history of sydney to hobart yacht race

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023

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An elegant gaff-rigged cutter on which champagne corks are frequently heard to pop; a battered, steel-hulled cutter which has sailed among the icebergs of Antarctica; a stoutly-built, double-ended cutter now cruising the Caribbean; a sloop owned and skippered by a yachtsman who was to become Prime Minister of England; maxi yachts from Australia, America, New Zealand, South Africa, Germany and Denmark; a tiny half tonner from Tasmania with a rather suggestive insignia on its transom.

Then there's been a state-of-the-art ocean racer developed from America's Cup technology, a one-off little sloop from an Aussie designer, the latest design for an IMS ocean racer, a latest design for an IRC ocean racer, a round-the-world 60-footer, the maximum 30m length Reichel/Pugh maxi taking line and handicap honours and setting a new course record, the a classic Sparkman & Stephens 47 winning the Tattersall Cup for the third time, and an eighth consecutive line honours win, the first time a boat has achieved this feat since 1948.

What do these yachts of widely varying age, size, shape, construction and rig have in common?

They have all achieved a place in Australian and international yachting history by taking line honours or winning overall handicap honours on corrected time in Australia's most famous ocean race, the annual Rolex Sydney Hobart which ranks in world status with the Rolex Fastnet Race in England and the Newport to Bermuda Race in the USA.

The yachts mentioned above,  Nerida, Solo, Freya, Morning Cloud, Kialoa, New Zealand Endeavour (called Tasmania for the 50th Sydney Hobart in 1994), Ragamuffin, Morning Glory, Screw Loose, Brindabella, Ondine, Sayonara,Terra Firma, AFR Midnight Rambler, Yendys, SAP Ausmaid ,Bumblebee 5, Alfa Romeo, Quest, Nokia, Wild Oats XI , and Love & War  are just a few of the great ocean racing yachts which are inscribed on the Sydney Hobart honour roll at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's clubhouse at Rushcutters Bay in Sydney.

A larger fleet of 109 boats met the starter for the 77th edition of the race, of which 20 were Two-Handed boats.

There were 9 retirements resulting from boat and gear damage sustained through some torrid conditions during parts of the race.  You can read about the weather experience by the fleet here .

Four 100-foot maxis battled for the prestigious John H Illingworth Challenge Cup for line honours, with Andoo Comaanche , skippered by John Winning Jr, ultimately prevailing in a race that suited its downwind and reaching performance.  LawConnect finished less than 30 minutes later, with Black Jack 17 minutes further back.  Read more  and watch videos of the line honours finish here  and here .

The TP52  Celestial , skippered by CYCA Vice Commodore Sam Haynes, was the overall winner in 2022, having been the bridesmaid in 2021.  It finished with a corrected time difference of 15 minutes to second placed Gweilo , another TP52, skippered by Matt Donald and owned by  Matt Donald and Chris Townsend.  Read more .

The leading Two-Handed Division boat on IRC was the Lombard 34  Mistral , sailed by Rupert Henry and Greg O'Shea.  Read more .

One of the stories of the race was the persistance of Kathy Veel and Bridget Canham on Currawong , finishing in last place on the water just before midnight on New Years Eve to a fantastic reception from the Hobart community and competitors from other baots.  Read a report on their race here .

The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race returned in 2021, with the 76th edition labelled by many as a "traditional Hobart".

A total of 88 yachts were on the start lines on Boxing Day, including 17 in the race's inaugural Two-Handed Division.

Challenging conditions in the first 36 hours led to the retirements of 38 yachts, largely due to boat damage. 

Three 100-foot maxis battled it out for Line Honours, and it was Peter Harburg's Reichel/Pugh 100  Black Jack - skippered by Mark Bradford - who claimed the John H Illingworth Challenge Cup, finishing ahead of LawConnect and SHK Scallywag 100 . Read more . 

Matt Allen's  Ichi Ban  created history with a second consecutive overall win to lift the Tattersall Cup. Ichi Ban is just the third boat in race history (alongside Freya and Love & War ) to win the Tattersall Cup three times. Read more . 

