1 January 2013, 0930hrs

Sean Langman’s 80 year-old gaff rigged Maluka of Kermandie arrived last on line in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, but she arrived well in time to see the New Year in, as many revellers clapped her into Kings Pier last evening.

Langman, who once again sailed the smallest (9.1m) boat in the fleet, took a ‘double’ of sorts, as he was last on line in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s 2011 race also. This year he finished at 9.40.12pm, outside of last year’s finish time of 04.48.22pm. The crew were just pleased to be out of the cold and in time to celebrate New Year and enjoyed the crowd of friends and fans who were at the dock to meet them.

Joining him aboard again were his daughter, Nicki and 19 year-old son Pete, who skippered the yacht to Hobart last year, but played a role as crew to his dad this year. Also aboard the yacht were husband and wife team, Shaun and Erin McKnight, parents of two young children who have raced on the yacht previously.

Four yachts remained at sea yesterday, with John Bankart’s Eressea from Mooloolaba making painfully slow progress up the Derwent towards the finish line, before finally crossing just after 5.00pm. She beat her Queensland competition, Charlie’s Dream, a Bluewater 450 cruiser owned by Peter Lewis, by just over one hour.

This was a third Hobart for Lewis and his crew, and their third finish, albeit a slow one, as the yacht circled slowly before crossing the Castray Esplanade finish line.

Beating Maluka of Kermandie to the punch by nearly 12 minutes was CIC Technology Inca. Owner, Noel Sneddon, said they had ruined most sails in their wardrobe, which slowed them down considerably. They crossed the finish at 9.28.49pm.

By Di Pearson, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

31 December 2012, 1130hrs

Discretion was the better part of valour for the Tasmanian crew of Dump Truck when they were faced with the gut-wrenching decision to retire from the Rolex Sydney Hobart with the finishing line just over 100 nautical miles away. “It was one of the hardest decisions of my life,” said skipper and 2012 Ocean Racing Rookie of the Year, Justin Wells. “To say to your crew ‘I’m sorry, we’ve got to radio in, we’re out’, that’s tough, really tough.”

At the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia before the start cannon fired on Boxing Day, the close crew of 10 huddled for a final briefing. Wells told his crew to have confidence; they’d done everything they could to be race ready. They were champions of their local offshore series, they were well versed on their man overboard drill and the Ker 11.3’s rig had passed its dye test in July.

The green-boat started with the big guns on the first line without issue. Day two they flew their Code Zero, racing at wind speed. “We saw a lot of boats bigger than us trail behind us, which is always a big plus,’’ Wells said.

On day three, despite being the smallest yacht in Division 2, they were mid fleet and ready to capitalise with their home-water advantage as they raced off Tasmania’s east coast.

With near gale force southerlies nearing, the crew reefed the mainsail and the bowman went up the mast to check the decade old stainless steel rig. But a massive bang at about 1400 AEDT on December 30 signalled their race end. The port, and then windward, D2, which stabilises the mast, had broken. “Justin Foster just yelled to the crew to get off the rail; he crash tacked, he had to, to save the rig,’’ Wells said. The crew lowered the mainsail along with their hopes of finishing the race. “There was some deliberation, but with the forecast for bigger waves and more breeze from the south, the rig wouldn’t have lasted,’’ Wells said. “There’s a lot of scenarios: had the forecast been lighter, had it have happened further south when we were rounding Tasman we might have been able to nurse her home.”

The crew limped to shore to refuel before motoring through the protected waters of Denison Canal and docking at their home club, the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania on Sunday. Over a couple of beers with family and friends Wells admitted that while he and his crew were shattered, it wouldn’t be their last. “I can’t say whether it’ll be next year, or five years, but we’ll be back’’ he said.

Dump Truck was one of five Tasmanian entries. Tony Lyall’s Cougar II was the first home, finishing in 16th place and seventh in IRC Division one. Helsal III finished 31st across the line, Martela was 61st and Sean Langman’s Maluka of Kermandie is expected to be last across the line tonight.

By Danielle McKay, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

 31 December 2012, 0800hrs

It’s been billed as the match races within the race – long-time foes battling for glory across several divisions, with just seconds separating winner from loser, while many had nervous waits for final results in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

One of the fiercest contests was that between the eight competing Beneteau First 40s in Division 3. Robbo Robertson’s Lunchtime Legend secured the overall win with relative ease compared to second placed Two True, who edged ahead of Wicked by just over one minute. Robbo was adamant pre-race in Sydney, telling all “This is it – I want to win this year.”

