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Rolex sydney hobart fleet bracing for ‘severe’ weather from the start.

Sydney Hobart race set to sail

The Rolex Sydney Hobart fleet is bracing for the possibility of thunderstorms from the beginning of the bluewater classic.

Hobart veteran Iain Murray has predicted the conditions will be especially testing for the four 100ft supermaxi yachts jostling for line honours.

After a week of variability in the forecast, the Bureau of Meteorology warned the fleet of 103 boats that storms were expected to begin forming on the afternoon of December 26.

Light easterly winds are expected for the start of the race, which begins on Sydney Harbour at 1pm, with thunderstorms likely south of Jervis Bay.

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

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

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

Winds will remain strong across the Bass Strait and southeast Tasmania on the morning of December 28, with storms a chance to continue affecting smaller boats.

Andoo Comanche’s sailing master Iain Murray 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.”

How to watch

The Rolex Sydney to Hobart will be on Seven and 7plus from 12:30pm AEDT on Boxing Day.

The race officially starts at 1pm AEDT with the traditional firing of a starting canon at Sydney Harbour.

Sydney to Hobart fleet

103 yachts have confirmed their participation for this year’s race. The full list of entrants can be found here .

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• NSW & ACT

Sydney to Hobart 2021 Guide: Start time, how to watch, yachts, results, TV, tracker, distance, Covid

After the cancellation of the last Sydney to Hobart for the first time, the 2021 is sailing on. Here’s how to watch, the yachts, start time, the history and more in our GUIDE to the Boxing Day race.

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Last year the famous race was called off at the last minute. This year it’s going ahead with around 90 yachts and their crews heading south.

We take a look at the favourites, the yachts heading south and how to follow the famous race which starts at 1pm on Boxing Day.

SYD-HOB WEATHER: Latest forecast

ROLLING COVERAGE: Latest news on race

LINE HONOURS FAVOURITES

Big is best and there are three mighty big 100-footers - the maximum size for boats - in this edition in Sydney skipper Christian Beck’s LawConnect, Peter Harburg’s Black Jack and the David Witt skippered Scallywag which is usually based in Hong Kong.

THE OVERALL CONTENDERS

Until the weather forecast settles, it could be any one of a number of yachts.

There’s the former winner, Alive from Tasmania, and then the two-time winner Ichi Ban, raced by Matt Allen.

Other yachts showing good form in the lead-up include David Griffith’s Whisper, the Sydney yachts URM and Zen and even the supermaxi LawConnect.

If it is a small boat race there are a number of contenders inlcuding the smallest boat, the 30-footer Gun Runner.

The race started as a cruise to Hobart in 1945 with just nine yachts and their crews taking part.

It is now recognised as one of the great ocean races in the world despite there being no prizemoney for winners, just some impressive silverware.

Last year the race was cancelled on December 20 after a coronavirus cluster on the northern beaches of Sydney where many sailors reside.

This year all sailors must be double vaccinated and also do a Covid test 72 hours before the start to be eligible to race.

PREVIOUS OVERALL WINNERS IN THE 2021 RACE

Solveig – 1954, when owned by Trygve and Magnus Halvorsen, but taken to Hobart by Captain Stan Darling

Love & War – 1974, 1978, when owned by Peter Kurts and 2006 owned by Simon Kurts, but taken to Hobart by Lindsay May

Wild Oats (Farr 43) – 1993, owned by Roger Hickman/Bruce Foye/Lance Peckman and 2014 as Wild Rose, owned by Roger Hickman

Oskana – 2013 as Victoire when owned by Darryl Hodgkinson

Quest – 2008 owned by Bob Steel, and as Balance 2015 for Paul Clitheroe

Ichi Ban - 2017 and 2019, owned by Matt Allen

Alive - 2018, owned by Phillip Turner

The Sydney to Hobart fleet is sent on its way from a start line near Shark Island on Sydney Harbour.

The race is sent on its way when a canon fires at 1pm.

The fleet will start off different start lines off Nielsen Park with boats on the northern line rounding Victor Mark and boats on the southern lines rounding X-Ray Mark at the Heads.

all boats heading out to sea and rounding “Mark Zulu”, one nautical mile east of the Heads.

