yacht race australia

Andoo Comanche leads the charge on day two of Sydney to Hobart yacht race after chaotic start

The battle for the first-across-the-line honours in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race is shaping up as a four-way fight, as a quartet of supermaxis charge down Tasmania's east coast.

Key points:

• Andoo Comanche has the lead, with the other supermaxis LawConnect, Hamilton Island Wild Oats XI and Black Jack in pursuit
• A team member on LawConnect says the weather conditions of this year and last year had been "polar opposites"
• The first finishers are expected into Hobart early on Wednesday morning

As of 7pm, favourite Andoo Comanche is still in the lead, with LawConnect, Hamilton Island Wild Oats XI and Black Jack all within striking distance of the  JH Illingworth Trophy  — also know as Line Honours.

Currently, it is expected the first yacht to cross the finish line 22.2 kilometres up the River Derwent will do so around sometime very early on Wednesday.

That will not threaten the record set by LDV Comanche in a time of one day, nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds in 2017.

On Tuesday afternoon, Koa retired due to rudder damage, extending a run of bad luck for the boat from New South Wales, with engine failure ending the team's race in 2016.

NSW Police have advised "everyone on board [Koa] safe and well".

Koa is the third retirement in this year's race.

The two-handed boat Avalanche retired early in the race, with a reported damaged bowsprit, while Yeah Baby retired early on Monday evening.

Earlier on Tuesday, Tony Mutter, sailing with LawConnect, said the contrast in weather between this year and last year's event had been startling.

Mutter told the ABC "conditions are pretty nice" for the crew, as they raced towards Tasman Island before the right hand turn to Hobart.

He said it was a "polar opposite" to last year's experience, weather-wise.

"I was wearing thermals, we were in thunder and lightning," he said.

"Now, I am in a T-shirt, shorts and life jacket."

Mutter said LawConnect lost ground to Black Jack during a sail switch, when the team anticipated a weather change, but then reverted to what they had previously when that did not happen.

"We are back up to 100 per cent speed now. We have Black Jack breathing down our neck, Wild Oats over my shoulder over the horizon," he said.

"We are pretty happy with it all, we have surprised ourselves and everyone, we didn't know we would be as good as we are."

Justin Schaffer, on board Andoo Comanche, said his team have had "a great night, a dream run" leading into Tuesday.

"The crew is holding up well and so is the boat."

In the race for the Tattersalls Cup — also known as overall honours — a number of boats are neck and neck, including Mistral, which is a two-hander team (two people), as of 6pm Tuesday.

Earlier, Commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Arthur Lane, said that, although the leaders were behind the race record, the breeze would pick up into Tuesday afternoon.

"You might then find them catching up on that race record time," he said.

"At this stage, they have very good seas. They are not large seas but, as the breeze increases in the afternoon, the waves will get bigger, but these boats were made for it. They won't be too concerned about the size of the water.

"I think, as they get closer to Tasmania and down to the south end of it before they go up the Derwent, there could be a southerly change, in which case it will be a spinnaker finish ... this year will be an exhilarating finish."

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds from early Wednesday morning, saying averages of 60 to 70 kilometres per hour were likely over parts of the state, with peak gusts in excess of 100km/h.

Monday saw a chaotic start to the 77th edition of the bluewater classic, with near-misses, protests and penalties for the big four.

Hamilton Island Wild Oats skipper Mark Richards let loose a number of audible obscenities on the TV coverage as he and his crew tried to navigate their way to the Sydney Heads and out into the ocean for the trip south.

Andoo Comanche had a poor start, not getting enough clear wind to move ahead of its rivals, and was then jammed by other craft. It then misjudged a turn and hit the mark, losing even more ground.

On board Hamilton Island Wild Oats, a spirited conversation took place between skipper Mark Richards and navigator Stan Honey, with suggestions the boat may have infringed rejected by Richards.

Finally, Richards relented, ordering the crew to "Deploy the jib! Deploy the jib!" before completing a 720-degree turn.

At one point, Black Jack cut back across two of its rivals, running a fine line between LawConnect and Hamilton Island Wild Oats.

Wild Oats crewman Chris Links said the drama continued overnight, with a seam splitting across one of their downwind sails.

