October 4, 2024
Jessica Watson on ELLA BACHE, Sail No: 19191 ( Photo by Rolex / Kurt Arrigo)
Jessica Watson on ELLA BACHE, Sail No: 19191 ( Photo by Rolex / Kurt Arrigo)

88 international crews are to set sail on Monday, 26th December in the 67th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Conditions this year are set to be diverse and challenging, but initial forecasts are not showing any extreme weather.

According to Rob Webb, Regional Director of the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology, Monday’s start from Sydney Harbour, at 1300 local time, will be accompanied by 15-20 knot northerlies, providing an initial blast south for the crews. But this will be shortlived. Later that afternoon, southerly/SSWerly headwinds are expected to fill in on the north side of Bass Strait and up the New South Wales coast. Two days in and the weather on the south side of Bass Strait and down the east coast of Tasman turns into a lottery, with light patchy wind dominating the course until an area of high pressure moves in from the west later in the week.

Clear favourite for line honours is of course Bob Oatley’s 100ft maxi Wild Oats XI, first to Hobart in five of the last six races and winner of the ‘triple’ (line and handicap honours, plus the course record) in 2005. Anticipating stiff competition this year from American George David’s Rambler 100 (until her keel snapped off in the Rolex Fastnet Race this August), so Wild Oats XI has over the last 18 months been significantly turboed, with twin daggerboards replacing her forward ‘canard’, a new keel, the canting angle of her keel increased and her mainsail and spinnakers enlarged, etc. But given the latest forecast, even with her increased horsepower, tactician Iain Murray says Wild Oats XI is still only going to get down to Hobart in two days four to five hours, some way outside of her one day 18 hour and 40 minute record.

“We will barrel out of Sydney, probably look for some leverage in the east so that we get some runway to land us back on the coast as the breeze starts to turn to the southwest,” says Murray. “Then we’ll go straight across Bass Straight and after that it is pretty sketchy how it is going to be off the east Tasmanian coast. It is always difficult there. You end up with patches of no wind and the breeze goes over the top of Tasmania.”
The last half is all up in the air and that could be good for us   Stan Honey – INVESTEC LOYAL

Sailing with the celebrity crew, including Australian rugby union internationals Phil Kearns and Phil Waugh, on Anthony Bell’s maxi Investec Loyal, American navigator Stan Honey does not see much opportunity for their 100 footer until the latter half of the race. “If it was really windy or really light it would be less of a difference. The last half is all up in the air and that could be good for us, but the dice will have to roll in our favour a few times.”

The general consensus is that if the varying forecast is likely to favour one size range this year, then it would be the mid-fleet, the 40-60 footers.

At the top end of this band falls Stephen Ainsworth’s three year old Reichel Pugh 63 Loki, one of Australia’s most successful race boats. Most recently Loki was winner of the 2010-11 Bluewater Pointscore Championship, the result of a spectacular season in which she regularly podiumed, and won line honours and her class in the Audi Sydney Offshore Newcastle Yacht Race.

Slightly down the size range are the eight 52 footers, including five former TP52s. One of the most successful of these is Ragamuffin, the Farr-designed former Pegasus/Morning Light, owned by one of the Australia’s most eminent yachtsmen Syd Fischer. Aged 84, Fischer this year sets off on his 43rd Rolex Sydney Hobart.

Tony Cable on the boom of DUENDE, the TP52 on which Cable is to sail his 46th Sydney-Hobart race. DUENDE, Sail No: ESP6100, Owner: Damien Parkes, Design: Judel Vrolijk 52, LOA (m): 15.4, State: NSW  (Photo by  Rolex / Kurt Arrigo)
Tony Cable on the boom of DUENDE, the TP52 on which Cable is to sail his 46th Sydney-Hobart race. DUENDE, Sail No: ESP6100, Owner: Damien Parkes, Design: Judel Vrolijk 52, LOA (m): 15.4, State: NSW (Photo by Rolex / Kurt Arrigo)

Having won the race in 1992, Fischer says the accuracy of the weather forecasts for the race are better these days than they used to be, but does not seem overly bullish in this year’s predictions favouring boats in Ragamuffin’s size range. “I will confirm that when I see it. I don’t trust the forecast and the weather is very volatile at the moment.”

