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Sydney to Hobart yacht race

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Sydney Harbour and boat races have gone together for a long time. One writer, referring to 'what may fairly be termed the national sport of the colony, boat-racing', has left us with a lyrical description of a typical race day on the harbour:

… the glancing waters, fresh with the breeze that prevailed throughout the day, were studded by a thousand boats of every description, all freighted with life and gaiety; and round the harbour, from every point commanding a view of the course prescribed for the contesting boats, gay parties were assembled. [1]

This was 26 January, Foundation Day (also known as Anniversary Day, now called Australia Day) in 1848, and it showed the sense of adventure and exhilaration associated with yachting that has continued to be felt on Sydney Harbour.

The most famous race that has emerged is the Sydney to Hobart, as it is locally known. The race covers 628 nautical miles, starting from Sydney Harbour at 1 pm on Boxing Day (26 December), as it has done for over six decades. It has been held every year since 1945, with the inaugural fleet of nine yachts growing to a record 371 starters in the 50th race in 1994 – the largest fleet in the world for a Category 1 Ocean Race. In 2007, 82 yachts took part.

Postwar celebration

It all began in 1945, when a group of Sydney yachtsmen started planning for a post-World War II cruise to Hobart. Captain John Illingworth, who was a British Royal Navy officer stationed in Sydney at the time, had been a keen racing yachtsman in Britain before the war. He bought the 39-foot (11.8-metre) Rani , and joined them.

Because of weather conditions, the race is rarely without incident: in the first, several of the boats were briefly 'lost' during the race, among them Rani , although it did complete the course to take both 'line' (first over the line) and 'handicap' (corrected time for type of yacht) honours.

In 1984, a fleet of 150 yachts started, but 104 retired in the face of 'strong to gale force' southerly winds that battered the fleet. In 1993, there were 110 starters, but only 38 finished: crews abandoned two yachts as they sank, while the skipper of another was washed overboard and spent five hours in high seas. Luckily he was spotted by a search vessel and picked up by another yacht.

Stormy weather

In 1998 the race became a major disaster, when wild storms took their toll. The 115-yacht fleet sailed into the worst weather in the Sydney to Hobart's history. Six sailors died and just 44 yachts survived the gale-force winds and mountainous seas to finish the race. Two crew members died on the Launceston yacht Business Post Naiad , one by drowning, the other from a heart attack at the height of the storm. Several yachts were sent to the bottom and the biggest maritime rescue operation in Australia's history was mounted to pluck about 50 sailors from the sea. The storm highlighted some of the more foolhardy aspects of the race and led to a major review of race procedures. The ensuing enquiry made several recommendations for raising safety standards and requirements for competitors.

Despite such risks, the Sydney to Hobart is one of the great ocean races of the globe. No other annual yachting event in the world attracts such huge media coverage and popular attention.

The weather risks are not the only source of controversy. In 1990, a spokesman for the NSW Cancer Council ruffled a few cravats by claiming that the name and logo of the British yacht Rothmans breached the NSW voluntary advertising code – which stated that any vehicles propelled by petrol, diesel, gas, solar or wind power were banned from advertising cigarettes. This was in the midst of a war between tobacco companies – who were denying any adverse effects of smoking – and doctors and public health advocates, so it saw much heated debate. Gin-and-tonics were spilt at the bar.

While many of the same yachts compete around the world, and their focus is on the longer campaign to be best in Category 1, for many locals the Sydney to Hobart race is itself the point of it all. In its early years, the race was dominated by 'amateurs', many of whom were Wednesday and Saturday sailors for their local clubs. But over the years, the race has attracted the rich and famous, and many such Australians have been competitors: Alan Bond, and Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch among them. The race has also attracted well-known sailors from overseas: Ted Turner, the founder of CNN cable network in the USA, for one, while Sir Edward Heath skippered Morning Cloud to victory in 1969, a year before he became Prime Minister of Britain.