The crew were forced to pull the sail down to repair it, which took them an hour and a half, Links told NewsLocal this morning.

• X (formerly Twitter)

Related Stories

Why you should watch the sydney to hobart yacht race.

Andoo Comanche close to own record pace in fast start to Sydney to Hobart

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

On Some Boats for the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Three’s a Crowd

Smaller vessels with two-man crews are competing for the first time. But, thanks to their use of autopilots, they can’t win the top trophy.

By David Schmidt

There’s a beautiful simplicity to two-handed offshore sailboat racing: two sailors, one boat and a lot of blue.

For many offshore sailors, participating in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race aboard a fully crewed boat is a serious undertaking. But the 18 two-handed teams competing in this year’s edition of this 628-nautical-mile race are sharing an entire team’s worth of adventure — and responsibility — with just one other person.

In 2019, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, which organizes the race, announced a new two-handed division for the 2020 race. The decision was driven by a global surge in the popularity of short-handed sailing and the prospect of a mixed two-person keelboat offshore event at the Paris 2024 Olympics in Paris.

But the 2020 Sydney Hobart race was canceled because of the pandemic, and then the International Olympic Committee did not add the keelboat event to the Paris Games.

Still, the Sydney Hobart’s newest class has become popular and accounts for 19 percent of the 94-boat fleet at the starting line on Sunday.

“I am a big fan of the double-handed sailing concept, and it is great to see the Rolex Sydney to Hobart organizers embracing this side of the sport,” said Stu Bannatyne of New Zealand, an experienced offshore sailor who has won the Volvo Ocean Race four times. “The race for sure has inherent risks as we all well know, and double-handing it just means the crew needs to be very aware of the limitations of themselves and the boat.”

Wendy Tuck, a veteran of 13 Sydney Hobart races, is on a two-handed boat this year.

“I wanted a new adventure,” said Tuck, the only female sailor to have won an around-the-world race as skipper. Tuck is sailing with her co-skipper Campbell Geeves aboard Speedwell , a Beneteau 34.7. “It’s the smallest boat that I’ve gone south on,” she said, referring to Hobart. She added that while she has done a lot of short-handed sailing, she is still new to two-handed racing.

Rob Gough, a veteran of the 2019 race and an accomplished dinghy sailor, said it was the challenge that attracted him to two-handed racing. He and John Saul, a veteran of the 1998 race that killed six sailors and sank five boats, are sailing their Akilaria Class 40, Sidewinder.

“We both like being really involved,” Gough said, adding that with two-handed racing both sailors get to be “skipper, cook, trimmer, tactician, radio operator and navigator.”

Serious offshore sailors often say that races are really won during the boat preparation before the race. Two-handed sailing is no different, except that there are fewer crew members to tackle the details.

Given the race’s tough reputation, organizers require teams to complete qualifications, including first-aid certification, radio-operator training and survival-at-sea instruction. Aboard fully crewed boats, only some of the sailors need to complete this training. In the two-handed division, both skippers must fulfill these requirements, in addition to completing previous (and specific) offshore races and a 24-hour passage together on their boats.

Then there is the task of outfitting a boat to potentially withstand more than 50-knot winds and massive seas.

“The boat has done 30,000-odd miles of two-handed sailing, so it’s all set up,” said Rod Smallman, who is racing aboard Maverick, a Jeanneau Sun Fast 3600, with his co-skipper Leeton Hulley. This is Smallman’s second Sydney Hobart race and Hulley’s seventh. “Once it’s set up, it’s all tinkering and maintenance.”

One decision about two-handed racing equipment has been controversial.

Autopilot systems, which steer a boat to a specified compass course or wind angle, free the crew to trim sails, perform other duties or rest. Unlike fully crewed boats, two-handed teams can use autopilots in this year’s race.

However, the yacht club announced last year that two-handed teams would not qualify for the Tattersall Cup, which is awarded to the race’s overall corrected-time (handicap) winner. The two-handed division is competing for its own trophy.

“We need to better understand the level of advantage that autopilots might provide to yachts of differing types,” Noel Cornish, the club’s commodore, who officiates for the club, said last year. “The status and prestige of the Tattersall Cup in world sailing requires a thorough understanding of all the issues before any new division is granted eligibility.”

