honours victor.

2018: Wild Oats XI (line), Alive (overall)

2017: LDV Comanche, Ichi Ban

2016: Perpetual LOYAL, Giacomo

2015: Comanche, Balance

2014: Wild Oats XI, Wild Rose

Wild Oats XI skipper Mark Richards takes a dip in Hobart after winning last year's race.  Getty

FULL FLEET (name, sail number, state/country, type)

2 Unlimited : AUS615, TAS, Farr 40 MOD

Abbotts Vamp : 43218, WA, Corby 49

About Time : 7700, NSW, Cookson 50

Abracadabra : 5612, NSW, Tripp 47

Active Again : JPN4321, QLD, Humphreys 54

Admiral : 7272, NSW, Sydney 38

Airstream : 6597, NSW, Wauquiez Centurion 40s

Alive : 52566, TAS, Reichel Pugh 66

Allegro : 6723, NSW, Warwick 67

Anger Management FLG : 6836, WA, Salona 44

Another Painkiller: 7447, QLD, Beneteau 44.7

Arcadia: S17, VIC, Archambault 40 RC

Arch Rival: 415, NSW, Inglis/Jones 40

Audacious: SA332, SA, Sydney 38

Audere: B454, VIC, Beneteau First 45

Banter: 6669, QLD, Beneteau First 45

Black Jack: 525100, Monaco, RP100

Black Sheep: 33345, TAS, Beneteau First 45

Blink: B40, NSW, Beneteau First 40

Blue Water Tracks: B1, VIC, Moody DS54

Bounty Brassware Our Rush: RQ432, QLD, DK46

Bush Paul Group: 5200, NSW, TP52

Business as Usual: 6262, NSW, Sydney 40 CR

Cailin Lomhara: USA61268, USA, Tayana 52

Carrera S: AUS49005, VIC, Marten 49

Cartouche: B10, VIC, Beneteau First 50

Celestial: SM9535, NSW, TP 52

Chancellor: 8824, NSW, Beneteau 47.7

Charlotte: AUS257, NSW, CNB76

Chinese Whisper: AUS13, NSW, JV 62

Chutzpah: R33, VIC, Caprice 40

Cinquante: 5038, NSW, Sydney 38

Comanche: AUS12358, NSW, 100 Supermaxi

Copernicus: 6689, NSW, Radford 12

Crush: EF3601, WA, Jeanneau Sunfast 3600

Crystal Cutter III: 6661, NSW, Beneteau 40.7

Daguet: FRA43842, France, Mylius 50

Dare Devil: RF5095, NSW, Farr/Cookson 47

Dark and Stormy: SM69, VIC, Custom 37

Diamach Enterprise: 77011, NSW, Lexcen 40

Dream: RP118, QLD, Inglis 38

Dreki Sunnan: 1545, NSW, Beneteau First 45

Enchantress: SA346, SA, Muirhead 11

Encore: 00100, QLD, Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 49

Enigma: GBR5790R, NSW, Beneteau First 47.7

Enterprise: F1701, WA, Farr 40

Envy Scooters: RQ0052, QLD, TP 52

Euphoria: 7133, NSW, J133

Eve: 8565, NSW, Swan 65

Extasea: G10007, VIC, Cookson 50

Faster Forward: R6155, VIC, Sydney 38

Fidelis: 45, NSW, Knud Reimers 61

Filepro: A22, TAS, Lyons 40

Flying Fish Arctos: 7551, NSW, McIntyre 55

Frantic: GBR5211L, NSW, TP52 Donovan

G.Y.R. Ragamuffin 50: AUS70, NSW, Farr 50

Galaxy III: R261, NSW, S & S 39

Goat: 7027, NSW, Sydney 38

Great Xpectations: 6343, NSW, X43

Gun Runner: 3867, NSW, Jarkan

Gweilo: 052, NSW, TP 52

Happy Wanderer: ESP6100, NSW, JV52

Hartbreaker: B330, VIC, Reichel Pugh 46

Helsal 3: 262, NSW, Adams 20

Highly Sprung: AUS7771, NSW, Beneteau 45

Hollywood Boulevard: AUS8899, NSW, Farr 55

HYC Breakthrough: AUS6834, Ireland, Beneteau First 40

Ichi Ban: AUS001, NSW, Botin 52

Imagination: 35, NSW, First 47.7

Imalizard: 6893, NSW, Welbourn 12

InfoTrack: SYD1000, NSW, Juan-K 100

Insomnia: 65007, NSW, JV 42

Jaffa: R39, WA, Runnalls 39

Katwinchar: CYC8, NSW

Kialoa II: AUS7742, NSW, S & S Yawl

King Billy: 4966, NSW, Custom/John King

Kioni Robotic Automation: 0477, NSW, Beneteau First 47.7

Koa: 52152, NSW, TP52

Komatsu Azzurro: 3430, NSW, S & S 34

LCE Showtime: 8338, NSW, Ker 40

Lexi: 7234, NSW, X-412 Modern

Local Hero: 1236, NSW, BH36

Love & War: 294, NSW, S & S 47

Magic Miles: TYC4, TAS, Dynamique 62

Mahligai: NZL1, NSW, Sydney 46

Mako: N40, NSW, Sydney 40

Maserati: ITA70, Poland, Volvo 70

Matrix: 41, QLD, X 41