Nowadays, major corporations sponsor both yachts and the race itself. Many yachts now have names like Alfa Romeo, Nokia, Skandia, Porsche, Hugo Boss, and Credit Index Leopard , while the race itself was, in 2008, the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, after the race's organiser, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, negotiated a multi-year sponsorship deal with the prominent international company Rolex.

The 2007 winner of line honours, Wild Oats XI, is only the second boat to win in three consecutive years; the first was Morna , in 1948. There have been several repeat winners, like 1975 and 1977 line honours winner Kialoa III.

Names can linger on, even though the boat itself has changed. There have been various famous Gretel s and Helsal s: the original Helsal took line honours in 1973 and set a race record, while Helsal IV competed in 2007.

On the other hand, some boats like Ragamuffin keep starting year after year: her placings in the Sydney to Hobart include a second in 1986 and two thirds, in 1985 and 1989 respectively. Among the fleet in 1994 were two yachts that had started in the inaugural race – Archina and Winston Churchill . Among the crews that year were two yachtsmen, Peter Luke and 'Boy' Messenger, by then in their 70s, who had sailed in 1945. Probably the 'grand old man' of the race is Syd Fischer, now in his eighties, who in 2008 competed in his fortieth Sydney to Hobart race.

Sail-world.com website, 'Rolex Sydney Hobart Milstone Race, Overall Winners Announced', http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Rolex-Sydney-Hobart-Milestone-Race,-Overall-Winners-Announced/52428, viewed 20 February 2009

Official Site of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/default.asp, viewed 20 February 2009

Cruising Yacht Club of Australia website, http://www.cyca.com.au/, viewed 20 February 2009

[1] BC Peck, Recollections of Sydney, John Mortimer, London, 1850, pp 150–1

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Sydney to Hobart 75 Years

Challenging, Thrilling, Racing - Sydney to Hobart 75 Years 

Challenging, Thrilling Racing.

Charting the history of the blue water classic, with stunning photography by acclaimed photographers Andrea Francolini, Carlo Borlenghi and Richard Bennett, this exhibition is an expansive visual timeline, including evocative film.

Highlighting the excitement, comradery, risk and danger of this great yacht race, Challenging, Thrilling, Racing - Sydney to Hobart 75 Years includes material from significant years such as the tragic events of 1998's race . You'll gain an insight into the character of the race that began in 1945 with only nine contestants. In this, its 75th year, the Sydney to Hobart race fields 170 local and international teams. 

Also included in the 75th year commemorative program for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2019 is a display of photographs by acclaimed yachting photographer Richard Bennett in the museum’s Yots Café during December 2019 to January 2020. Richard's book will be available to purchase in the museum store.

Main image: Skipper Captain John Illingworth (centre standing in cap) with the crew of Rani, the winner of the first Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, 1.45am, 2 January 1946. ANMM Collection 00048228_003 , Gift from Alison Richmond

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History & Archives

The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) was formed in 1944 and, despite its name, quickly became the leading exponent of ocean racing in Australia, at that time a little-known sport both here and elsewhere.

The CYCA began when some keen sailors started meeting informally in a photographic studio in Sydney. They soon acquired a boatshed in Rushcutters Bay and the rest, as they say, is history.

In 1945 a planned cruise to Hobart quickly turned into a race and the famous Sydney Hobart Yacht Race was born.

The race captured the imagination of the Australian public and it soon developed into an international yachting classic, attracting competitors from around the world.

With the CYCA conducting ocean races such as the Sydney Hobart Race since 1944, it has given the Club an expertise in race organisation and sea safety which is internationally acclaimed and widely emulated, some techniques being adapted world-wide following CYCA development.

These days, the CYCA is the ‘Club of choice’ for its more than 3,100 members, sailors and non-sailors, who enjoy the world-class facilities, the extensive sailing calendar and the social programme of member’s nights, prize giving and just relaxing in the Sydney Hobart Bar after a hard-fought race.

The full Club history can be found in the book “Ratbags to Respectability” which can be purchased online or at the CYCA reception.

