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Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023

Andoo Comanche

Arguably the fastest monohull on the planet, Andoo Comanche returns to defend her Line Honours title in the 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.  Skipper John “Herman” Winning Jr and his exceptional team including tactician Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton, Iain Murray and Richard Allanson have captured every major Australian offshore line honours title since they chartered the yacht in 2022.  With a new inventory of sails by North Sails, Andoo Comanche will be hard to beat in 2023, with John Winning Jr looking to cap off his impressive run with the maxi yacht.

Competitor Details

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Full Standings available approximately three hours after the start.

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Andoo Comanche takes out Sydney to Hobart as supermaxi makes race history

Australian supermaxi Andoo Comanche secured a fourth line honours victory in the gruelling Sydney-Hobart ocean race Wednesday, but fell short of setting a new course record.

The 100-foot yacht, skippered by John Winning Jnr, triumphed in a nail-biting finish in the early hours of Wednesday after leading the blue water classic for much of the race.

It completed a quartet of line honours wins for the boat in the prestigious event since 2015 under a third different owner.

Andoo Comanche crossed with a time of one day, 11 hours, 56 minutes and 48 seconds -- about 20 minutes in front of rival supermaxi Law Connect -- and just under three hours short of its own record.

The current race record of one day, nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds was set by the same Comanche boat under a different skipper in 2017.

Winning Jnr was part of the team that won the event in 2016, but said it was something special to skipper his own crew.

“To do it in a campaign that I was part of putting together is really quite exceptional,” he told national broadcaster ABC.

Last year’s defending champion Black Jack crossed third, followed by Wild Oats, which fell behind after tearing one of its sails earlier in the race.

The 109-strong racing fleet set off from a sun-splashed Sydney Harbour on Monday afternoon, charting their way through the 628-nautical mile course (1163km) to Hobart.

Favourable weather early in the race raised the prospect of toppling that mark, but the strong winds faded as the boats barrelled towards the finish line in Hobart.

The Bass Strait, which separates Tasmania from the mainland, can unleash perilous conditions.

A deep depression proved catastrophic for the fleet in 1998, when six sailors were killed and 55 more were rescued after five boats sank.

Race officials on Tuesday evening said only three of the starting fleet had been forced to retire so far.

One of them, 40-foot yacht Yeah Baby, withdrew less than four hours into the race after reportedly colliding with a massive sunfish.

Dozens of smaller yachts were still in the water Wednesday morning, competing for the handicap prize, which compensates for boat size.

READ BELOW FOR A FULL WRAP OF ALL THE ACTION FROM THE RACE!

Comanche held a consistent lead of 20 nautical miles throughout the afternoon as it moved towards the Derwent with LawConnect telling the Nine papers they expect to arrive at Constitution Dock in Hobart at around 2am AEDT.

As darkness neared, Wild Oats XI fell back into fourth having suffered sail damage overnight while reigning line honours winner Black Jack was third, some five nautical miles behind LawConnect.

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Comanche led the fleet into Bass Strait in the early morning, but slipping well behind LDV Comanche’s race record from 2017. Three of the four supermaxis (100-plus-footers) ran well east of the rhumbline to take advantage of marginally stronger winds, before turning back towards the coast of Tasmania around midday.

There were two retirements on the first day, with two-hander Avalanche the first to pull back to shore with a damaged bowsprit after a collision with Llama II just outside the Sydney Heads. Llama II escaped with only superficial damage.

Yeah Baby then retired in the evening after sustaining rudder damage near Wollongong due to a collision with a sunfish, but returned safely to Sydney.

Koa then became the third retirement after breaking her rudder, and is set to be towed to Eden on the NSW south coast, leaving 106 yachts still in the race. Enterprise Next Generation put in a request for redress after helping their stricken rival.

WILD OATS COPS DAMAGE OVERNIGHT

Hamilton Island Wild Oats came within 0.3 nautical miles of Black Jack around 2am overnight in the hunt for third position, before Black Jack surged in the early morning.

The pair traded positions throughout the day, with Wild Oats taking a line significantly closer to rhumbline.

It followed a wild start where both Comanche and Wild Oats were forced to take penalty turns following a series of near-misses in Sydney Harbour (more below).

Wild Oats - hunting a record tenth line honours win - then suffered damage to one of their two largest sails overnight.

Their veteran crewman Chris Links told NewsLocal a seam across one of their large downwind sails split, requiring running repairs on deck.

“It is not an easy job,’’ Links said.

“It has a cable in it and we had to do the repair on deck.

“It took around one and a half hours to repair.’’

LIVE STREAM

Watch live on-board action from LawConnect below.

WILD START CAUSES CHAOS

“Protest, get the flag up, that was f***ing bull***t,” someone yelled on Andoo Comanche in the first two minutes after being cut off by rival supermaxis LawConnect and Black Jack.