Maverick: SM3600, VIC, Jeanneau Sun Fast 3600

Maverick 49: GBR4945R, Guernsey, Infiniti 46r

Mayfair: W1424, QLD, Beneteau First 40

Midnight Rambler: ST36, TAS, Sydney 36

Mille Sabords: 7174, NSW, Sydney 38

Minerva: 6837, NSW, DK 43

Mister Lucky: RQ3600, QLD, Jeanneau Sun Fast 3600

Mistral: M1, NSW, Lombard 34

Moody Buoys: G54, VIC, Moody 54DS

Natelle Two: 2555, TAS, Peterson 41 2 Tonne

Nautical Circle: A169, NSW, A40

Naval Group: AUS1, NSW, Reichel Pugh 69

Navy One: 040, NSW, Beneteau First 40

Night Nurse: 9009, QLD, Farr 40

No Limit: AUS98888, NSW, Reichel Pugh 63

Ocean Crusaders: RQ4077, QLD, Beneteau 40.7

Ocean Gem: 8810, QLD, Beneteau 445

Optimus Prime: CR1, WA, Marten 49

Oroton Drumfire: CAY6536, NSW, Hoek TC78

Oskana: AUS5299, TAS, Cookson 50

Packaponch Scamp: B45, QLD, Beneteau First 45

Papillon: 6841, NSW, Archambault 40RC

Patriot: SM133, VIC, J133

Pekljus: 6419, NSW, Radford 50

Pretty Woman: 545, NSW, IC 45 MOD

Primitive Cool: S777, VIC, RP51

Protagonist: H140, VIC, Beneteau First 40

Quest: 52002, NSW, TP 52

Quetzalcoatl: 2001, NSW, Jones 40

Reve: 5930, NSW, Beneteau 45F5

Rogue Wave : 6921, NSW, Sigma 36

Rush: B45, VIC, Farr 45

SailExchange: 7709, NSW, Cookson 12

Santana: M236, NSW, Swan 43

Secret Mens Business 1: 8300, NSW, Murray 42

She: 4924, QLD, Olsen 40

She's Apples II: 4527, TAS, Jarkan 12.5

She's The Culprit : 370, NSW, Inglis/Jones 39

SHK Scallywag 100: HKG2276, Hong Kong, Dovell 100

Sintara: YC110S, SA, Beneteau 47.7

Smuggler: 6952, NSW, JV TP52

Snowdome Occasional Coarse Language Too: 8008, NSW, Sydney GTS 43

Solutions: 3242, NSW, Dehler 41

Soozal: 60408, NSW, King 40

Spirit of Freya: 5903, TAS, Jeanneau Sunfast 36

St Jude: 6686, NSW, Sydney 47

Stay Calm Hungary: HUN108, Hungary, TP52

Sticky: A164, NSW, Salona 38

SWD Kayle: 7878, NSW, Lyons 54

Sweet Chariot: 6084, NSW, Buizen 48

Take Five: 3639, TAS, Traditional 30

Team Runaway: B101, TAS, Sayer 11

Tribal Warrior: M772, NSW, Beneteau 47.7

TSA Management: MH60, NSW, Sydney 38

Turbulence: H602, QLD, Adams 11.9

URM: 60272, NSW, Reichel Pugh Maxi 72

Van Diemen III: 64, TAS, Muir 64

Ward Civil Yeah Baby: A5, NSW, Welbourn 50

Wax Lyrical: 248, NSW, X 50

White Noise: SM1245, VIC, M.A.T 1245

Wicked: SM4, VIC, Beneteau First 40

Wild Oats XI: 10001, NSW, RP100

Willie Smith's Philosopher: 20, TAS, Sydney 36CR Mod

Windrose: 660, TAS, S & S 48

Wings: 07, NSW, Dehler 46

Wonderland: GBR9166T, NSW, Beneteau Oceanis 473

Wots Next: 6559, NSW, Sydney 47

XS Moment BNMH: 11744, NSW, XP44

Zen: 52001, NSW, TP52

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Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

Mention the leading ocean races in the world, and the Rolex Sydney Hobart is certainly in the top three. This 628-nautical mile offshore race organized by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia provides a tough test for skippers, tacticians and crews alike. A yachting classic, the race attracts a well-seasoned international fleet ready to test itself against the challenging conditions. The 2019 race is the 75th annual edition of this time-honoured event.

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Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race: Alive wins overall for a second time in five years

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Published on October 28th, 2019 | by Assoc Editor

Entry list final for Sydney Hobart

Published on October 28th, 2019 by Assoc Editor -->