Not surprisingly, some two-handed teams were not pleased.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I was really disappointed that we’re not racing for the Tattersall,” Tuck said, noting that some crewed boats use powered winches to trim their sails and hydraulic systems to swing their canting keels. “But at the end of the day, I’m really happy we can enter as a two-handed boat.”

Smallman was also disappointed and noted that other international races allowed these teams to compete for the same top-shelf trophy as fully crewed boats.

Unlike human drivers, whose ability to steer a precise course typically wanes after 20 or 30 minutes, autopilots never tire. But Matt Eeles, product director for the autopilot manufacturer B&G, said that when sailing in big waves, autopilots were purely reactionary, not predictive, as they cannot see ahead or behind the yacht. “I think a human would outperform an autopilot in these conditions,” he said.

Some high-budget round-the-world sailing teams have recently developed autopilots that incorporate sophisticated gyro-stabilized compasses, secondary processing computers, custom software and sensor networks, but this is not the technology that Gough, Smallman and Tuck are using.

“It’s a bit rich to suggest that autopilots will give us an advantage to fully crewed boats,” Gough said, explaining that Sidewinder has a B&G autopilot.

Critically, the race crosses Bass Strait , a section of about 160 nautical miles that separates southern Australia and Tasmania. Average water depth is roughly 200 feet. Couple these shallow waters with the generally south-flowing East Australia Current and the strong southerly weather fronts — “busters” in race parlance — that oppose the current, and the seas can, and regularly do, become ferocious.

“If you’ve got the skills to put your boat where the wind is, it’s going to beat having a better autopilot every single day of the week,” Smallman said, adding that he still planned to let the autopilot drive whenever possible. “Boat handling. Seamanship. There’s just a list as long as your arm that’s going to outperform the importance of a pilot.”

Other two-handed skippers, including Tuck and Geeves, also plan to predominantly use their autopilot and focus on sail trim and tactics.

Regardless, sleep deprivation is a concern for two-handed teams in the multiday race.

“We’ll get into our rest cycle two or three hours after the start,” said Gough, explaining that he and Saul would alternate between sailing and resting every two hours.

Smallman and Hulley plan to run a similar schedule, weather depending, with roughly 15-minute crossovers at the below-decks navigation table, looking at their charts, weather forecasts and their tactical racing software. “We sort of tend to play little games,” Smallman said. “We might try to make a mile on the boat in front of us within our shifts.”

Then there is changing sails or reducing the amount of sail area alone or with the other sailor. “Getting the spinnaker down is the toughest part,” Tuck said. While more modern boats have spinnakers that can be furled into snakelike rolls using winches and then lowered in a controlled manner, Speedwell is old-school.

“We have to get the spinnaker down while it’s still set,” she said, describing wrestling with the huge, still-inflated sail. “It’s a big challenge.”

This challenge will be greatly magnified if the weather turns serious.

While the bigger, faster boats can sometimes out sail the worst storms, Tuck expects to see at least two busters en route to Hobart. “Hopefully no more,” she said. “The Hobart can be so rough, and we’re in a tiny little boat.”

Others note that, while the changing climate has recently delivered relatively mild Sydney Hobart races, all bull markets end. “There hasn’t been a rough race for a few years,” Gough said. “We’re well and truly due in for one.”

Should that happen, it will be seamanship, experience and preparation, not autopilots, that will dictate the results. “It’s all in the wind gods and each team’s decisions,” Tuck said. “And that word, luck.”

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• March Madness
• AP Top 25 Poll
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Personal finance
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

Sailing milestone: A half-century of starts for a competitor in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race

• Copy Link copied

SYDNEY (AP) — Lindsay May will notch a first in the 78-year history of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race when he becomes the only sailor to start it 50 times — all of them consecutively — when it begins Tuesday in Sydney harbor.

May, with three overall titles and one line-honors win, will navigate “Antipodes” in the expected 103-boat fleet in the annual race that will head down the New South Wales south coast and across often treacherous Bass Strait to the island state of Tasmania.

The finish line of the 628-nautical mile (720-mile, 1,170-kilometer) race is at Constitution Dock in the state capital of Hobart.

May’s sailing career began in 1973 , when the-then 24-year-old stepped off his surf board and on to a yacht.