Despite having a slightly shorter boat, Chris Bull, the British owner and skipper of Jazz, says that his Cookson 50 invariably beats the TP52s offshore on handicap, but even he is not confident of their prospects with the present weather forecast.

“We’d like it to be breezy upwind and breezy downwind. But we definitely need some breezy upwind. A couple of days ago it was looking good. Unfortunately the forecast seems to be backing off a bit in terms of the wind strength. It is not looking too bad for us, but not as good as last year when there were pretty gnarly conditions which suited us.”
In fact I would say no race of less
than 2,000 miles is as tough as this one
Chris Bull – JAZZ

Having this year competed in the Atlantic Ocean Racing Series, comprising races in the Caribbean, US east coast, a transatlantic race and then the Rolex Fastnet Race, Bull still believes the Rolex Sydney Hobart is the toughest of the ‘classic 600 milers’: “Conditions are generically tougher – you are in the Southern Ocean, generally you experience stronger winds and every year you get strong winds, which is not true of the others. The water is colder than it is for any of the other 600 mile races. In fact I would say no race of less than 2,000 miles is as tough as this one. I have done Round Britain and Ireland which is 1,760 miles – that’s not as tough as this race.”

At the bottom end of the favoured mid-fleet is a new boat in the hands the handicap winners of the 1998 race. The new AFR Midnight Rambler, owned by Ed Psaltis, Bob Thomas and Michael Bencsik, is a Ker 40 production race boat from British designer Jason Ker. The boat, with its massive flare aft, is unusual for being fast both upwind and downwind while also rating well under IRC.
It is going to be a brutal race for us and quite wet, but if you are going fast the discomfort is quite tolerable
“It is quite unique to have a boat that is strong on all points of sails,” says Psaltis. “We are very pleased with it so far. It is quite radical. It is going to be a brutal race for us and quite wet, but if you are going fast the discomfort is quite tolerable.” However he admits they are on a steep learning curve with the boat having only taken ownership in September.

As to the forecast, Psaltis says they were hoping to get more downwind sailing at the outset, but says they should also be strong when the wind backs into the south. “The first day and a half looks good for us. The Tasman coast is still a lottery. The report today was the different to the report we saw yesterday and it will change again tomorrow.”

A dark horse could be the all-French crew aboard Jacques Pelletier’s X-43 L’Ange de Milon. Among her crew of Pelletier’s family and friends are three sailors who normally compete in the singlehanded Figaro class, among them Nicolas Lunven, 2009 winner of the class’ premier event, La Solitaire du Figaro. While L’Ange de Milon competed in the Rolex Sydney Hobart last year, this is Lunven’s first time and he says he is looking forward to it. However he adds they may not see their ideal weather: “She likes lots of wind and upwind, which is good for the boat, but not very good for the crew!”

Unusually, the bottom end of the fleet is likely to get considerable attention locally as the Sydney 38 class includes Ella Bache. This is skippered by 18 year old, Jessica Watson, who famously sailed around the world singlehanded when she was just 16, becoming a media sensation in Australia in the process. Watson’s youth crew also includes Britain’s Michael Perham, 19, who sailed singlehanded around the world when he was 17.

“I have never sailed in the Rolex Sydney Hobart race, but as a navigator I’ve been studying it a lot recently, looking at the weather patterns and the current around here which are big factors for us small boats,” said Perham, who is down in Australia, after Watson competed with him in the UK this year in the Round the Island Race.