Entry for the 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race has closed and organizers at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) announced that 170 yachts from Australia and overseas will take part in their 75th race, making it the largest fleet since the 50th in 1994, and the fourth-largest in the history of the race.

In 1994, a record 371 yachts started the race, a number that has never been reached before or since, and is not likely to.

Commenting on the quantity and quality of the fleet, CYCA Commodore Paul Billingham, said: “To receive such an incredible number of entries this year is astonishing and testimony to the enduring appeal of the Great Race. The range of yachts is truly impressive and the spectacle we will witness on Boxing Day will be unprecedented in the modern era of the race.”

Among this year’s number are five super maxis; Peter Harburg’s Black Jack (Qld), Jim Cooney and Samantha Grant’s record holder Comanche (NSW); Christian Beck’s InfoTrack (NSW); the Oatley family’s reigning line-honors champion, Wild Oats XI (NSW); and Seng Huang Lee’s SHK Scallywag from Hong Kong.

International boats are representative of Great Britain, Ireland, France, China, Hungary, Poland, Hong Kong and USA – and, while NSW has predictably yielded the largest Australian numbers with 96, the other states have produced healthy numbers too. There are also a few ‘first timers’, most notably the first Aboriginal crew to ever take part in the race with the Beneteau 47.7, Tribal Warrior.

There are 10 past overall winners representative of various sizes and eras, from the 2018 winner, Philip Turner’s RP66, Alive; Matt Allen’s TP52, Ichi Ban; Bob Steel’s TP52 Quest, which also won as Paul Clitheroe’s Balance seven years later; Oskana, a Cookson 50 that won as Victoire in 2013; Simon Kurts’ 46-year-old classic yacht, Love & War, one of only two three-time winners in the race’s history; and two-time winner, Wild Oats XI.

The start on December 26 will take the fleet along the 628nm course from Sydney Harbour, down the south-east coast of mainland Australia toward the Tasman Island and up the Derwent River to the historic port city of Hobart.

Race details – Entry list – Facebook

Background : The 2019 fleet will be chasing line honours and the overall Tattersall Cup win in the 628nm Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race which starts December 26, 2019. From Sydney Harbour, the fleet sails out into the Tasman Sea, down the south-east coast of mainland Australia, across Bass Strait (which divides the mainland from the island State of Tasmania), then down the east coast of Tasmania. At Tasman Island the fleet turns right into Storm Bay for the final sail up the Derwent River to the historic port city of Hobart.

Source: RSHYR

Tags: Sydney Hobart

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How to Race the Sydney Hobart? Break It Into Its Parts

Experienced sailors say not to approach it as one event, but as several.

By David Schmidt

Sailboat races have a way of developing their own lore, especially when there are boat-breaking waves and fast-moving weather systems. It is easy to think that the annual Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, which begins on Thursday, involves just three things: the start, the spin cycle and the finish.

Race veterans say that approaching this rough-and-tumble, 628-nautical-mile racecourse as a monolith can be overwhelming. Instead, they say, a compartmentalized mind-set is required to deal with the race’s seamanship and navigational challenges, and it is best to break the race down to segments, or chapters, planning how to handle them one at a time.