The larger boats in the fleet will start off the front line, just north of Shark Island. The rest of the fleet will start from the southern lines, 0.2 nautical miles between each.

Having two rounding marks at Sydney Heads will compensate for the distance between the lines before the fleet heads to sea on the ocean voyage to Hobart.

The fleet ranges in size from 100 foot to 30 foot. For the first time a division of two-handed boats are competing in the Sydney to Hobart. However they are not eligible for the overall win.

VANTAGE POINTS

The start is just north of Shark Island and Bradley’s Head on Sydney Harbour.

The best vantage point looking straight down the line, is from Nielsen Park in the eastern suburbs.

On the other side of the harbour the pick is Bradleys Head.

Once the fleet has started, the areas at North and South Heads are the best viewing spots as is Middle Head.

Georges Head and Obelisk Bay headlands also provide a good view once the action is underway and the fleet storms up the harbour and out into open sea.

Watsons Bay and the area near the lighthouse are prime spots to watch the yachts head out to see and down the coast.

The Sydney to Hobart fleet heads out through Sydney Heads, turns right and heads south down the coast.

Yachts then race across the infamous Bass Strait and down the east coast of Tasmania, through Storm Bay and on to the finish line on the Derwent River in Hobart.

RACE DISTANCE

The rhumb line - the shortest distance between Sydney and Hobart is 628 nautical miles. However, yachts will tack and gybe their way south dependant on wind direction and cover significantly more ground.

TOP GUN: Famous Syd-Hob debutant

HOW TO FOLLOW THE RACE

The course of yachts can be followed on a race tracker on the race website which is activated once the race has started.

The tracker obtains a position using the GPS satellite network and then transmits that position using the Iridium satellite network.

RECORD BREAKERS

Lime honours race records since 1945.

1945 - Rani (UK) 6 days 14hrs 22 Min 0secs

1946 - Morna (NSW) 5:02:53:33

1957 - Kurrewa IV (NSW) 3:18:30:9

1962 - Ondine (US) 3:03:49:16

1973 - Helsal (NSW) 3:01:32:09

1975 - Kialoa (US) 2:14:36:56

1999 - Nokia (Den/Aus) 1:19:48:12

2005 - Wild Oats XI (NSW) 1:18:40:10

2012 - Wild Oats XI (NSW) 1: 18. 23.12.

2016 - Perpetual Loyal (NSW) 1:13.31.20

2017 - LDV Comanche (NSW) 1:09.15.24

SYDNEY TO HOBART FACTS AND FIGURES

#The largest fleet set sail in 1994, the 50th Anniversary of the race. That year 371 yachts started

#This years’s fleet boasts a new double-handed class with the two-strong crews racing alongside fully crewed boats.

#The slowest winner was the yacht Christina which took six days, 18 hours, 51 minutes and 15 seconds to complete the 630nm journey in 1946.

#The closest finish was back in 1982 when just seven seconds separated Condor of Bermuda and Apollo.

#Freya which won the race three times in succession in 1963-64-65 boats the best Hobart record.

#The best line honours record is held by Morna which was first to Hobart in 1946-47-48 and when renamed Kurrewa IV was first home in 1954, 1956 and 1957.

SYDNEY TO HOBART TELEVISION

The start will be on Channel 7 through 7mate.

More Coverage

TOKYO OLYMPIAN: Wet and wild times ahead

CRAZY SAILORS: Heading out in Sydney to Hobart

More from AMANDA LULHAM and the Sydney to Hobart yacht race HERE

Originally published as Sydney to Hobart 2021 Guide: Start time, how to watch, yachts, results, TV, tracker, distance, Covid

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International yachts and sailors back for 2022 Sydney-Hobart race

For the first time since 2019, the Sydney to Hobart is back to its old self with a bevy of international yachts and sailors contesting one of the world’s most gruelling ocean races.

After being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and under heavy restrictions last year due to quarantines, the annual Sydney to Hobart starting Monday will feature eight overseas boats and crew from 21 countries, including Antigua, Panama and Thailand.

There will be 126 overseas-based crew members compared with seven foreign sailors last year, all of whom were already based in Australia.