Remarkably, after four days racing, just seven seconds separated Wicked and the newest Beneteau in the fleet, Chris Bran’s aptly named less than 12-month old Brannew across the line.

Lunchtime Legend’s Adam Brown said the Beneteaus had met at various times at regattas across the country in the lead up to the blue-water classic, firming the rivalry. “The Hobart was definitely the one where we wanted to prove ourselves most,’’ he said. “It was really fierce out there. Every sked the lead changed, everyone was hungry for that win. It was extremely tough, but that makes the win sweeter.”

Overall race winner in 2009, Two True skipper Andrew Saies, reckons his win with his Beneteau in 2009 was a trend setter. “We proved it was affordable and a type of yacht that’s capable of winning,’’ he said. It was a disappointing 2012 race for Saies, but having finished fourth overall, after thinking they’d have to withdraw in the opening hours, is not a bad result he said on reflection. Saies said the team modified several headsails to help improve their handicap rating. The problem was that the recut sails wouldn’t hold in the track, leaving the crew bareheaded for changes and racing with older headsails.“It was disappointing for us,” he said. “But just fantastic to have seven other identical boats to race against.”

Wicked’s skipper, Mark Welsh from Melbourne, said it was more like match-racing than ocean racing, and it was definitely motivating. “We were crossing tacks and covering boats, you wouldn’t think it was an ocean race,’’ he said. “It’s a match race in one of the greatest ocean races.”

Meanwhile, in Division 4, Roger Hickman’s Wild Rose had a nail-biting wait to see if they defended their title. Simon Kurts’ Love & War looked like a challenger, leaving the crew nervously checking online to track their rival’s course up the Derwent late yesterday. The crew counted down from 10 like it was New Year’s Eve as the clock ticked towards 1620hours, the deadline that Love & War had to meet to dethrone Wild Rose. It was then that they realised they had succeeded. “Love & War is a beautiful boat; we have a lot of friends on board,’’ Hickman said. “I’d love them to do well, but that’s the catch 22, we want to do well too.” Many others felt the same way.

Wild Rose also had the distinction of beating every boat in Division 2 and 3 overall; Love & War did too.

Divisional winners will be announced at a ceremony at a dockside ceremony in Hobart at 1100hours AEDT today, December 31.

This morning, just four yachts remained at sea in bitterly cold winds; John Bankart’s Eressea (Qld), Noel Snedden’s CIC Technology Inca (ACT), Peter Lewis’ Charlie’s Dream (Qld) and last of all, Sean Langman’s Maluka of Kermandie (Tas) which finished last on line last year and is expected around 3.25pm today – well in time for New Year.

By Danielle McKay, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

30 December 2012, 1400hrs

Race veteran Tony Cable’s record 47th Rolex Sydney Hobart was his chance to make amends after being forced to retire from last’s year race - and it was a success. The 70-year-old Sydney yachtsman crossed the finish line on board Damien Parkes’ Duende just after 1100hours AEDT, after three days, 22 hours, nine minutes at sea. “It wasn’t one of the easiest ones, but it wasn’t one of the hardest by far,’’ he said. “We were working very hard - the conditions were over 30 knots - which makes it hard work, but everyone was more than capable.”

Reaching Hobart is what has kept Cable returning to the race since he first competed as a 19-year-old in 1961 on board 33-foot yacht Tarni, racing bare-foot, under the steam of cotton sails.

When Cable was forced to retire to Eden last year when Duende had engine trouble, he booked a ticket to Tasmania so he wouldn’t miss out on the revelry. “I’ve definitely made amends now,’’ said the man they call ‘Glarke Cable’, a play on famous actor Clark Gable. “You hate having to pull out. With all the work you put into doing a Hobart race, to pull out after half a day, a day, it’s so disappointing.”

While most are quick to say “never again” when they’re docking at Hobart’s Constitution Dock, with battle-wounds still raw from the 628 nautical mile ocean challenge, Cable says he’ll likely be back.

Drying off dockside, after falling in to the harbour while unloading the yacht, he said he’s leaving it in the lap of the gods. “We’ll see what Huey (the weather God) has in store,” he said. “There’s a year to go, so who knows what will happen. It will be hard to give up Hobart.”