URM and LawConnect were also “inches” away from crashing into each other, according to URM skipper Ashley-Jones.

Less than a minute later, one of the crew was heard barking: “you’re asking for a clusterf***, we’re going to be in a collision,” and labelled one rival a “f***ing idiot”.

Comanche hit a turning mark as it exited the heads and was later spotted flying a protest flag of their own, after another boat protested them.

On Wild Oats, which took two penalty turns, skipper Mark Richards could be heard yelling “furl, furl, we are going to do a 720 (penalty turn)”.

Wild Oats famously lost the win in 2017 upon arrival in Hobart, after being handed a one-hour penalty for a rule breach over an incident with Comanche.

That race saw the record time set, with 2022’s Comanche roughly eight nautical miles behind the 2017 edition’s pace late on Monday night and falling further back overnight.

EARLY RACE UPDATES AND PREVIEW (via AFP)

More than 100 yachts set sail Monday on the Sydney-Hobart race as favourable winds raised hopes for a record time in one of the world’s most punishing ocean events.

Fans gathered at coastal vantage points and on spectator boats in a sun-splashed Sydney Harbour, which hours earlier had been shrouded in a thick fog that halted all ferry traffic.

The starting cannon fired to release 109 yachts on the 628-nautical mile (1,200-kilometre) blue water classic.

Crews dashed to get out of the city’s harbour on the first leg of the race down Australia’s eastern coast and across the treacherous Bass Strait towards the finish line in the Tasmanian state capital.

A final weather briefing on race day predicted “fresh to strong” north to northeasterly winds in the next day or so, giving the fastest, 100-foot supermaxi yachts a chance to challenge Comanche’s 2017 record of one day, 9 hours, 15min and 24sec.

Mark Richards, skipper of nine-time line honours-winning supermaxi Wild Oats, said his crew was buoyant after preparing for exactly these conditions.

“We put all our eggs in one basket and we put all our money on black for a downwind forecast and we have ended up getting it,” he told public broadcaster ABC.

“I think Wild Oats is going to be very fast,” Richards added. “The world is going to find out who is the fastest boat downwind.”

Wild Oats is competing for line honours against three rival supermaxis: Andoo Comanche, last year’s line honours winner Black Jack, and LawConnect.

Weather is a critical factor in the race, which was first held in 1945. Though the supermaxis are expected to be powered by northerly winds to a quick finish as early as Tuesday, slower mid- to small-sized boats will still be in the water in the following days facing possible gales and changes in wind direction.

In 1998, when a deep depression exploded over the fleet in the Bass Strait, six men died, five boats sank and 55 sailors were rescued.

Black Jack took line honours last year after a tight tussle with LawConnect, ending years of frustrating near misses to cross the finish line on the River Derwent after two days, 12 hours, 37min and 17sec.

Ichi Ban, which is not racing this year, was the 2021 winner of the overall handicap prize, which takes into account the yachts’ sizes. The boat pipped rival Celestial in a race where dangerous waves and weather conditions saw many withdraw.

International boats are making a return after the race was cancelled in 2020 for the first time due to the pandemic, and Covid hit the fleet last year.

Entrants come from Germany (Orione), Hong Kong (Antipodes), Hungary (Cassiopeia 68), New Caledonia (Eye Candy and Poulpito), New Zealand (Caro), Britain (Sunrise) and the United States (Warrior Won).

Sunrise is a proven ocean racer, winning the 2021 Fastnet Race in Britain, while Caro has been tipped to take out overall handicap honours, although skipper Max Klink played down his prospects ahead of the race saying: “I do not think we are the favourite.”

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100-foot supermaxi Andoo Comanche returns to Australia

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Comanche backed to defend sydney to hobart crown in any weather.

Sydney Hobart race set to sail

Skipper John Winning Jr is backing Andoo Comanche to defend her line honours title in any conditions as the Rolex Sydney to Hobart ’s weather forecast remains unpredictable.

On Christmas Eve, the Bureau of Meteorology said uncertainty remained as to wind, waves and weather from Boxing Day after revealing an unusually vague long-range forecast on Monday.

The position of a trough and low-pressure system moving south-east on Tuesday and Wednesday is set to dictate conditions. More clarity is expected early on December 26.

The four 100ft supermaxi yachts may have to contend with stormy conditions from late Tuesday into Wednesday, with showers, gusts and hail all possible for the far-south NSW Coast and Bass Strait.

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

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.

“Obviously we’d like conditions that would see us get there as fast as possible.

“But if it is that we’re out there for 48-plus hours, then we still think our boat is fast in all conditions and we’ve proven that in previous races.”

Last year, Comanche stormed to Constitution Dock in one day, 11 hours, 56 minutes and 48 seconds - the second-fastest time for any line honours winner in Hobart history.