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In 2020, for the first time since its inception in 1945, the race from Sydney, across the notorious Bass Strait, to the island state of Tasmania was not held.

But next week there are no restrictions, and the usual buzz around the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Sydney returned, with a particularly big crowd attending the Australian maxi championship presentations in early December.

America's Stan Honey is one of a number of international stars returning for this year's Sydney to Hobart  Corbis via Getty Images

“All the maxi crews got together after and there was good camaraderie and it was more like old times,” LawConnect sailing master and New Zealander Tony Mutter, one of the few foreign sailors to participate in the 2021 race, told Australian Associated Press.

Among the 100-plus entries in the 1,170-kilometre race are veterans Stan Honey and Iain Murray. They have swapped big boats for the race, with Murray having sailed on all four super maxis entered.

Murray, the Australian sailing master aboard Andoo Comanche, was a big part of the Wild Oats XI program run by the Oatley family during its record run of nine line-honours victories since 2005.

Honey, an American and the navigator on Hamilton Island Wild Oats, formerly Wild Oats XI, has a success rate of better than 50% in the Sydney to Hobart, taking line honours four times in seven races, including Comanche’s wins in 2015, 2017 and 2019.

Honey sailed on Black Jack over a decade ago when it was known as Alfa Romeo and owned by Neville Crichton. Honey had his first Hobart line-honours victory in 2011 on the Anthony Bell-owned Investec Loyal, which races as LawConnect.

The Mark Bradford-led Black Jack took out last year's Sydney to Hobart race  Getty

“That was a bit of an upset that we managed to beat Wild Oats in that race because Wild Oats was quite a bit quicker,” Honey said.

The 67-year-old Californian said he was proud to be asked to be the navigator on Hamilton Island Wild Oats this year.

“Ricko (Oats skipper Mark Richards) called me up and asked me to do a previous race which they then withdrew from, and then of course there was the cancelled race in 2020,” Honey said. “I’ve been standing by hoping for the opportunity to navigate Oats."

Early weather forecasts indicate northeasterly winds hitting the east coast at the start of the race, providing the yachts with a comfortable voyage downwind off the states of New South Wales and Victoria. The faster yachts are likely to see that weather through to the finish line.

Black Jack, skippered by Mark Bradford, won last year, arriving at Constitution Dock in Hobart after two days, 12 hours, 37 minutes.

Of the 88 boats that left Sydney, 36 were forced to retire due to dangerous waves and weather conditions.

The 1998 race was hit by terrible gale-force weather and storms. Six sailors died among five boats that sank and of the 115 yachts that started the race, only 44 finished.

Comanche set the race record in 2017, finishing in one day, nine hours, 15 minutes, 24 seconds.

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• Digital Edition

How to follow the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race

• Toby Heppell
• December 19, 2022

The Rolex Sydney Hobart Race is due to set off on boxing day once again in 2022, with an impressive 111 boats due to take to the startline

Sydney sailors are counting down the days – not until December 25, but the 26, for the much-anticipated Rolex Sydney Hobart Race .

The blue riband offshore classic was cancelled for the first time in its 76 years in 2020, but bounced back in 2021 and will go ahead one more this year with an impressive fleet of 111 boats entered for the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, which begins on Sydney Harbour at 1pm Monday 26 December.

As is often the case in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, the bulk of the fleet is made up of Australian boats and teams, but there are 8 international boats participating this year, 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 ).

At the sharp end of the fleet, four 100-foot maxis will lead the charge for Line Honours – Andoo Comanche , Black Jack , Hamilton Island Wild Oats and LawConnect . On current form, Andoo Comanche is likely to be favourite to cross the finish line first.

The start of the Sydney Hobart Race means a congested Sydney Harbour. Photo: Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi

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.

Two-handed entrants will for the first time be eligible to win the Tattersall Cup (the prize given to the winner of the race on handicap). 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).

How to follow the 2022 Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race

• In Australia Sydney is expected to send off the fleet in style when the race starts at 1300hrs (local time) on Saturday, 26 December.

Spectator boats can watch the start from the eastern channel and follow the fleet down the Harbour to the Heads. Spectator boats wanting to remain in the Harbour may remain in the western side. Exclusion zones will be in place from 1200-1400.