CYCA has made every effort to locate the owners of material published on its websites that may be subject to copyright or moral rights in Australia.

Should anyone become aware that material has been used without permission or appropriate attribution, please contact [email protected] .

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Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2024

Get to know the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race fleet

• 08 Dec, 2022 11:12:00 AM

A strong fleet of 110 boats is entered for the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, which begins on Sydney Harbour at 1pm Monday 26 December.

There are 8 international boats in the race, including entrants from Germany ( Orione ), Hong Kong ( Antipodes ), Hungary ( Cassiopeia 68 ), New Caledonia ( Eye Candy and Poulpito ), New Zealand ( Caro ), the United Kingdom ( Sunrise ) and the United States of America ( Warrior Won ). 

Four 100-foot maxis will lead the charge for Line Honours -  Andoo Comanche ,  Black Jack , Hamilton Island Wild Oats   and  LawConnect . 

Black Jack won Line Honours in the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart, while  Andoo Comanche  holds the race record (1 day, 9 hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds) and  Hamilton Island Wild Oats  (formerly Wild Oats XI)  has the most Line Honours wins in race history, with nine.  

Among the chasing pack will be Philip Turner's Reichel/Pugh 66 Alive   (the 2018 Overall winner, skippered by Duncan Hine), Sean Langman's Reichel/Pugh 69 Moneypenny ,  the   Botin 80 Stefan Racing (skippered by Grant Wharington), Anthony and David Johnston's Reichel/Pugh 72  URM Group   (skippered by Marcus Ashley-Jones),   Jim Cooney and Samantha Grant's Volvo 70  Willow   (skippered by Cooney) and David Griffith's JV62 Whisper .

Moneypenny  leads the 2022/23 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore, seven points ahead of  URM Group.

The 52-foot grand prix racing yachts are expected to again be competitive. There are 12 in total , including  Caro and Warrior Won  (winner of the 2022 RORC Caribbean 600),   as well as local contenders  Celestial (Sam Haynes), Gweilo (Matt Donald/Chris Townsend),  Quest  (Craig Neil),  Smuggler   (Sebastian Bohm) and Zen  (Gordon Ketelbey). The TP52  Ocean Crusaders J-Bird   will be sailed two-handed by Ian and Annika Thomson. 

Two-handed entrants will for the first time be eligible to win the Tattersall Cup. A total of 21 two-handed boats are preparing to race, including those that finished second and third respectively in the race's inaugural Two-Handed Division last year -  Crux   (Carlos Aydos/Peter Grayson) and  Speedwell   (Campbell Geeves/Wendy Tuck). 

Rum Rebellion   (Shane Connelly/Tony Sutton) leads the Two-Handed Division of the 2022/23 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore and is seventh overall. 

There are five Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300s in the two-handed fleet - Hip-Nautic (Jean-Pierre Ravanat/Drew Meincke),  Kraken 111   (Rob Gough/John Saul - the two-handed Line Honours winners in 2021 on  Sidewinder ), Sun Fast Racing (Lee Condell/Lincoln Dews),  Transcendence Crento   (Martin Cross/John Cross) and  Tumbleweed   (Graham Biehl/Nigel Nattrass).

Rupert Henry and Greg O'Shea will be highly fancied on the Lombard 34   Mistral ,  having recently become the first two-handed boat to win one of the CYCA's major races .

In the 30-50 foot range, keep an eye out for  Alegria Republic  (Rod Jones),  Ariel  (Ron Forster/Phil Damp), Chutzpah  (Bruce Taylor), Cinquante  (Kim Jaggar),  Enterprise Next Generation  (Anthony Kirke/Andrew Nuttman),  Joss  (Roberto Camacho),  Midnight Rambler  (Ed Psaltis), Sail Exchange  (Carl Crafoord/Tim Horkings), Sunrise  (Tom Kneen's 2021 Rolex Fastnet Race winner), Trouble & Strife  (Matt Williams) and  White Bay 6 Azzurro   (Shane Kearns). 