Winning’s boat thrived in heavy, downwind conditions in 2022 but the skipper said a line honours win in last year’s Brisbane to Hamilton Island race proved she could stick it in lighter weather.

“We had an edge in the other conditions, when it was a bit windier or reaching. We put distance on (the other supermaxis) a lot faster than they put distance on us in the light,” he said.

“That gave us a lot of confidence.

“We think we’re the fastest boat downwind in wind and we think we can hang in there in the light as well as anyone.

“Certainly it’s not going to be three knots the whole way to Hobart.”

LawConnect, runner-up for line honours in the last three Hobarts, looms as Comanche’s biggest threat to clinching back-to-back John H Illingworth Challenge Cups.

The boat’s crew will hope their dominance of this month’s Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour can translate to a fast start out of the Heads on Boxing Day.

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.

LawConnect won’t shy away from the rough conditions that could come with the 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.”

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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Two super maxis continue to lead the Sydney to Hobart race as storms hit fleet

Comanche heads down Sydney Harbour during the start of the Sydney Hobart yacht race in Sydney, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023. The 630-nautical mile race has more than 100 yachts starting in the race to the island state of Tasmania. (Salty Dog/CYCA via AP)

Skallywag, left, and Comanche sail close during the start of the Sydney Hobart yacht race in Sydney, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023. The 630-nautical mile race has more than 100 yachts starting in the race to the island state of Tasmania. (Salty Dog/CYCA via AP)

Sail boats enter open water after the start of the Sydney Hobart yacht race in Sydney, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023. The 630-nautical mile race has more than 100 yachts starting in the race to the island state of Tasmania. (Salty Dog/CYCA via AP)

Competitors race to the start line to begin the Sydney Hobart yacht race in Sydney, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023. The 630-nautical mile race has more than 100 yachts starting in the race to the island state of Tasmania. (Andrea Francolini/Rolex/CYCA via AP)

Boats compete during the start of the Sydney Hobart yacht race in Sydney, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023. The 630-nautical mile race has more than 100 yachts starting in the race to the island state of Tasmania. (Salty Dog/CYCA via AP)

LawConnect, left, leads the fleet during the start of the Sydney Hobart yacht race in Sydney, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023. The 630-nautical mile race has more than 100 yachts starting in the race to the island state of Tasmania. (Salty Dog/CYCA via AP)

Competitors race past spectator boasts as they begin the Sydney Hobart yacht race in Sydney, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023. The 630-nautical mile race has more than 100 yachts starting in the race to the island state of Tasmania. (Andrea Francolini/Rolex/CYCA via AP)

Competitors sail through Sydney Harbour to begin the Sydney Hobart yacht race in Sydney, Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2023. The 630-nautical mile race has more than 100 yachts starting in the race to the island state of Tasmania. (Andrea Francolini/Rolex/CYCA via AP)

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SYDNEY (AP) — The Sydney to Hobart fleet was reduced to 98 boats after overall honors contender Maritimo 52 was one of two retirements on a stormy first night of racing.

Rival super maxis Andoo Comanche and LawConnect remained neck-and-neck in the early hours of Wednesday as the fleet began to pass Eden on the New South Wales south coast before heading into Bass Strait.

The two favorites for line honors were some 40 miles (65 kilometers) ahead of the nearest challengers.

Race officials confirmed Maritimo had retired overnight with rigging damage, while 50-footer Sticky pulled out with electrical issues. The retirements came after line honors contender SHK Scallywag was among the three boats of the 103 starters to pull out on the first evening after the start Tuesday in Sydney harbor.

“We’re shattered, actually,” said Maritimo crew member Peter Jones. “We were trying to work a million ways around it, but at best we were going to be at 50%.”

Jones reported a southwesterly front had come through with three hours of heavy rain and high winds.

“There was as much lightning as we’d ever seen,” Jones said.

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

The line honors record of 1 day, 9 hours, 15 minutes, 24 seconds was set by Comanche in 2017, after Comanche also won last year’s race . In 2022, Comanche finished at Constitution Dock in 1 day, 11 hours, 56 minutes and 48 seconds — the second-fastest time behind its 2017 race record.

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Comanche and LawConnect in two-way Sydney to Hobart battle as more wild weather looms

• Supermaxis continue to trade lead as they battle to defy changeable conditions
• Race casualty list grows to 11 after Rum Rebellion briefly thrown overboard

The supermaxis Andoo Comanche and LawConnect are in a two-way battle for Sydney to Hobart line honours as more unpredictable weather looms for a storm-weary fleet.

The reigning line honours champion Comanche held a six-nautical-mile lead over fellow 100-footer LawConnect as the pair tracked off Tasmania’s east coast late on Wednesday afternoon.

LawConnect navigator Chris Lewis said the crew had experienced “a little bit of everything” on Boxing Day night.