• On television The race start will be broadcast live via the Seven Network, through 7Mate around Australia.

Live coverage will also be webcast on the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race website, with replays available shortly after. See  https://rolexsydneyhobart.com/

• On social Follow the event on twitter for race updates and via  Facebook

• On race tracker The live race tracker will be viewable at  https://rolexsydneyhobart.com/tracker

• Play along on Virtual Regatta

There is also a Virtual Regatta edition for the race, allowing you to virtually pit yourself against thousands over the same course, see  https://www.virtualregatta.com/en/offshore-game/

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Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2024

Entries open for 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

• 15 Jun, 2021 12:42:00 PM

Excitement is building for the return of the historic Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, with entries now open for the 2021 edition of ocean racing’s ‘Everest’.

The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) has launched the Notice of Race and is now welcoming eligible crews from across Australia and abroad to secure their place in the fleet. 

The eyes of the world will once again turn to Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day – Sunday 26 December 2021.

Following the disappointing cancellation of the 2020 Rolex Sydney Hobart due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CYCA Commodore Noel Cornish AM is looking forward to the Great Race.

"It is my great pleasure to announce the 2021 Notice of Race as the first step in our build-up to the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race," said Commodore Cornish.

"It is our hope that the Great Race will once again bring together a large group of dedicated and passionate sailors from across Australia and around the world.

"We look forward to working with our many long-term partners to bring the Race to life this year and extend special thanks to our close friends at Rolex and The Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania in particular for their extraordinary contributions.

"Thank you to everyone who supported the CYCA during 2020.”

The Sydney Hobart Yacht Race was first conducted in 1945 and has become an icon of summer sport in Australia.

The CYCA has enjoyed a rich partnership with naming rights sponsor Rolex since 2002 and is pleased to again be supported by the Swiss luxury watch manufacturer.  

For the first time in its history, the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart will feature Two-Handed crews. 

The increasingly popular division joined the CYCA’s sailing calendar in 2019 and was due to be included in the 2020 Race. 

The Notice of Race and online entry is now available under the   ‘For Competitors’   section.

Entries close   Thursday 28 October 2021. 

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

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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!

Everything you need to know ahead of Sydney to Hobart... including a record under threat

Skippers of the supermaxi yachts preparing for Monday’s Sydney to Hobart bluewater classic are targeting a new record in a high-speed race they predict will go to the wire .

With northerly winds forecast for one of the world’s most challenging ocean events, Comanche’s one day, 9 hours, 15min and 24sec record for the 628-nautical-mile (1,200-km) endurance test, set in 2017, is under threat.

“It’s a race that could definitely rack up a record, especially with Andoo Comanche (in the field),” Mark Richards, skipper of nine-time line honours-winning supermaxi Wild Oats, said on the event website.

“It all depends on the actual conditions. But if it’s dead the whole way, I’d say not, but then it only has to change a couple of degrees and all of a sudden, it’s all on.

“If there’s breeze in the Derwent (River), absolutely.”

The NSW Bureau of Meteorology has forecast north-easterly winds for Monday’s start, which augurs well for the 100-foot supermaxis -- Andoo Comanche, Black Jack, Wild Oats and LawConnect - among the 109-strong fleet.

They are predicted to get off to a flying start from Sydney Harbour, with the winds propelling them down Australia’s east coast before they tackle the notorious Bass Strait towards the Tasmanian state capital Hobart.

Here are the key things you need to know ahead of the 77th running of the great race.

WHAT TIME DOES IT START?

The race will begin at 1pm AEDT Boxing Day on Sydney Harbour.

HOW MANY BOATS ARE COMPETING?

A fleet of 111 were entered into this year’s race but only 109 will set sail from the start line.

WHY ARE THERE TWO PRIZES?

Two main prizes are up for grabs in the Sydney to Hobart race. The first boat to cross the line at the Constitution Dock in Hobart takes home line honours (J.H Illingworth Trophy), typically awarded to the biggest, fastest boats in the race.

However, handicap honours, or the overall winner, is the more prestigious award (Tattersall‘s Cup), where boats are rated on their expected speed of the vessel’s size and other statistics.

There is a chance of wining both awards, although handicap honours is usually won by smaller physically slower boats to create an equaliser to the fleet.