Sail Exchange leads IRC Division 2 in the 2022/23 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore and is sixth overall. Cinquante,   Midnight Rambler  and White Bay 6 Azzurro all finished inside the top 10 overall in the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart. 

The race will feature a Sydney 38 One Design division for the first time since 2019, with five Sydney 38s entered :  Cinquante, Eye Candy  (Thierry Leseigneur), Hasta la Vista (Jessica/Tom Grimes),  Mondo   (Lisa Callaghan/Stephen Teudt) and  Poulpito   (David Treguier). 

At 9-metres in length, Sean Langman's Ranger  Maluka ,  to be skippered by his son Peter,   is the smallest boat in the fleet. She is also the oldest, having turned 90 this year. 

Currawong ,  to be sailed two-handed by Kathy Veel and Bridget Canham, is the second smallest.

The Royal Australian Navy's Beneteau First 40  Navy One   (co-skippered by Tori Costello and Nick Greenhill) will look to retain the Oggin Cup, awarded to the first Armed Services yacht on corrected time, from the Army Sailing Club's Jarkan 925  Gun Runner   (skippered by Chris Connelly). 

Former Overall winners in the fleet include  Alive, Hamilton Island Wild Oats, Quest  and  Wild Oats (Brett Eagle) .

Andoo Comanche, Black Jack, Hamilton Island Wild Oats, Kialoa II  (Paddy and Keith Broughton) and  LawConnect are the previous Line Honours winners racing again. 

View the full list of entrants on the Yachts page.

Congratulations to all the divisional winners of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023

PHOTOS | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Official Prizegiving

PHOTOS | Day 5 Morning - Tasman Island and Storm Bay

PHOTOS | Day 5 and Day 6 finishers

PHOTOS | Official Presentation of Tattersall Cup and Rolex Timepiece to the Overall Winner

2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - A Race for the Ages

VIDEO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - Rolex Daily Video Summary

VIDEO | Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023

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VIDEO | Race Update - 31 December Morning

AUDIO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Sked 10

AUDIO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Sked 9

AUDIO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Sked 8

AUDIO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Sked 7

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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!

1953 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

The 1953 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race , was the 9th annual running of the "blue water classic" Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race .

Hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia based in Sydney , New South Wales , the 1953 edition began on Sydney Harbour , at Noon on Boxing Day (26 December 1953), before heading south for 630 nautical miles (1,170   km) through the Tasman Sea , past Bass Strait , into Storm Bay and up the River Derwent , to cross the finish line in Hobart , Tasmania .

The 1953 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race comprised a fleet of 23 competitors, the largest ever at the time. Line-honours were awarded to Solveig, the Australian racer custom-built of Oregon (Douglas Fir) on Australian hardwood frames in Sydney by the Norwegian family business Lars Halvorsen Sons and skippered by Trygve Halvorsen with Stan Darling as navigator. Solveig won in the time of 5 days, 7 hours and 12 minutes. Solveig is yet today a sound vessel. She was sold by T&M Halvorsen in Hawaii after the 1955 Transpac Race. "Solveig" was shipped by container ship back to Sydney in January 2017 and is now restored and racing on Sydney Harbour with other classic yachts. Ripple , skippered by R. C. Hobson, was awarded handicap honours on adjusted time using the International Measurement System (IMS).

23 yachts registered to begin the 1953 Sydney to Hobart Yacht race won by Ripple of Ronald Hobson. [1]

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• Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

All Down Under

Australia – About the country, culture, facts & statistics

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race Winners 1980 to 1989

• In australian-race-boat
• Posted on December 26, 2022 December 26, 2022
• Leave a Comment on Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race Winners 1980 to 1989

The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is an annual event, which was first sailed in 1945. The race takes place over 5 days and attracts over 100 yachts of all types and sizes.

The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in December is an icon of Australia’s summer sport. The course covers a distance of 628 nautical miles from Sydney Harbour to the East coast of Australia, Bass Strait, the Tasmanian east coast, Storm Bay, Derwent River and finally Battery Point in Hobart, Tasmania.