“The wildest (weather) was literally 180-degree wind shifts,” he said in a video posted on the yacht’s Facebook.

“It’s been pretty wild.”

The race casualty list grew to 11 on Wednesday after the Rum Rebellion skipper Shane Connelly was briefly thrown overboard off the NSW coast.

Connelly and crewmate Tony Sutton retired on Tuesday night after concerns the skipper may have suffered concussion.

Connelly said a “micro-burst” of wind hit his two-handed yacht during a ferocious storm, throwing him off the port side.

He managed to attach his tether and was lifted back on board as the yacht righted.

Comanche and LawConnect, runner-up at the past three Sydney to Hobart events, have both had turns in the lead since the duo crossed Bass Strait.

Cruising Yacht Club of Australia commodore Arthur Lane said it was a two-horse race and a likely post-sunrise finish – some time short of Comanche’s record of one day, nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds set in 2017.

“They are watching each other very, very carefully,” he said.

“Each is tweaking and doing all the little adjustments needed. They know each other’s boats so well.”

Lane said a lot of unease remained about the weather forecast, with a stiff breeze building off Australia’s south-east.

A strong wind warning has been issued for waters off Tasmania’s east coast on Thursday.

The in-form URM Group, a contender for overall honours which is decided on handicap, was more than 100 nautical miles behind the leading supermaxis in third place despite suffering jib damage and losing her code zero spinnaker.

The navigator Alice Parker said the wind and rain had been inconsistent.

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“I had a good few moments with a bucket between my legs but otherwise everyone is fighting fit and in good spirits,” she said.

“We’re all a bit wet and have been sliding around.”

Wild Thing 100, the race’s third remaining supermaxi, was further afield in sixth position.

Fellow supermaxi, and one of the pre-race favourites, SHK Scallywag sensationally withdrew on Boxing Day evening after suffering a broken bow sprit.

Maritimo 52, one of eight TP52s starting the race, was an early withdrawal on Wednesday after breaking a fitting on her forestay and ripping her mainsail.

Veteran Sydney to Hobart competitor and crew member Peter Jones said there had been as much lightning as he’d ever seen.

“We’re shattered,” Jones said.

“We were trying to work a million ways around it, but at best we were going to be at 50 per cent.”

The popular two-hander Currawong, the race’s equal-smallest boat, was forced to limp back to Sydney after reporting multiple issues.

The co-skippers Kathy Veel and Bridget Canham were last year the race’s first all-female two-handed entry and were greeted by thousands of New Year’s Eve revellers when they arrived at Hobart’s Constitution Dock.

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Comanche sets new Transatlantic Race record

Related articles, superyacht directory.

The 30.48 metre sailing yacht Comanche has set a new monohull race record after taking Monohull Line Honours in the 2022 RORC Transatlantic Race.

Skippered by Mitch Booth, Comanche and its crew completed the 3,000 nautical mile race from Lanzarote to Grenada in seven days, 22 hours, 1 minute and 4 seconds (that's two days quicker than the previous record holder).

Constructed in carbon fibre by American builder Hodgdon to a design by VPLP/Verdier Maxi, the yacht was delivered in 2014 after being commissioned by software mogul Jim Clark.

This is not the first time Comanche has tasted success – since its launch the yacht has set several speed records, most notably sailing from New York’s Ambrose Lighthouse to the UK’s Lizard Point in five and a half days in 2016.

The sailing yacht also finished in second place during the 2014 Sydney Hobart race and broke a 24-hour record in the 2015 Transatlantic Race after covering 618 nautical miles in one day.

Described as a “Laser dinghy or 49er morphed with rocket ship” by BOAT’ International's own Marilyn Mower , Comanche ’s defining feature is its comparatively wide 7.6 metre beam which helps save weight, in turn increasing its speed.

Other notable features include its rig which rises 47 metres above the water and a solid stainless steel keel.

Comanche is the largest yacht entered in the 2022 RORC Transatlantic Race and the team must now wait until the remaining competitors have crossed the finish line, to see if any of the 21 teams performing can eclipse their corrected time.

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'Can't do that': Protest flag waved as drama engulfs start of 2023 Sydney to Hobart race

The start of this year's iconic Sydney to Hobart yacht race included a dose of controversy, with reigning champion Andoo Comanche involved in an incident with a rival supermaxi.

On a gloomy day in the harbour city, last year's victor almost collided with Scallywag just minutes after the race began, with Andoo Comanche opting to raise the protest flag.

The crew claimed the rival boat forced them to avert their path to avoid a collision and decided to lodge a protest with the officials.

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"It's a classic port-and-starboard," Andoo Comanche master Iain Murray told the broadcast on Tuesday.

"That's too close. You can't do that with 100-footers."

Scallywag could complete a 720-degree penalty turn near Bondi, exonerating herself in the process and avoiding a potential showdown with the judges at the finishing line.