Jules Hall and Jan Scholten were the inaugural winners of the Two-Handed Division, as Disko Trooper_Contender Sailcloth swept all three handicaps. Read more .

For the first time since 1945 the race was not conducted in 2020 as a consequence of the measures put in place to combat COVID-19.  The Official Programme for the race, published before the decision was made, is here , and the list of boats that had entered and their crews is here .

The historic 75th Sydney Hobart Yacht Race was one for the record books. The fleet saw 157 yachts start the anniversary race with only three yachts retiring before the finish line.

The battle for line honours was as strong as ever with five super maxis fighting to be the first to cross the finish line at Constitution Dock.  InfoTrack, Wild Oats XI, SHK Scallywag 100  and   Black Jack were unable to hold off the charge from the current record-holding Comanche.

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For the overall win and to claim the converted Tattersall Cup, the competitive TP52s were at the front of the pack as competitors crossed the line. For Matt Allen and his crew on Ichi Ban, this race would see them hoist the cup for the second time in three years.

The 74th race saw a close tussle for both the line honours victory but also the overall win. In the battle for first to cross the line Wild Oats , Comanche and Black Jack were all within sight as they made their way up the Derwent River and in to Constitution Dock.  With the light winds of the early morning slowing the yachts as they neared the finish line, Wild Oats was able to make the most of the conditions and propel themselves to a victory with a 28 minute gap before the other two 100 foot super maxis crossed with just a minute of separation.

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The battle for the Tattersall Cup came down to the two Reichel Pugh 66s in Alive and Wild Oats X. With a late charge from Alive, they were able to make the time needed to be able to jump the all female team aboard Wild Oats X and then sit an wait to see where the rest of the fleet would place. 

The 2017 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race defied all odds continuing the run of near perfect weather conditions propelling the super-maxis accross Bass Straight and in to Hobart in record time. The front runners for Line Honours included the multiple title holder Wild Oats XI and the newly bought LDV Comanche, now owned by Jim Cooney. After a close incident at Sydney Heads the title was decided in the Jury Room with Wild Oats XI being penalised 1 hour and giving the new race record of 1 day 9 hours 15 minutes and 24 seconds to LDV Comanche.

For the Overall Win and the prize of the Tattersall Cup the downwind race favoured the mid sized boats with Matt Allen's newly commissioned TP52 Ichi Ban as a favourite leading into the race. With the TP52 class growing rapidly the competition was fierce with the winning boat having to sail a flawless race. Allen was able to test the newly built Botin 52 in the lead up Blue Water Pointscore races where he and his team won convincingly. In the end Ichi Ban was able to take the win by 20 minutes on corrected time over previous champion Quest. 

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The 72nd edition of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race was won in record time. It was the first time that more than one boat had broken the record, with Perpetual LOYAL crossing the line in first, Giacomo second and Scallywag third. 

Perpetual LOYAL set a new race record of one day 13 hours 31 minutes and 20 seconds – well ahead of the 1 day 18hrs 23mins 12secs set by Wild Oats XI in 2012.

Volvo 70 Giacomo was second over the line, but finished first overall, taking home the Tattersall Cup Trophy.  The Derwent River shut down after Scallywag finished, and remained almost becalmed for the remainder of the race, as boats trickled through the finish in less than 10 knots of wind. 

Paul Clitheroe’s TP52 Balance was declared the overall winner of the 2015 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Clitheroe’s major rival for the Tattersall’s Cup, Quikpoint Azzurro gliding over the finish line in Hobart at 07.37.59 hours to claim third place.

Two yachts with a shared history claimed the main prizes at a memorable 70th edition of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in 2014.

Driven by facing her most fearsome opponent in years, Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI made history by claiming a record-breaking eighth line honours victory.

Some 29 hours later, Oatley’s original Wild Oats arrived in Hobart with a corrected time finish that would ensure overall victory and the coveted Tattersall’s Cup trophy.

Oatley’s former boat, the 43-ft Wild Rose, owned and skippered by his friend Roger Hickman, secured her second victory in the race, 21 years after the first.