The race begins in Sydney Harbor before punching out past Sydney Heads and turning south to parallel the New South Wales coastline. The East Australia Current, which flows generally south at one to four knots, pushes boats along, but this benefit can boomerang. Hook into a northerly breeze, so that the wind and current align, and sailors enjoy a magic-carpet ride toward Bass Strait. Encounter a “ southerly buster ,” which delivers stiff winds from the south that oppose the current, and the seas stack up. Fast.

Hit this wind-against-current scenario in or near Bass Strait, the shallow body of water separating Australia from Tasmania, and the seas can quickly become a nautical nightmare. This happened in 1993, when two-thirds of the fleet abandoned racing, and again in the tragic 1998 race when six sailors died and five yachts sank.

“This race is not to be underestimated,” said Will Oxley of Australia, a navigator who has won the race twice but also ended up in a life raft once. He says the wind typically blows from the northeast for a few days before transitioning to a southerly. “I’ve done about 350,000 miles of sailing, and my worst experiences with sea state have been in this race,” he added. “There aren’t many races that you’d see 50 knots upwind.”

Next to be negotiated are the Tasmanian coastline, Storm Bay and the River Derwent, an upriver slog of about 11 nautical miles where the wind typically dwindles or dies each evening before rekindling the next morning. Worse still, the tidal river usually flows seaward, pushing yachts backward.

Because of this, fortunes are often won or lost on the River Derwent.

For Oxley, who plans to race on Matt Allen’s Botin 52 Ichi Ban this year, the chapters are the start, the New South Wales coast, crossing Bass Strait, the Tasmanian coast and the 40-mile journey across Storm Bay and up the River Derwent.

Ken Read , the former skipper of Comanche, the 100-foot super maxi (now LDV Comanche) that he commanded to a line-honors win (first across the finish line) in 2015, says he does not mind racing in nasty conditions but hates anticipating them.

“If there’s one consistent thing about this race, something weird is going to happen, and you’d better be prepared,” he said.

Weather, of course, is critical. “You definitely divide the race into chapters,” Read said. But for him, “it’s purely weather-driven.”

Instead of geographical distinctions, Read and Stan Honey, an America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race-winning navigator who helped LDV Comanche set the racecourse’s time record in 2017, view the racecourse through a meteorological lens.

“It’s almost guaranteed that you’re going through a strong front that time of year,” said Read, describing the race’s chapters as the start, the prefront, the frontal transition, after a weather front passes, approaching Storm Bay and finally the River Derwent.

“I talk about one weather transition,” he said, adding that record-setting boats like Comanche can often outsail a second bad-weather cycle. “The little boats are likely looking at two transitions, so it’s twice as hard and two to three times the exposure.”

Honey described negotiating the low-pressure systems as jaywalking across a busy highway. Comanche sprints while the smaller boats stroll.

“If you have a tough race, you could have two to four days of a hard southwesterly bash all the way,” said Lindsay May, a Sydney native who has won the race four times. This year’s race will be his 47th consecutive start. “It’s a lottery and needs good understanding of the forecast to best navigate the route, plus a lot of luck.”

And luck, of course, is ephemeral.

“I think in segments, but they’re not the same, year to year,” Honey said. “A common transition is the southerly change, which sees wind against the East Australia Current,” he said, describing an often-violent sea. “The wind picks up quickly under a characteristic roll cloud — it’s a frightening sight.”

Honey described his chapters as the start, entering the offshore winds, negotiating the East Australia Current, crossing Bass Strait, approaching Tasmania, picking the best lane — or angle — toward Tasmania, crossing Storm Bay and sailing up the River Derwent.

Picking the best lane toward Tasmania can be crucial, and Honey and Oxley described it as potentially one of the race’s biggest navigational problems. “I’m looking if the weather models line up, but typically I use historical and real-time data and my gut to make the decision,” Oxley said.

A casual weekend sail this is not.

“It’s my favorite race as a navigator, there are so many moving parts,” Honey said, before admitting that it is not always pleasant. “In almost every other yacht race, you start and go someplace nice. With the Sydney Hobart, you start someplace warm and nice and go someplace cold and windy.”

While some divide the race by geography or weather, others think in hours.