Line Honours goes to the first yacht to cross the finishing line. The Overall Winner is determined by each yacht’s finish time adjusted by several factors. As a result, the fastest boat is often not the Overall Winner.

Overall Winner = ow     Line Honour = lh Time is shown as   DD:HH:MM:SS     Days:Hours:Minutes (and Seconds where available)

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Largest fleet to start the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

Sydney to Hobart yacht race: How two days of sailing came down to just 51 seconds

The skipper of the line honours-winning yacht in this year's Sydney to Hobart race says the victory is all the more remarkable because his boat, LawConnect, is a "shitbox" compared to second-place getter and race favourite Andoo Comanche.

"I know it looks good on TV but if you go up close to that boat, it's rough as anything and Comanche is a beautiful boat, it's better in every way, four tonnes lighter etc.," Christian Beck said.

"Shitbox" or not, LawConnect overtook Andoo Comanche in the River Derwent in the final moments of the 2023 race to take out its first line honours in a sensational daylight finish, just 51 seconds ahead of its rival.

"The lead changed several times, they took the lead pretty close to the line, we thought there's no way we can get it back," Beck said.

"There were guys [on board] that couldn't watch, it was very nerve-racking."

In a race that took the two leaders almost two days to finish, the turning point began just a couple of nautical miles from the finish line.

As Andoo Comanche tried to build speed off the Hobart suburb of Sandy Bay and seemed to stall in very little wind, Law Connect made its move.

'"They seem to be accelerating out of the jibes a lot quicker than Andoo Comanche, so I don't think Andoo have a lot of options here, I think they're going to get rolled … really aggressive moves by LawConnect," said Lisa Darmanin, a commentator for the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. 

But, not long after Andoo Comanche snatched it back again.

Then, in the second-closest finish in race history, LawConnect came back about 100 metres from the finish line. 

After being runner-up three times in a row, the sweetest moment arrived for Christian Beck as LawConnect crossed the finish line in a time of 1 day, 19 hours, 3 minutes and 58 seconds.

"I can't believe that result. Honestly it's a dream come true," he said.

How did they pull it off?

So just how did the "underdog" manage to snatch the win away from Andoo Comanche after it held the lead comfortably while rounding the Tasman Peninsula and entering the River Derwent?

As we've heard, a lack of wind was a big factor.

"Our boat is big and wide and heavy and it's fast offshore but it is terribly slow when it is bumpy and no wind," the disappointed skipper of Andoo Comanche, John Winning said. 

"[As the finish line neared] we sent a guy up the rig and he said 'There's no wind at the finish, zero wind at the finish.'" 

But sailors are used to dealing with changes in wind so strategy was obviously a major factor at play too.

As well as the "aggressive jibing" from LawConnect, the winners were focused on learning from Andoo's "mistakes".

"Broadly, the strategy is to watch them and if they get into a bad spot, we avoid that bad spot," Beck said.

Spectator craft another factor

Then there were all the spectator boats to contend with.

In the final moments, a catamaran passed closely to Andoo Comanche and the crew was seen yelling and gesturing.

"We had all the spectator boats and we're trying to clear them out and they were like 'You've won', and we were like 'No! We have not won yet. Stop making waves everything is going to make a difference,'" Winning said.

Tasmania Police said action would be taken against a 57-year-old man for "allegedly breaching" marine and safety regulations.

"The man was skippering a private vessel when it reportedly encroached into the exclusion zone set by Marine and Safety Tasmania," it said in a statement.

The offence carries a fine of up to $3,900.

Winning said he didn't blame spectators for the result.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, I wish there were 500 of them," he said.

"It's even, everyone gets the same thing if they were ahead of us they would have had the wash but unfortunately we got the wash.

"Makes a little difference but that didn't cost us the race, we cost us the race."

And as the bubbly flows for the LawConnect crew, Beck is joking about now being able to offload the "shitbox".

"It's probably a good afternoon to sell it, the afternoon it beats Comanche, probably its highlight of its career, I'm sure."

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