“I never thought I would get to 50 and I had no idea what I was in for,” May said. “I had done very little racing. Then I went sailing here on the harbor with a mate of mine who was in the navy and I was just hooked.”

In 2006, May and his crew won handicap honors as the skipper and navigator of the 33-year-old wooden vessel Love & War. But he counts his most memorable race as the one he didn’t finish.

In 1993, when only 38 out of 104 starters finished due to poor weather conditions, May plucked fellow competitor John Quinn out of the Tasman Sea. Quinn had been washed overboard and spent nearly six hours in the water.

Last year’s fast conditions appeared to put the line honors record of one day, nine hours, 15 minutes, 24 seconds, under threat. That record was set by 100-foot super maxi Andoo Comanche in 2017, and Comanche also won last year’s race .

On Sunday, skipper John Winning Jr. suggested Andoo Comanche would defend its line honors title in any conditions as the race’s weather forecast remained unpredictable.

The Bureau of Meteorology says uncertainty remained as to wind, wave and weather conditions.

The four 100-foot super maxi yachts may have to contend with stormy conditions from late Tuesday into Wednesday, with showers, gusts and hail all possible for the far south of New South Wales and Bass Strait.

“Pack another set of thermal gear. It’ll be cold,” said SHK Scallywag skipper David Witt, another of the super maxis.

The forecast has changed throughout the week, leaving crews to suggest that having an adaptable navigator on board could be a game-changer.

“For us, it’s about trusting each person’s role on the boat,” Winning said. “We back our boat in any conditions to win the race, whether it’s upwind, downwind, light wind, reaching or whatever it is.”

Last year, Comanche finished at Constitution Dock in one day, 11 hours, 56 minutes and 48 seconds — the second-fastest time behind its 2017 record.

LawConnect, runner-up for line honors in the last three Hobarts, is Comanche’s biggest threat to clinching back-to-back wins. LawConnect, formerly known as InfoTrack and Perpetual Loyal, is particularly strong upwind.

“If we could get that all the way, that’d be awesome,” said sailing master Tony Mutter.

Super maxi LawConnect won’t shy away from the rough conditions that could come with a predicted low pressure system.

“We actually prefer it, the more tactical it is, the better for us, we feel,” Mutter said. “We kind of need that to be a thing for us to have a chance to win.”

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

• Skip to content
• Skip to footer

• Français

ROLEX SYDNEY HOBART YACHT RACE: DEFINED BY AN INTREPID SPIRIT AND CAMARADERIE

Geneva, 23 December 2021 - The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race holds a towering status in the world of sailing. It captures the attention of a nation and enjoys a glowing international reputation that has long transcended the traditional boundaries of the sport. Rolex has partnered this legendary competition and its organizers, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA), since 2002.

Over its three-quarters of a century history, the race has provided a platform for human achievement and endeavour, qualities that align with Rolex's core philosophy and which underpin the Swiss watchmaker's more than 60-year involvement in yachting. The 76th edition is scheduled for the traditional lunchtime start on 26 December, with a fleet of more than 90 yachts expected to take on the famous 628-nautical mile (1,010 kilometres) course.

Some 60,000 sailors and 7,000 yachts have taken part in the race since its inception in 1945. From its beginnings, competitors have been drawn to the scale and unpredictability of the challenge, and to the demands on their skills in both preparing and handling their yacht.

After a spectacular departure from Sydney Harbour, the fleet heads south along the New South Wales coast of the Tasman Sea before crossing Bass Strait to tackle the east coast of Tasmania, Storm Bay and the final 12-nm (22 km) stretch in the often decisive, and sometimes cruel, Derwent River, before finishing in Hobart. Most entrants spend four to five days at sea. Watch systems and resources need to be managed assiduously. To negotiate the testing conditions requires willpower, experience and intuition.

Sir Ben Ainslie, a Rolex Testimonee, four-time Olympic gold medallist and helm of the Great Britain SailGP Team, is a past competitor and says: The experience gave me a real appreciation of the sailing prowess and camaraderie inherent in offshore racing, especially within the Corinthian boats taking two or three times as long and being not quite as comfortable as the maxis. A neat part of these races is the fact that handicap means, whatever the size of boat, everyone has a chance to win. The weather plays a part but smaller amateur-sailed boats often win against the professionals.