The 2013 Rolex Sydney Hobart will long be remembered for its 22 international entries, 15 new boats showcasing the latest in technology, stars from Olympics, America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Races, the Clipper yachts having their first shot and the high level of competition in the 94-strong fleet.

Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI left an indelible print when Mark Richards skippered her to a seventh line honours victory at 19.07.27hrs on December 28, matching the record of the yacht originally known as Morna (from 1946 to 1948) and then Kurrewa IV (1954, 1956,1957 and 1960).

The 94-boat fleet featured five 100 foot maxis, three Volvo 70s, seven former race winners and a seriously competitive lineup across the fleet. Several newly-launched boats came to the race as ‘dark horses’, having not yet competed or in relatively few races, and with veteran crew who had the experience to make them a threat; among these were Anthony Bell’s  Perpetual Loyal  (ex- Speedboat, Rambler 100 ), Karl Kwok’s Botin 80,  Beau Geste;  Matt Allen’s Carkeek 60,  Ichi Ban,  and Jim Delegat’s Volvo 70  Giacomo .

The 68th Rolex Sydney Hobart was a great contest. It may have finished with one boat, Wild Oats XI, scooping all the serious silverware, but to limit the story to that fact would be an injustice to the other 75 yachts that raced. Over and above the remarkable second treble of line honours, overall win and new race record secured by Wild Oats XI, this race will be remembered for the array of conditions experienced and the commitment of the smaller boats to finish despite the wind playing into the hands of the larger boats. 

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A spellbinding 2011 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race boiled over, when two super maxis battled for line honours all the way to Hobart, and created one of the closest finishes ever - ending in shock for one and drama for the other.

Favourite for the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's yearly 628 nautical mile race, Bob Oatley's  Wild Oats XI , skippered by Mark Richards, has only been beaten once before (by Alfa Romeo in 2009) and she missed out on the hoped for sixth victory this time.

Instead, the victory went to  Investec Loyal,  whose owner Anthony Bell had to fight a second battle in the protest room to hold onto the J.H. Illingworth Trophy.

Eighty eight yachts left Sydney Harbour in the predicted north-easterly sea breeze.  Wild Oats XI , which had a problem with its primary winch, narrowly led Investec Loyal out of Sydney Heads, with Peter Millard and John Honan's  Lahana  and Stephen Ainsworth's  Loki  next.

On the morning of December 28, as the leaders charged down the Tasmanian coast, Wild Oats XI regained the lead from Investec Loyal, keeping all connected with the race riveted, as the line honours chase became a match race.

Both yachts ran out of wind and slowed to 2 and 3 knots. Wild Oats XI stopped and Investec Loyal, with the benefit of hindsight, sailed around her adversary.

Bell's boat claimed line honours by 3 minutes 8 seconds, crossing the line at 19.14.18 hours, in the time of 2 days 6hrs 14mins 8sec; the fourth closest finish ever.

As Wild Oats XI crossed the line in second, Mark Richards scattered Gary Ticehurst's ashes, while Gary's wife Teresa laid a wreath from aboard another vessel. The yachting fraternity was still coming to grips with Gary's death while on assignment in his chopper last August. He was of great solace to Hobart crews over 27 years and played a significant role in the rescue of many people in the tragic 1998 race.

On Investec Loyal, the celebrations had started when Anthony Bell was handed a protest lodged against him by the Race Committee, citing RRS 41. In short, it states 'outside help'. The protest was dismissed when the international jury could find no evidence that Investec Loyal had gained any advantage from the information.

Loki won the race overall, "It's the fulfilment of a dream," Ainsworth said of Loki's triumph. "You enter the race every year hoping and give it your best shot every time," he said of winning on his 14th try.

The 66th edition of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race was the most physically demanding since 2004, which had 56 boats retire, overcome by the conditions. The 2010 fleet withstood battering headwinds and gale-force conditions down the NSW coast and through the notorious Bass Strait.