While the drama unfolded, LawConnect took an early lead despite an issue with a problematic headsail.

The conditions in Sydney were erratic earlier in the day, with thunderstorms around the harbour at midday, but the rain had passed by the time the ships set sail at 1pm.

The forecast for the next 48 hours aren't pretty viewing, with Murray admitting potential thunder and lightning could be worrisome for Andoo Comanche.

"We don't like thunderstorms ... we get wet but it's also very volatile for the wind," he said.

"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."

The line-honours winner should sail into Hobart harbour some time on Thursday.

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Sydney to Hobart yacht race: Andoo Comanche takes the day one lead with SHK Scallywag losing ground

Sport Sydney to Hobart yacht race: Andoo Comanche takes the day one lead with SHK Scallywag losing ground

Race favourite SHK Scallywag is one of the three first casualties of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race after the vessel's bow sprit broke early Tuesday evening.

Skippered by David Witt, the SHK Scallywag from Hong Kong, had recently undergone modifications, added some well-known crew and appeared to be in great shape.

But without the bow sprit, continuing the race would prove impossible.

Andoo Comanche has taken the lead late on a dramatic opening day of the race, after a string of incidents including a protest and a penalty turn. 

After a slow run in the early stages down the coast, the leading chances for line honours picked up speed later in the afternoon once they headed offshore to maximise their momentum.

The forecast predicts difficult weather for the fleet on Tuesday night and into Wednesday, with storm activity, erratic winds and possible hail.

As at 7:00pm AEDT, Andoo Comanche was leading, offshore between Lake Conjola and Milton, travelling at 24.4 knots.

LawConnect trailed by 3.8 nautical miles, travelling at 24.6 knots. Wild Thing 100 was third, 16.1 nautical miles behind Andoo Comanche.

Not long after SHK Scallywag retired, Arcadia from Victoria, along with Rum Rebellion, also reported they had left the race. 

The race began in typically tense fashion on Sydney Harbour.

LawConnect got the jump at the start and was the leader at the opening mark. But soon afterwards a problem getting their sail up led them to jibe away from the lead and the spectator craft, leaving Andoo Comanche and Scallywag with the advantage.

However with all crews pushing things to the edge, a protest flag came in from Andoo Comanche, claiming Scallywag had tacked too late, forcing them to take evasive action with their sail luffing, losing momentum.

Swearing could be heard on board Andoo Comanche as they shouted out their protest after the near miss.

Scallywag sailed clear in the lead and was first out of the Heads, but facing the possibility of a time penalty at the end of the race if Andoo Comanche's protest was upheld, skipper David Witt chose to execute a double penalty turn off Bondi. Scallywag lost ground due to the move.

Six years ago, Wild Oats XI chose to race on after a protest from Comanche, and the one-hour time penalty incurred at the end of the race ended its line honours hopes.

Later in the day, Andoo Comanche retook the lead, passing LawConnect with Scallywag in third. 

The winds were not strong on the way down the coast and the race was a lot slower than last year, with the leaders reaching Wollongong after three and a half hours of racing, an hour later than last year's race.   

Look back at how the day unfolded in our blog.

• 7:45 AM 7:45 AM Tue 26 Dec 2023 at 7:45am Andoo Comanche still leads, Scallywag losing ground
• 5:38 AM 5:38 AM Tue 26 Dec 2023 at 5:38am Andoo Comanche is officially leading ... but not by much
• 5:28 AM 5:28 AM Tue 26 Dec 2023 at 5:28am Scallywag did do penalty turns

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Live updates

That's where we will leave it.

By Andrew McGarry

Right now the race for line honours is a head-to-head duel between Andoo Comanche and LawConnect, but it would be foolish to make too many predictions about how things will go into night one and beyond.

Please keep monitoring the story above the blog, which will be updated if there are any official announcements on Scallywag.

Thank you all very much for joining me on our live coverage of the race south from Sydney.

Thanks to Bob William s on board Sylph VI for talking to us mid-race, and thanks to everyone for your comments and questions. I'm sorry we couldn't get to answer all of them.

There will be more stories covering the race tomorrow as the race heads towards Eden and Bass Strait.

For now, I'm Andrew McGarry and it has been a pleasure to bring you day one of the blue water classic.  

Has there been more than one cat in the Sydney-Hobart?

Hi Andrew, I'm afraid Oli might not be the first cat in the Sydney-Hobart yacht race. Apparently a cat was on board the yacht Connella in the second race of 1946-47. (According to the Pittsworth Sentinel - Fri 10 Jan 1947 and others - Trove). - Nick

Andoo Comanche still leads, Scallywag losing ground

Five and a half hours down, and Andoo Comanche remains in the lead, heading south at 22 knots.