Winning the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race overall after time correction and securing the coveted Tattersall Cup guarantees a place in yachting folklore. Matt Allen's Ichi Ban has won two of the past three editions, in 2017 and 2019. Should the Australian boat emerge victorious again, she will join two of the race's most celebrated names, Freya (1963, 1964, 1965) and Love & War (1974, 1978, 2006), on three victories.

Beyond the competition to win overall, the consistent presence of some of the world's most impressive 100-foot (30.5 metre) Maxi yachts has produced epic contests in the battle to be first across the finish line. The race record currently stands at 33 hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds, set by  Comanche  in 2017. Arriving in Hobart inside two days, a marker first set in 1999, has been achieved in each of the past four editions.

The Rolex Sydney Hobart attracts both professional and Corinthian sailors. Leaders from the political, business and entertainment worlds, as well as stars from other sports, have been drawn to participate. This all adds to the race’s appeal, which is already bolstered by a distinctive position in the sailing calendar and the pioneering feats of those who have confronted its many obstacles over the years. Matt Allen, a former Commodore of the CYCA, spent decades trying to win the event as a skipper. His story is one of persistence, of the time it can take to acquire the experience and knowledge to succeed. Having completed his 30th race to Hobart in 2019, he remarked:

“Over the years, I’ve seen amazing boats participate but it’s actually the people that  make this race and ocean racing what they are.”

Intrepid human spirit lies at the heart of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race’s creation and remains its foundation today. Rolex is proud to support a sporting contest that mirrors the brand’s own Perpetual spirit: humbly adapting to the elements, constantly seeking to improve and summoning one’s deepest resources.

A NATURAL AND SUPPORTIVE PARTNER Rolex has always associated with activities driven by passion, excellence, precision and team spirit. The Swiss watchmaker naturally gravitated towards the elite world of yachting six decades ago and the brand's enduring partnership now encompasses the most prestigious clubs, races and regattas, as well as towering figures in the sport, including ground-breaking round-the-world yachtsman Sir Francis Chichester and the most successful Olympic sailor of all time, Sir Ben Ainslie. Today, Rolex is Title Sponsor of 15 major international events - from leading offshore races such as the annual Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and the biennial Rolex Fastnet Race, to grand prix competition at the Rolex TP52 World Championship and spectacular gatherings at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the Rolex Swan Cup. It also supports the exciting SailGP global championship in which national teams race identical supercharged F50 catamarans on some of the world's most famous harbours. Rolex's partnerships with the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, New York Yacht Club and Royal Yacht Squadron, among others, are the foundation of its enduring relationship with this dynamic sport.

Contact details

Virginie Chevailler

Giles Pearman

Related News

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Sydney to Hobart yacht race: fleet sets off under dark skies after heavy storm threatens start

• Weather forecast is for storms and strong winds across first two days
• LawConnect leads fleet across the start line in Sydney Harbour

The 78th edition of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race has begun under dark skies that threatened to be much worse as the scheduled start time approached.

Thunderstorms, heavy rain and strong winds blanketed Sydney Harbour an hour before the 1pm AEDT start but cleared as the 103-vessel fleet jostled for position.

LawConnect timed their run best to lead early, with SHK Scallywag next across the start line as the fleet began their journey towards the heads.

The 2022 winner Andoo Comanche moved into second place as the four supermaxis rounded the first mark, but soon raised a protest against Scallywag after the boats came within metres of a collision.

Scallywag later completed a 720-degree penalty turn off the coast of Bondi Beach in a bid to avoid a possible time sanction.

Crowds lined the best vantage points along the shore all the way to the lighthouse at South Head, although with wet weather forecast the number of spectators was down on previous years.

Competitors in this year’s Sydney to Hobart have been warned to brace for choppy conditions as thunderstorms and strong winds are forecast for Australia’s biggest boat race.

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast wild conditions, including heavy rainfall, lightning, poor visibility and potentially hail.

Sudden and erratic wind changes, hail, rain and reduced visibility are all on the cards across the first two days of racing, the bureau said.

Easterly winds as strong as 35 knots are forecast for the far NSW coast on the night of Boxing Day and could affect the bigger boats in the fleet.