By Danielle McKay, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

30 December 2012, 1000hrs

Late last evening, Stephen Ainsworth’s Loki (NSW) and Peter Harburg’s Black Jack (Qld) were confirmed as second and third overall in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s 2012 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

What a way to end what has been the almost perfect partnership for Ainsworth and his wonder boat Loki, which won the race overall last year. Recently Ainsworth announced he would sell the remarkable Reichel/Pugh 63 and that this would be his last Rolex Sydney Hobart “Until the next time. Never say never,” the Sydney owner remarked before the race.

On the eve of his for now retirement, Ainsworth also looks certain to win the CYCA’s 2012 Blue Water Pointscore, having led the six-race event from the outset and finished with the best result in the annual 628 nautical mile race to Hobart in Tasmania – the last of the series. “We were confident going in and we were not too shabby – second overall, first in division – and the Blue Water Pointscore – we drop a second place,” Ainsworth said. “It doesn’t get much better, especially for my last race for a while. “I learned from poker machines,” said the Aristocrat gaming systems co-owner, “how to quit while you’re ahead.”

Built in 2008, Loki has never let Ainsworth down; rather the weather has sometimes influenced the larger yacht’s results to the negative. Nor has Ainsworth’s well-melded crew, including sailing master Gordon Maguire, and navigator Michael Bellingham, ever let him down. “We are thrilled with our second place. We always saw Black Jack as our biggest threat. We could see her and Lahana ahead of us on the Tassie coast and thought ‘We’ve got them on time’,” the CYCA member said. “We knew from the weather pattern that it would be a big boat race, but we had such a ball going across Bass Strait in those hard running winds. It was a fast, warm and relatively easy race till we ran into the southerlies in the last 100 miles – that’s when we knew Wild Oats XI probably had it. “All of a sudden we went from running to throwing up a No. 5 in the southerlies. It reminded us how tough the Rolex Sydney Hobart could be,” Ainsworth said. “We beat all the boats we wanted to, so we’re happy with how we went.”

Four years old now, Loki holds numerous race records; the Bird Island set in 2011 when she took the treble, Flinders Islet (2010) and the 2009 Audi Sydney Offshore Newcastle Race in which she also won the treble. She also broke the Cabbage Tree Island record in 2009, only to have Wild Oats XI take it away in 2010.

Navigator Michael Bellingham said today: “We did the best our boat could do. We were sailing uphill for 100 miles – that’s tough. Oats was probably sailing uphill for 30 miles. “The 27th of December was one of the most awesome days of ocean racing in the nor’ easter. We had our A4 sail up for most of the day and then changed it to our A7 with one reef. “On the morning of the 28th, I came up on deck and said I hadn’t seen much wild life, but then all of a sudden we saw sunfish, some seals and a pod of dolphins.” Talking tactics, Bellingham said: “We were conscious of hitting the lee bubble near Tasman Island and we wanted to get through that quickly. I was constantly looking at the grib files to see what option to take and what it would actually be like – it was a bit of make believe “On our approach to Tasman Light, we were narrower than Black Jack and Lahana – we could see them coming from further offshore. The narrow approach has worked for us for the last two years.” Bellingham said they were always hopeful of trying to win the race again. “There was only two hours between us (them and Wild Oats XI) on corrected time,” he pointed out. “Wild Oats trucked it down the coast and pushed hard – they didn’t leave anything behind – that’s some pretty radical and brave sailing. It would have been tough in our 60 footer, but on a 100 footer, it’s even braver!”

Loki really did prove her worth in this race, from last year’s overall winner to second overall this year. Whoever buys her would be smart to leave her as she is. A few days before the 2012 Rolex Sydney Hobart start, the Bureau of Meteorology’s Michael Logan said it would be a race for the big boats. He pointed to those over 63 feet and he got it spot on.

Third placed Black Jack, with sailing champ Mark Bradford in charge, sailed to their optimum, enjoying the hard running conditions offered up on the first night and the second day when northerly and north-easterly winds helped push the big boats fast southwards. Bradford, who owns the Queensland North Sails loft and Harburg, had the seven year-old Reichel/Pugh 66 crewed up to the max by some of the best in the business, including fellow Etchells champion, Vaughan Prentice, four-time Finn Olympian and big boat sailor Anthony Nossiter and America’s Cuppers, Peter Merrington, Ryan Godfrey and Peter Dowdney.