Last year's winner leads by 2.5 nautical miles from LawConnect, which is going at 18.8 knots.

There is now an increasing gap with the rest of the fleet. Wild Thing 100 is now third, 15.2 nautical miles from the lead, travelling at 17.3 knots.

SHK Scallywag (7 knots) is fourth, 18.1 nautical miles from the leader, and it appears David Witt's boat may have turned north-west. We have no confirmation of anything happening on board, but it does not look like a normal course right now.

LawConnect and Celestial

What do you think the chances are of law connect winning line honours and celestial winning handicap ? - Scott

It's very hard to pin down at this early stage of the race. You can tell which boats won't be playing a part in the overall result, but it's a difficult task to isolate particular boats and say where they might finish or who is likely to win.

Celestial is currently 10th overall, going at 13.5 knots 32 nautical miles south of Botany Bay.

The issue with overall is it's not just the speed you're going at, it's the handicap you have. Celestial has a lower handicap than most of the boats ahead of her, but they're all going faster.

If it all slows down, then Celestial could well improve position and be fighting it out.

As far as LawConnect goes, it literally is a three-way battle for line honours as things stand. Christian Beck's supermaxi is 1 nautical mile behind Andoo Comanche, and 3.6 nautical miles in front of SHK Scallywag. But right now, it's the slowest of the three.

The chances are that the head of the fleet will hit some difficult conditions later tonight and tomorrow, particularly once they get to Eden and points south. How the main contenders fair then will tell us a lot about which way the race for line honours is going to go.

I could see any of the three as a possible line honours winner right now. As it stands, it could well be a showdown between Andoo Comanche and LawConnect. If the winds drop, that may allow Scallywag to come through.

Line of the race so far

Does Oli the cat being on the boat make it a catamaran?? - Louise Teague

Bravo, Louise, that's a cracker of a pun.

I hope for Oli's sake, that he has a smooth passage to Hobart on board Sylph VI, and that he's not feline too poorly by the end of the race.

I'll show myself out ...  

is it going like Clockwork out on the water?

Can you tell us anything about the only South Aussie boat in the field which is apparently named 'Clockwork' please? What are its chances of winning overall (handicap) honours? - StevoR

Apologies for the delay in getting to your comment. Clockwork is a Sydney 38 class boat in this year's race.

It's 11.8m long, and there are 10 crew on board, led by owners Andrew Lloyd and Mary Ann Harvey.

At the moment, they are going along at a bit over 6 knots, which compares favourably with a fair number of the fleet right now. They are still nine nautical miles SE of Botany Bay, which tells you how favourable (or not) conditions have been this afternoon, four and a half hours into the race.

Clockwork is 76th in the race for line honours, and 81st in the race overall.

The current prediction is that it will cross the line in the late afternoon on New Year's Eve — when you put in the corrected time to take into account it's size and other factors, the race time would have it crossing the line at 4:25am on New Year's morning.

So they're unlikely to win the race overall, but they're finish time and placing will depend a lot on what weather they face and when and whether they can avoid the worst of the conditions their competitors may have to face over the next few days.

The race is tough - and not just for those on the boats

My partner, Michael, is skippering our boat 'Merit' in the race. I didn't race as don't do well on lack of sleep, but think I won't sleep anyway as will be refreshing the tracker every 5 minutes for the next 3 days! - Jo

I understand the nerves when you're following from on-shore, but that's amazing that Michael is in the middle of it all heading for Hobart as part of the blue ocean classic.

I know that I don't need to tell you what the tracker is saying, but for the rest of our readers, Merit — a 19.3m Volvo 60 round-the-world racing yacht - is going along in the middle of the pack at present.

Like many of the boats in their area, well offshore, south of Bundeena, the winds have dropped off. Merit is going at 2.2 knots, and is a little over 25 nautical miles from the lead.

Now that the leaders have picked up the big winds, the race is quickly separating into two, with the main part of the fleet with little momentum for the moment, and some leaders flying ahead with the best of the conditions.

Good luck to Michael and the rest of the crew (not to mention the other 102 crews out on the water), and I hope it's not too nervous a wait for you Jo until Merit reaches Hobart.    

Andoo Comanche is officially leading ... but not by much

We are three and a half hours into the race, and the leaders are passing Wollongong, which tells you the pace of the race is different this year.

In the 2022 edition, the leaders were going past Port Kembla two and a half hours after the start.

However, the winds are clearly picking up and the leaders are gaining momentum as they go down the coast.

A few minutes ago, LawConnect was leading narrowly, but things have changed again.

The new leader Andoo Comanche is flying along at 25.2 knots, 0.4 nautical miles ahead of LawConnect, which is currently travelling at 18.5 knots.

Scallywag is still third, racing the furthest offshore of the leaders. It's working for them, however, as they have closed the gap to 2.9 nautical miles, and they are the fastest boat out there at 25.6 knots.