“What we’re looking at today is that trough forming over the eastern part of NSW,” said senior meteorologist Gabrielle Woodhouse.

“There is a potential for severe thunderstorms building up over the land and that also means that we could see those conditions over the water.”

Iain Murray, the sailing master of Andoo Comanche, which took line honours last year, predicted the stormy conditions would pose unique challenges for the four 100ft supermaxis jostling to reach Hobart first.

“We don’t like thunderstorms,” Murray said. “We get wet but it’s also very volatile for the wind.

“These big 100 footers, you have big sails and little sails and changing them is quite a process so you have to be well ahead of the curve and plan for it.

“It’s not like a little boat where it’s just “bang”, change the sails. It’s a half-hour mission to rig the boat for whatever you get. These volatile conditions are really testing for the big boats.”

after newsletter promotion

Woodhouse said that as the low pressure system causing the severe weather moved further out to sea from Wednesday, racers could expect a more “predictable” race.

“We’ll be seeing those easterly winds through parts of the Bass Strait, down towards Tasmania. After that, things look more predictable, with south-westerly winds around Tasmania and the strait towards the second half of the week.”

The thunderstorms are expected to shape the early stages of the race along the NSW coast and through Bass Strait, with the quicker boats likely to see less of the storm compared with the rest of the pack.

“It really comes down to how quickly some of the boats can get down to Tasmania – the earlier they get there, the more likely it is they will see less of the risk associated with the storms,” Woodhouse said.

The storms were expected to be “intense”, Woodhouse said..

“We are looking at really quite gusty and erratic winds. So that can mean that the wind direction and speed will quickly change and increase by quite a lot. So it can be quite dangerous out on the water.

“Along with the risk of lightning, heavy rain, and a potential hailstorm, it really is quite a lot.”

More than 100 boats will compete in the 78th edition of the Sydney to Hobart race, organised by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

The fastest record for the roughly 1,170km journey was set by LDV Comanche , which finished the race in one day, nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds.

Last year the winning yacht, Andoo Comanche, crossed the finish line in one day, 11 hours, 56 minutes and 48 seconds.

• Sydney to Hobart yacht race
• Australia weather

Most viewed

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023

Entries open for 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

• 09 Jun, 2022 10:45:00 AM

The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia is pleased to welcome entries from eligible yachts for the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

The 77 th edition of the historic 628 nautical mile race will start in Sydney Harbour on Monday 26 December 2022.

The Rolex Sydney Hobart made a celebrated return in 2021, with 88 boats tackling rough conditions and challenging light breeze in a race that had it all.

The easing of interstate and international border restrictions promises to entice boats from across Australia and abroad to this legendary blue water challenge.

For the first time in race history, eligible two-handed boats will be able to compete for the Tattersall Cup, awarded to the overall winner on IRC.

"In the face of much adversity, including border restrictions and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was great to see such a strong fleet for the return of the race in 2021," said CYCA Commodore, Noel Cornish AM.

"Competitors battled conditions that typified the challenge which makes the Rolex Sydney Hobart one of the world’s greatest offshore races.

"It was a pleasure to welcome competitors to the CYCA ahead of the race start and we look forward to seeing crews from far and wide return to the race.

"I would like to thank our Race Sponsor, Rolex, for their ongoing support as we celebrate our 20th year of partnership in 2022."

Matt Allen’s Botin 52, Ichi Ban, was crowned Overall winner of the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart , clinching a record-equalling third Tattersall Cup.

Peter Harburg's Reichel/Pugh 100, Black Jack (skippered by Mark Bradford) , won Line Honours , with Disko Trooper_Contender Sailcloth (Jules Hall/Jan Scholten) and Sidewinder (Rob Gough/John Saul) claiming wins on handicap and Line Honours respectively in the inaugural Two-Handed Division.

Entries for the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart close at 1700hrs on Friday 28 October 2022.

VIEW THE NOTICE OF RACE

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

VIDEO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Official Prizegiving

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

AUDIO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Sked 6

• Line Honours

Full Standings available approximately three hours after the start.

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!

• CLASSIFIEDS
• NEWSLETTERS
• SUBMIT NEWS

2024 Etchells World Championships at Fremantle Sailing Club - Day 1

Related Articles