A fleet of 87 started the 628 nautical mile race, but 69 crossed the finish line, with 18 yachts retiring, mostly bashed about by the southerly buster on the second day. Andrew Lawrence's Jazz Player was the first casualty on the first night at sea after she tore her mainsail.

Mid-southerly on the second day, Rolex photographer Carlo Borlenghi reported from a helicopter: "There are yachts with triple-reefs, some with storm headsails, and others racing bare-poles (no sails). In a decade of covering the race I've never seen seas like those."

Although all arrived in Hobart relatively unscathed, the race was not without incident. The first occurred just inside South Head shortly after the start when Grant Wharington's Wild Thing was involved in a collision with a media boat, but suffered no visible damage. 

Ludde Ingvall's YuuZoo lost two crewmen overboard within five hours of the start, but recovered them quickly.

During the southerly winds on December 27, Peter Rodgers, reported a crew with a head injury aboard She, who was taken to Ulladulla and a waiting ambulance. He was later released from hospital.

A Dodo crewman broke his arm and was transferred to Eden and taken to hospital, while 25-race veteran Bacardi, a sturdy 32 year-old Peterson 44, dropped her rig off the NSW south coast.

Commenting on the race conditions Ran encountered this time, as opposed to 2009, Zennstrom said, "I think I have now definitely seen what the race is all about.  It was tough crossing Bass Strait; 35 knots of wind and big seas. The whole experience has been fantastic."

Wild Oats XI ultimately won line honours for the fifth time after a fast ride up the Derwent. She crossed the finish line at 8.37pm in the time of two days, seven hours, 37 minutes, 20 seconds, well outside her 2005 record of 1day 18hr 40min 10sec.

South Australian Geoff Boettcher and his Secret Men's Business 3.5 crew were crowned the overall race winners and were the recipients of the Tattersall's Cup and Rolex yacht Master time-piece. Boettcher's win follows the 2009 win of fellow South Australian Andrew Saies (Two True), who disappointingly retired from this race with engine problems.

Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo from New Zealand, won the protracted line honours clash of the eight super maxis in the 65th edition of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, ending the four-year dominance of Wild Oats XI, the race record holder from NSW, owned by Bob Oatley and skippered by Mark Richards.

Alfa Romeo finished the race in 2 days 9 hours 2 minutes 10 seconds but it was a South Australian yacht Two True, a brand new Beneteau First 40, owned by orthopaedic surgeon Andrew Saies, that won the race overall. Before being declared the winner, Saies had to wait a nail-biting 24 hours, and survive a protest hearing relating to an incident on Sydney Harbour at the start of the 628 nautical mile race. Once the international jury dismissed the protest, Saies' Two True was declared the overall winner.

The 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart race will be remembered by competitors as: "the most benign and mentally frustrating Hobart," to date, largely due to the light to moderate winds experienced by the fleet of 100 yachts. It will also be remembered as the year the race organisers, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia extended the length overall from 98 feet (30m) to 100 feet (30.48m); and ran an ORCi division as a test of the rule.

In 2008, Wild Oats XI claimed a fourth line honours win, with Bob Steel's TP52 Quest declared the overall winner. In a true act of generosity, Steel presented his sailing master, Mike Green, with his Rolex Yacht master timepiece at the official prizegiving of the 64th Rolex Sydney Hobart. 

In 2007, four 30m maxis took centre stage. Bob Oatley's Wild Oats XI secured a triple line honours win, after some tough competition from Mike Slade's new ICAP Leopard, which smashed the 2007 Rolex Fastnet Race record earlier that year in August.

Champion Australian maxi Brindabella, line honours winner in 1997, returned to the event under new owner Andrew Short and raced under the name of Toyota Aurion V6.

Roger Sturgeon's STP65 Rosebud, from the USA, was declared the overall winner of the 63rd Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

The 2006 fleet ranged in size from the 30 foot Maluka, the 1932 built gaff rigged timber boat, through to the one-design Sydney 38s including Another Challenge, Challenge and Star Dean Willcocks, then the grand prix IRC boats in the 45 to 60-foot group, including the two new Reichel/Pugh boats, Yendys and Loki, the Cookson 50s Quantum Racing and Living Doll and the TP52 Wot Yot, which was joined by sistership Syd Fischer's Ragamuffin for the 2007 race.