“In basic terms, it’s all about when you get to Storm Bay,” said Roger Badham, a meteorologist who has been preparing pre-race weather reports since 1982. “The timing to get to Storm Bay and the Derwent is critical,” he added. “God, in his wisdom, determines the handicap winner.”

The River Derwent “can be a long and painful exercise,” Oxley said. “The best time to arrive in Storm Bay is in the afternoon. The Derwent can take 45 minutes or six hours.”

Because of this, Oxley said, the race can sometimes be further simplified into two chapters: the run of 588 nautical miles to Tasman Island and the 40-nautical-mile race from Tasman Island to the finish.

While the rules preclude Badham from offering weather services once racing begins, his pre-race reports break the course into 12-hour increments. “The current changes weekly, but the winds are changing hourly or daily,” he said. “Initial conditions are the most important thing.”

To win, Badham said, yachts must marry periods of fast sailing with their big-picture objective of knowing when and where the wind will change, and where the boats want to be positioned relative to this transition.

“It’s primarily a near-coastal race except Bass Strait,” he said. Wind on the rumbline, the most direct line across a body of water, “is highly influenced by land masses, day and night variation and sea-breeze effects.” Because of this, he said, it is critical to understand the influences of geography, time and weather transitions.

Ultimately, Badham said, if team leadership is not looking at the racecourse in terms of all three, odds are good that those sailors will be languishing in the River Derwent or maneuvering through a southerly buster, while others are already across the finish line.

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26 - 31 Dec 2019

By Rebecca Bradbury

Close to 100 yachts will set sail on a gruelling 628-nautical-mile-long course when the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race gets underway on 26 December.

Starting in Sydney Harbour, the fleet will depart for the Tasman Sea along the south-east coast of mainland Australia before navigating the Bass Strait and the east coast of Tasmania.

At Tasman Island, competitors will turn right into Storm Bay for the final sail up the Derwent River to the historic port of Hobart. For many sailors, the first and last days are the most exciting with huge crowds of people and spectator craft lining the shore to watch the exciting spectacle.

75th-anniversary celebrations

The upcoming race will be the event’s 75th edition and even more yachts than usual are expected to compete for the Tattersall Cup to mark the milestone anniversary.

More than 1,000 crew members will take part, ranging from weekend club sailors to seasoned professionals with experience of racing in the America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race circuits. But renowned as one of the most punishing long ocean races in the world, the regatta is a challenge for all who compete.

Join in the fun with a yacht charter

The four to five-day race usually finishes with yachts arriving into Hobart on 30 and 31 December. To be a part of the action, it is possible to join one of the competing crews as part of a regatta charter .

Alternatively, if you’d prefer to take in the racing from the sideline, it’s possible to organise a Sydney yacht charter on Boxing Day, where you will be able to soak up the electric atmosphere and cheer on the fleet from the comfort of a luxury yacht, enjoying the very best service and amenities.

For more information, talk to your preferred charter broker .

Charter a yacht for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2019

Looking to charter a luxury yacht for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2019? Contact your preferred broker or speak to an event charter expert

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Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2024

Team Runaway

Joanna Breen and David Aplin purchased this water ballasted yacht earlier in 2019, having each sold their respective yachts Morning Star and Whistler. Runaway was designed and built by Jon Sayer for the 2003 Melbourne Osaka Race (M-O), and recently competed in the 2018 M-O with Daniel Turner. Jo Breen also competed in this race in her S&S 34 Morning Star, and finished second over the line, fourth IRC and second PHS/AMS. Breen and Aplin’s prime objective for this boat is to compete in the 2023 M-O and will use races such as the Sydney Hobart to limber up. Apart from sailing with Aplin, Breen also navigated the 2016 Rolex Sydney Hobart for Richard Grant on Cromarty Magellan to win the Corinthian Division, along with Runaway crew member David Cromarty on board.

Breen will co-skipper and navigate on Team Runaway, while co-skipper, Aplin will take up his preferred place on the foredeck, as he did on his other yacht, Whistler, with which he won IRC/AMS in the 2017 Maria Island Race and went on to take the IRC/AMS/PHS triple in the 2018 Melbourne Hobart race with Breen navigating. 

Competitor Details

OFFICIAL ROLEX SYDNEY HOBART MERCHANDISE

Shop the official clothing range of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in person at the Club in New South Head Road, Darling Point or online below.  

From casual to technical clothing, there is something for all occasions. Be quick as stock is limited!