WHO ARE THE LINE-HONOUR FAVOURITES?

The clear betting favourite is 30-metre supermaxi yacht Andoo Comanche, although LawConnect and Black Jack are also well-backed to contend.

WHO ARE THE HANDICAP FAVOURITES?

It is a much tighter field for the handicap winner, with New Zealand entry Caro currently the frontrunner while Sunrise, Alive and Andoo Comanche are also leading the way.

HOW CAN I WATCH IT?

The race, which begins at 1pm (AEDT) on Boxing Day, will be available to watch on 7mate and steam through 7plus. You can also follow all the action live on foxsports.com.au .

HOW CAN I FOLLOW THE BOATS ONLINE?

Race sponsor Rolex has a tracker on their website using GPS devices for each vessel activated once it begins.

WHAT IS THE FLEET, COURSE AND DISTANCE?

The fleet ranges from 100 to 30 feet and heads through Sydney Heads then moves south down the coast.

Boats race down the Bass Straight and east coast of Tasmania and through Storm Bay, then finish at Hobart’s Derwent River.

The rhumb line — the shortest distance between Sydney and Hobart is 628 nautical miles (1163 kilometres), however yachts inevitably cover more distance as they follow the fastest route available.

WHO WON LAST YEAR?

Black Jack was last year’s line honours winner, taking out the victory in two days, 12 hours, and 37 minutes while Ichi Ban has won the last two handicap trophies, although the New South Wales yacht will not be competing this year.

WHO ARE THE PREVIOUS LINE-HONOUR WINNERS?

2021 - Black Jack

2019 - Comanche

2018 - Wild Oats XI

2017 - LDV Comanche

2016 - Perpetual LOYAL

2015 - Comanche

2014 - Wild Oats XI

2013 - Wild Oats XI

2012 - Wild Oats XI

2011 - Investec Loyal

2010 - Wild Oats XI

WHO ARE THE PREVIOUS HANDICAP WINNERS?

2021 - Ichi Ban

2019 - Ichi Ban

2018 - Alive

2017 - Ichi Ban

2016 - Giacomo

2015 - Balance V

2014 - Wild Rose

2013 - Victoire

2012 - Wild oats XI

2011 - Loki

2010 - Secret Men’s Business

Sport Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race to return in 2021 after being cancelled last year due to COVID concerns

Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race organisers are confident the iconic event will proceed as scheduled with COVID-safe plans in place.

Key points:

• The 76th edition of the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race will start at 1pm AEDT on Boxing Day
• Last year's race was cancelled, due to COVID-19 concerns and border restrictions 
• All competing sailors in this year's Sydney to Hobart must be double-vaccinated

Last year's race was one of the high-profile sporting casualties of the pandemic, with safety concerns and border restrictions forcing the first cancellation of the annual event since it was first staged in 1945 .

Cruising Yacht Club of Australia commodore Noel Cornish says his club, which hosts the race, has been working on the 2021 edition since May.

"We always knew there was a risk [in 2020] that an outbreak might get us somewhere," he told AAP.

"This year we are feeling much more confident. The Tasmanian borders open on December 15 [and] it's a hard open.

"We talk to the Tasmanian Premier regularly, and his team.

"We've got really good COVID-safe plans in order to manage our way through into Hobart, so this is as good as I'm going to feel at this point in time.

"But it will be a massive relief when I see that [starting] gun go at 1 o'clock [on Boxing Day], I don't mind telling you."

Cornish said COVID-9 protocols had already been in place for the first two races of the club's Blue Water series, in which a number of Sydney-Hobart contenders were put through their paces.

He confirmed all competing sailors in the Sydney-Hobart must be double-vaccinated.

"The normal requirement for them to go to Hobart and Tasmania, irrespective of whether it's a yacht race or not, is a double-vax and a negative COVID test within 72 hours of travel," Cornish said.

"Everybody is aware of that, so everybody will be compliant if they want to go in the race."

Cornish revealed there had been a little push back against the restrictions but the vast majority of the sailing community backed the measures.

He said the large number people who gather on the CYCA Marina on Boxing Day morning before the race would be restricted.

The 76th edition of the race will start at 1pm AEDT on December 26.

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