In 2006 there were three maximum length 30m maxis, Skandia, Wild Oats XI and Maximus and two Volvo 70s, ABN AMRO ONE and Ichi Ban, the latter modified to a Jones 70 prior to Boxing Day. The Volvo 60s CMC Markets Getaway Sailing and DHL also raced south.

The oldest and smallest boat in the fleet was Maluka.

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

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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

Cat makes history in Sydney to Hobart yacht race

• Published 24 December 2023

When Oli queues up on the starting line for the Sydney to Hobart yacht race on Tuesday, he'll be making history.

That's because Oli is a cat.

Since the event began as a casual cruise down the east coast of Australia in 1945, it has attracted all manner of colourful competitors - from media magnate Rupert Murdoch to Australian cricket legend Michael Clarke and former UK Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath.

But there's no record of any feline seafarers in the gruelling regatta. Carrier pigeons - sure: they were once used to send messages back to shore and have graced many a deck during the ocean classic. But cats? No.

Oli's owner Bob Williams says the pair didn't set out to be pioneers. The moggy is simply part of the furniture on Sylph VI and leaving him behind on the boat's jaunt south was out of the question.

"I've done lots of crazy things, but this isn't one of them," Mr Williams told the BBC ahead of the race.

Organisers - while initially bemused - are also on board.

There are no race rules prohibiting animals, and cats have a long history in maritime travel, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia pointed out.

"One of the great things about the Rolex Sydney Hobart is all the wonderful characters in the race and the diversity of boats," Commodore Arthur Lane said.

While most eyes will be on the speedy super maxis - giant yachts with up to 24 crew - during the Boxing Day race, Sylph, a 12m (40ft) yacht made in 1960, will set off in the two-handed division where smaller boats compete with a slimmed down team.

"We're jokingly saying [it's] the two-handed and four-pawed division," Mr Williams said.

A friend of his is co-skippering, he explains, and as for Oli: "He's SC - ship's cat."

While Sylph is an old hat - having taken part in six Sydney to Hobarts many decades ago - this is Mr William's first time racing it.

But both he and Oli have plenty of experience at sea.

A retired navy officer, Mr Williams has spent his life traversing the ocean - including a recent single-handed circumnavigation of the globe - much of it with a feline companion by his side.

Oli, who is about 10 years old, joined him five years ago and quickly earned his sea legs.

"He used to get seasick, and he was a bit stressed to start off with... but now he's fine. He quite enjoys life," Mr Williams said.

The laidback kitty can usually be found meowing orders or napping on the job in the boat's cockpit.

"He's very sensible... Whenever it gets rough, he'll disappear down below to find a nice, safe spot to curl up."

And get rough it just might. The 630 nautical mile (1,166km) dash has long been characterised by unpredictable and often brutal conditions - the worst, 25 years ago.

Competitors in the 1998 race were battered by a monster storm, which sank five boats and claimed the lives of six sailors.

This year forecasters have warned that the fleet could be in for thunderstorms, strong winds, and even hail along parts of the course.

Mr Williams jokes that he hasn't lost a cat at sea yet.

But turning serious, he stresses that he is prepared for any emergency.

"The cat overboard routine is just to have something like a towel or a thick rope handy so that they can climb back on board."

There's no life jacket for Oli though, because he simply wouldn't wear it: "They're Houdinis… they'll escape from anything they don't like," Mr Williams says.

But although cats hate the water, he knows for a fact Oli can swim, because he once legged it into the ocean to avoid an overzealous dog.

Sylph and her occupants will be playing it safe though and proceeding towards Hobart at a comparatively leisurely pace.

The record for the fastest finish - set in 2017- is one day and nine hours. But that was a massive, modern super yacht built for speed.

"Sylph is an older slower boat... Our ambition is to get to Hobart in time for the New Year's celebration."