The other supermaxi on the water, Wild Thing 100, is 10.4 nautical miles back in fourth. Grant Wharington's boat is going at a respectable clip, at 20.6 knots.

Scallywag did do penalty turns

Race officials have confirmed Scallywag completed a 720-degree penalty turn off the coast of Bondi Beach, to avoid a possible time penalty at the end of the race.

Reigning line honours champion and 2023 favourite Andoo Comanche lodged an early protest, accusing Scallywag of tacking too close to her.

The boats appeared to come within metres of each other as they made their way out of Sydney Harbour.

Comanche's crew could be heard on broadcast coverage yelling "protest" to the Hong Kong-based 100-footer before formally flying a red flag.

Scallywag thrives in lighter winds such as those reported at the start of the race and, hoping to lead the fleet out of the heads, was slow to react to the protest flag.

But the fact the incident had taken place in the harbour meant Scallywag had only a limited distance in which to complete the penalty turns, or risk receiving a time sanction on arrival in Hobart.

In 2017, Wild Oats XI opted not to respond to a protest from Comanche early in the race and a subsequent one-hour time penalty cost her a line honours victory.

Update on Sylph VI and Oli the cat

As we said earlier, we are keeping an eye on the two-handed sloop Sylph VI on its way to Hobart.

The boat first competed in the race in 1961. Williams bought it 25 years ago, and he, along with first mate Chris Warren is on the way south — along with his cat, Oli.

Speaking to Williams, the 12.5m long boat is going well and has avoided trouble so far.

"We're where we expected to be — at the back of the fleet!" he said.

"It's bouncy conditions, but we've got a bit of breeze and we still have the fleet in sight."

Sylph VI was on the fourth start line, furthest back. But this meant they had less of the spectator craft to negotiate.

What of his historic fellow crew member, the first cat to sail to Hobart?

"Oli has crashed out on the starboard settee, with his head on the pillow — he looks very peaceful," Williams said.

It's going to be a long haul to Hobart, but they are going at a nice 6 or so knots at the moment, and things are good.

There will be some bad weather on the way, but they haven't hit anything so far.

"There are thunderheads around, we can see them, but nothing near us so far," Williams said. "There is potential for hail, so we'll have to keep our eye out.

"The main issue for us will be when we get further south and we get some very strong southwesterly breeze.

"We'll see how we go when we get down there."

How does Oli go in storms?

"I don't like rough weather that much either, but Oli usually finds a comfortable spot to curl up in, often down the back end of the quarterberth. "It's nice and cosy, he curls up in a ball and stays asleep for a while. Later he'll come out for a bit of food ... and a pee, maybe!"

You can follow their progress on Sylph VI (or for that matter on any of the boats in the fleet) on the race tracker .  

Seeking the breeze

Hi Andrew, With Scallywag & LawConnect heading further offshore, do you think their strategy is to pick up the Eastern Australian current or try to find a stronger breeze? What is the speed of the Eastern Australian Current in the fastest part of the current? I presume it’s position relative to the coast varies quite a bit as it makes it way down the east coast from the tropics, assuming Scallywag & LawConnect are looking for the current, how will they find the optimal part? Many thanks, Rob (Maryanne’s husband & Mandy’s Dad - so I just had to ask a question!!!) - Rob

I don't know the answer of where the strongest current is or will be. What I do know is that as of the final weather briefing this morning, the BOM were saying that this afternoon they expected light, variable winds closer to shore.

Offshore, the expectation was that winds would be E to SE 10-20 knots. The winds the supermaxis are currently experiencing are towards the lower end of that range.

My best guess is that the big four — who are all well out from shore right now — will be staying out there for the moment, in search of the strongest winds, rather than the current.

The prediction is that once the fleet gets beyond Eden, wind speeds will increase to 20 to 30 knots (albeit still E to SE winds blowing largely away from Hobart).

  Who knows who will benefit most from this. Will it be the smaller boats, or will the inevitable happen and the 100-footers pull ahead? We shall see.

First out of the Heads

Who was first out of the heads? - John

Sorry folks, for those who were keen to know who was officially first out of the Heads, it was actually Scallywag.

LawConnect was first around the first mark, but after their sail problems, they were overtaken by Scallywag, who were first to get out of the Heads.

After all the boats got hit with a wind drop, LawConnect then briefly took the lead, but again were not the first out.

It's been a crazy old start, eh?

Why do people jump off the boats?

Hi Andrew, can you please talk us through how and why the two crew from Scallywag ended up in the water? - Maryanne

Hello Maryanne,

The explanation for why the people jump off the boats is that they are not actually crew.

As part of the coverage of each year's race, camera operators and photographers usually go on board one or two of the leading contenders as they are going through the harbour and the Heads, in order to take pics / send back footage.