The Rolex Sydney Hobart sets sail at 13:00 local time from within Sydney Harbour.
Rolex Sydney Hobart Race 2011 Entries

Accenture Yeah Baby8362NSWGP42
AFR Midnight Rambler8338NSWKer 40
Alacrity7447QLDBeneteau First 44.7
Alchemy III5976TASBeneteau 57
AuroraN3NSWFarr 40 – One Off
BacardiSM377VICPeterson 44
Balance7771NSWBeneteau 45
Brindabella10000NSWJutson 79
Cadibarra 8R420VICJones 42
CalmSM5252VICTP52
CarinaUSA315USAMcCurdy & Rhodes 48
CelestialG421NSWRogers 46
Chancellor6834NSWBeneteau First 40
ChutzpahR33VICIRC 40
ColorTile67NSWSayer 44.9
Copernicus6689NSWRadford 12
Cougar IISM5200TASTP52
Deloitte As One2005NSWSydney 38
Dodo8488NSWSydney 38
DuendeESP6100NSWJV52
Dump TruckA6TASKer 11.3
ElektraR2099NSWBeneteau 47.7
Ella Bache2004NSWSydney 38
Eressea6590QLDHanse
Ffreefire 52HKG2238Hong KongTP52
Flying Fish Arctos7551NSWRadford 16.4
FullynpushingM25VICSydney 38
Hugo BossGBR8055UKOpen 60
IcefireR6572NSWMummery 45
Ichi BanAUS 03NSWJones 70
Illusion5356NSWDavidson 34
Investec LoyalSYD100NSWMaxi
Jazz5299NSWCookson 50
Jazz PlayerS390VICBakewell – White 39
Kioni6146NSWBeneteau First 47.7
Kiss Goodbye to MSS37VICInglis 39
Knee DeepHY161WAFarr 49
L’ange De MilonFRA29999FranceX 43
Lahana10081NSW30m Maxi
Last Tango8975NSWSalona 44
Living DollR55VICFarr 55
LMR SolarM161NSWSayer 40
LokiAUS60000NSWReichel Pugh 63
Lunchtime LegendRQ14QLDBeneteau First 40
Maluka Of KermandieA19NSW
Martela7075TASIMX 38
MenaceM24NSWPhillips/Simpson 11.7
Merit8679QLDVolvo 60
Mille SabordsSM381VICSydney 38
Minerva6837NSWDK 43
Mondo5656QLDSydney 38
Natelle Two2555TASPeterson 41 2 Tonne
NemesisUSA69200USAC & C 41
Not NegotiableS521TASUFO34
NSC MahligaiNZL1NSWSydney 46
NutcrackerSM3500VICX35
Ocean AffinityRQ64QLDMarten 49
One For The RoadN40NSWA40
Optimus PrimeCR1WAMarten 49
Outrageous FortuneNZ9138New ZealandBeneteau First 45
Papillon6841NSWArchambault 40RC
Patrice IVYC271SABeneteau First 45
Patrice Six360NSWX41
Pretty Fly III10007NSWCookson 50
Quetzalcoatl2001NSWJones 40
RagamuffinAUS 70NSWTP52
Samurai Jack88888QLDFarr39mlMOD
Scarlet RunnerSM11VICReichel Pugh 52
She4924NSWOlsen 40
Shepherd Centre11407NSWBeneteau 40.7
Shogun6952VICJV 52
Southern ExcellenceNOR2NSWVolvo 60
St Jude6686NSWSydney 47
StrewthGBR5211LHong KongTP52
SweethartRQ2001QLDJutson 39
The Banshee4100NSWMBD41
The Goat7027NSWSydney 38
TSA ManagementMH60NSWSydney 38
Two TrueYC400SABeneteau First 40
Vamp43218NSWCorby 49
Victoire1545NSWBeneteau First 45
WasabiAUS 88NSWSayer 12 MOD
Wave Sweeper7407NSWBeneteau First 40.7
WhistlerL77TASMBD36
Wild Oats XI10001NSWRP100
Wild Rose4343NSWFarr 43
Wild ThingM10QLDIRC Maxi 98
Willyama335NSWBeneteau First 40
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