There they'll mark the occasion with a nip of rum, and perhaps some milk on the rocks for Oli.

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What it takes to race the Sydney to Hobart

• Published 23 December 2016

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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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Harbour Cruise: Sydney-to-Hobart Race Start

Harbour Cruise: Australia Day

Australian Sailing Hall of Fame

Last Sydney to Hobart yacht arrives with 18 minutes left of 2022

A ny other day, they would have slipped quietly into Constitution Dock. But when 70-year-old Kathy Veel and 62-year-old Bridget Canham crossed the Sydney to Hobart finish line - the last of the fleet to do so - at 11.42pm on New Year’s Eve, it was as if they’d heralded the early arrival of 2023.

A crowd in the thousands who had packed out the Hobart shoreline to ring in the new year chanted “Currawong, Currawong!” as the two-hander made its way past the packed-out Taste of Summer festival and around Constitution Dock.

Cheers came from the water, too, where boats had lined up to greet the nine-metre yacht as it pushed up the River Derwent.

After a lap of honour around the thrilled spectators, interviews on the boat, and the well-deserved popping of a giant bottle of champagne: the fireworks. Veel and Canham watched from the 1973 vessel that had carried them south.

You couldn’t have written a better ending to a story that stretched five days at sea, 630 nautical miles, and a day of waiting in Eden as they waited for bad weather in Bass Strait to pass.

“You wouldn’t believe the stops we pulled to get this happening,” said Canham. “The biggest challenge we had was getting here before New Year’s Eve,” she said. “We’ve been working our butts off to get here. And it’s paid off.”

Veel said the experience was “unbelievable”. “[It was like] nothing I’ve ever had ... in my whole life, she said. “When you heard people going, ‘Curr-a-wong!’, I thought, ‘What?!’

“I’m really proud of what we’ve done.”

The sailors described the weather conditions down the coast as “brilliant”.

“The boat behaved so well, it was just magic,” said Canham, a retired nurse.

The sailors are among the oldest to compete in the Sydney to Hobart race, and certainly the oldest in the race’s new two-handed fleet section. But Veel, a retired teacher now living in Bullabarra, near Katoomba, said they didn’t want to be defined by their age - nor their sex.

“It’s not, to be honest, how we think of ourselves,” said Veel in the lead-up to the race. “We’re sailors who happen to be women rather than women who sail.

Veel purchased the boat last year, and ran a GoFundMe page to raise financial support so the pair could purchase the necessary supplies to enter the race.

In 2021, Veel was named Blue Mountains Volunteer of the Year for her work with the not-for-profit sailing-based Making Waves Foundation.

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Sydney to Hobart yacht race — how to watch and what to look for

Since its beginning in 1945, the Sydney to Hobart yacht race has become one of the pinnacles for sailing competitors, with the event being a test of skill, teamwork, nautical engineering and tactics — with weather providing the wild card.

If you know what to look for, the race can be an enjoyable experience.

Here are some tips for getting the best out of it.

When does it start?

About 111 boats ranging from the supermaxis (longer than 20 metres) to smaller 30-footers (9 metres) will be ready to go at 1pm AEDT Boxing Day on Sydney Harbour.

The start is arguably one of the greatest spectacles in modern sport.

Once the starting cannon is fired, all teams will be gunning for The Heads and into the open water of the South Pacific, with competitors surrounded by all manner of craft.

Watch as boats come perilously close to the supermaxis.

The fleet then begins to make its way down the east coast of Australia to Hobart, a distance of approximately 630 nautical miles (1,166 kilometres).

What are they racing for?

It isn't money. Yes, you read that correctly — there is no prize money for the winners. 

Instead, they race for trophies in a number of categories , the main events for casual observers being Line Honours and Overall.

The first yacht across the line wins the JH Illingworth Trophy, but the overall winner on handicap wins the Tattersalls Cup.

The overall victory is considered the major prize for sailors and a testament to skill and tactics.

Most of the time, handicap honours are won by a smaller, slower boat, which outdoes its larger opposition when time is adjusted for size and other factors.