The issue is, of course, that unless they want to actually go to Hobart, they need to get off the boat at some point.

The only way to do that is to jump off, so that they can be picked up by waiting boats.

I haven't heard anything concerning coming out, so I presume all went smoothly, and the camerapeople and photographers are currently drying off (or filing pictures like mad, as the case may be....).

Change at the top?

This is definitely not your usual start to the Sydney to Hobart.

An hour into the race, the head of the fleet are usually heading southwards at a rate of knots — upwards of 20, in some cases — and there is definite momentum with one or other of the leaders.

Not so this year.

It's a game of cat and mouse out on the water right now.

Andoo Comanche is taking a (relatively) inside line, and has sneaked in front. The defending champion is just ahead, travelling at 11.4 knots at the minute. Between it and the coast is URM Group, the 21.8m long boat skippered by Marcus Ashley-Jones. It is going at 8.4 knots.

Further out to sea is LawConnect — it is further south than the others, but in terms of the lead it is officially 0.3 nautical miles behind Andoo Comanche, going at 9.2 knots.

Behind them is Philip Turner's Reichel Pugh 66 Alive — the boat that won overall in 2018.  

Alive (0.4 nm behind) is going at 7.4 knots on a similar line to Andoo Comanche. More smaller boats are in the mix, with Moneypenny (1.3nm back), No Limit (also 1.3nm behind) and Smuggler (1.6nm) all travelling in the middle channel.

The widest run of all is Scallywag, who is now almost out of picture on the tracker, searching for wind.

It's going to be a fascinating afternoon if the winds stay light and give the smaller boats a chance.

A question on the rules

Hey Andrew, I'm new to sailing so sorry if this is a dumb question. Who determines if Scallywag has to do the turns and how long they have to do them? - Maddy

Maddy, where things stand is that Andoo Comanche has put in a protest flag already after that close call in the harbour.

Andoo Comanche are claiming that Scallywag chose to tack too late, forcing them off course to avoid a collision.

From here it's all pending. The judges will be sitting in the protest room in Hobart, waiting for the race to finish.

While the boats are on the water, there will be no decision made. As the saying goes, it's now up to Scallywag's crew to decide if they are feeling lucky.

If they want to take the chance — and so far it looks like they do — then they will sail straight to Hobart and hope that the judges rule with them at the end.   A few years back, Wild Oats XI was issued with a one-hour penalty in Hobart for an incident near the start of the race.

If they are not so confident, then they need to do those two turns (or a 720 degree turn, for the mathematically inclined out there), before they get a certain distance down the coast. If they do that, then the protest is cleared, and it's all systems go - but Andoo Comanche and others would doubtless gain ground.

The upshot, Maddy, is that it's not hard and fast, and it depends on the final ruling. #ClearAsMud

A speed update for the leaders

The leaders are certainly not blazing a trail down south as things stand.

Scallywag leads, but the boat is travelling at 9 knots. It's nearest challenger, Andoo Comanche, is going at 9.6 knots.

LawConnect is further back and the furthest out to sea, searching for winds to fill their big sail. They are travelling at 6.9 knots.

Scallywag has clear air - will they keep it?

We are about half an hour into the race, and Scallywag still leads the fleet, with Andoo Comanche in second and LawConnect in third taking a wide line out of the Heads.

Alive is doing very well so far in about fourth spot, although they will be playing the long game to Hobart, looking more to the overall title than line honours.

Scallywag is still going straight ahead, and there is no sign of them turning to do the penalties.

They have until a little way down the coast (around Bondi) to take the turns, but if not they will have to rely on the judges seeing things their way once they get to Hobart!

Already the race record track of LDV Comanche (as it was in 2017) is beginning to stretch away from the fleet.

One day nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds is a ridiculously fast time to Hobart, and any challengers will need EVERYTHING to go right to beat it.

Frustration on board Andoo Comanche

Sailing Master Iain Murray is speaking to Olympian Lisa Darmanin on Seven, and he's not happy.

Asked about the incident with Scallywag, Murray said:

"It's a classic port-and-starboard (incident). That's too close (from Scallywag).

"You can't do that with 100-footers. We'll see".

Asked about the speed of the boat, Murray said:

"We're really struggling to get up to speed in this wind."

A reminder of how to watch

In case you are trying to watch the action, a reminder to check out 7Mate on free-to-air or 7Plus if you want to stream it.

There's a LOT going on

Everyone is having issues with their sails. The conditions are not clear, and now Andoo Comanche is taking its time to change sails.

Behind them is LawConnect, but they have their sail fixed finally, and while Andoo Comanche is going up and down.

Now LawConnect has passed last year's winners — and there is some colourful language coming from the deck of Andoo Comanche!

Meanwhile Scallywag has taken advantage of their rivals problems, and they have sailed clear in first place!