The reigning overall winner is Ichi Ban. It finished in 4 days, 10 hours, and 17 minutes.

This was after a protest against Celestial was upheld. Celestial was handed a 40-minute time penalty for not manning their radio for a 90-minute period, during which officials were trying to contact the team.

The reigning line honours winner is Black Jack, winning in two days, 12 hours, and 37 minutes in 2021. 

How can I watch it?

Race sponsor Rolex says the race can be watched on the Seven Network. 

7Mate will broadcast the start of the race live around Australia. Their coverage starts at 12:30pm (AEDT).

ABC TV will also provide updates throughout the event.

For those who can't watch the live broadcast of the start of the race on their TV, Seven will have a stream of the race.

You can also watch vision from the event on the Sydney to Hobart yacht race website .

If you are in Sydney and on the water, spectators who wish to watch the start but not follow the fleet are advised to stick to the "western side of the harbour".

Good vantage points for spectator boats include "Taylors Bay, Chowder Bay, Obelisk Bay and North Head on the west and Rose Bay, Watsons Bay, Camp Cove and South Head to the east".

According to organisers, the harbour will be "very crowded and traffic can be chaotic, so stay alert, follow the advice of race officials and remember to keep well clear of the exclusion zone between 12pm and 2pm".

How can I follow the boats online?

You can follow the race on an online tracker , which shows the positions of yachts as they move south.

The locations of yachts are transmitted by a GPS device on each vessel. 

As the race goes on, you can see the course charted by crews — unless of course the boat's GPS device gets switched off, rendering it invisible to spectators and other competitors — an accusation that was levelled at Wild Oats XI in 2018 by the owner of Black Jack.

What should I look out for?

The weather forecast is for northerly winds in the harbour for Monday's start, which will favour the bigger boats. They will push hard to get out of the harbour.

Barring disaster, the Line Honours winner will almost certainly be one of the four super maxis.

LawConnect (formerly Perpetual LOYAL, formerly Investec LOYAL, formerly InfoTrack) set a new record in 2016 when it crossed the line in one day, 13 hours, 31 minutes and 12 seconds, a time since bettered by Comanche the next year.

Black Jack (Formerly Alfa Romeo II) has a strong Sydney to Hobart history and is the reigning Line Honours champion. It's had a strong 2022 already, taking line, record, and overall wins in the Club Marine Pittwater to Coffs Harbour race. Black Jack has a strong rivalry with Wild Oats XI as it was the first boat to break Wild Oats' race record in 2009.

Andoo Comanche is the hot favourite for line honours this year. It has already defeated Black Jack in the Sydney to Gold Coast race this year and has won the inaugural Tollgate Islands race. It beat Wild Oats for line honours in 2017, setting a race record in the process, but only after a controversial protest . 

Hamilton Island Wild Oats XI is the most famous boat in the race but has not participated since 2019 due to COVID. Veteran skipper Mark Richards will once again be at the helm and will be hoping to improve on the 3rd place finish in 2019. 

The favourites for the handicap trophy are Alive, URM Group, Moneypenny and Stefan Racing, with last year's winner, Ichi Ban, not participating.

This year there is also a number of crews made up of father-daughter or father-son teams.

The yacht race is taken seriously for good reason — people have died when the weather has turned bad.

In 1998, six sailors died, five yachts sank, more than 60 yachts retired and 55 sailors had to be rescued by helicopter.

In 2015, a squall hit the fleet off the News South Wales coast, ending the race for 29 competitors.

When does the race finish?

The lines honours winner is likely to come in around 48 hours after the start, but this is very much dependent on the weather —  especially in the 22.2-kilometre final stretch up the Derwent River.

This is when the wind can drop away and it becomes an agonisingly slow crawl , with every trick in the book pulled out to speed the progress up the glassy waterway.

In 2021, Black Jack crossed the line at 1:37am on December 29, followed by LawConnect at 4:11am and SHK Scallywag about 20 minutes after that.

In 2019, Comanche came in at a more reasonable time of 7:30am on December 28, with InfoTrack about 45 minutes later.

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