The top three overall all come from the design board of Reichel/Pugh, and Black Jack is a near sistership to Wild Oats X which they joust successfully with on occasions. Previously, the Queensland maxi took line honours in the 2008 and 2009 Brisbane-Keppel races, breaking their own race record in the latter edition.

Black Jack, which like Wild Oats XI also sports a canting keel, took back-to-back line honours in 2009 and 2010 Brisbane Gladstone races. In August, Bradford skippered the yacht to second on line in the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race, sailing inside the record time behind Wild Oats XI and claimed second overall.

Although he obviously wanted to win, and was in the box seat at one stage of the race, Peter Harburg, who named the boat for his racing car friend Jack Brabham, was happy to except fourth on line and third overall. “Third’s not a bad place,” Harburg said this morning. The top two are always well prepared and always well sailed,” he said of Wild Oats XI and Loki. “We did our best. We enjoy close racing with Loki at various events.”

Black Jack’s owner told of the conditions they found themselves in off Tasmania. “We fell into a hole – it got Lahana before us – Loki sailed closed to the coast and didn’t suffer. Then Wild Oats got through, but we hit the southerly going across Storm Bay. “It was 38 knots at one stage and freezing cold all of a sudden. I asked the guys if we were in Antarctica,” Harburg said. “We broke three battens in the main and to drop it at night, fix it and put it up again. Loki had to do the same. It’s a challenge.”

Of his future plans, Harburg was uncertain. “We could build a 100 footer and go head to head with the Bob and Ricko show (Wild Oats XI), but it’s shallow water in Moreton Bay. Right now I’m just going to relax – then I’ll think about it. The race is a huge challenge,” he said.

“I’d like to thank the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia for the great job they do with this race,” Harburg ended.

By Di Pearson, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

30 December 2012, 10.45hrs

It was not to be - perhaps it is never meant to be - Victorian yachtsman Bruce Taylor has won everything in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, except line honours and the Tattersall’s Cup for the overall winner on corrected time. Taylor has now sailed the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s 628 nautical mile course 32 times and the big ones have eluded him again. His son Drew has sailed 21, all with his father. They have 10 divisional wins across their six Chutzpahs.

This morning, after pulling into Hobart’s Kings Pier, Bruce, a dentist from Victoria, leapt ashore to bemoan his lot, cheerfully, with the press. “There you go; there’s another one. This was one with the lot,” he said. “If there were holes out there we found them. “Our biggest blue was to go into the Tasmanian coast so close that we sailed inside Maria Island. We’d been expecting a south-westerly to get out; we got a south-easterly.” Taylor Snr. said their advance weather routing led them to expect 70 per cent downhill sailing, but they only got about 20 per cent.

Then, of course, there were the eyes of the crew the day before, when, one-third of the way across Bass Strait, they had the spinnaker up and wind gusted to 42 knots.“I’ll never forget the look on their faces,” Taylor said.

Will there be a 33rd Hobart race? “If they (the crew) want to do it again, I’ll do it again. You don’t want to be out there going round Tasman in a howling gale without a crew like this,” he said.

By Bruce Montgomery, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

30 December 2012, 1100hrs

Four months ago, one of the rising stars of New Zealand yachting, Blair Tuke, won a silver medal at the London Olympics in the 49er class, behind their training partners and Australian gold medallists, Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen. With his skipper, Peter Burling, Tuke won New Zealand's 100th Olympic medal. The 23 year old had never raced offshore.

To add to the pedigree that has given the world sailors of the calibre of the late Sir Peter Blake, Grant Dalton and match racers Russell Coutts, Dean Barker and Adam Minoprio, Tuke took to the high seas in Ray Haslar’s New Zealand entry Rikki in this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. They crossed the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s race finish line in Hobart shortly after 0900hours today, to finish 27th and well down on IRC corrected time. “It was good fun. We didn’t quite get the weather we were looking for,” Tuke said. “It was pretty tough, especially off Tasman (Island), where we had 45 knots of wind, but the reception here in Hobart was awesome.”

Tuke said it was now a matter of going back to Olympic class sailing in New Zealand to try catch some of the summer.

By Bruce Montgomery, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

30 December 2012, 0800hrs

The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race was not a mountain that Sydney yachtsman Warwick Sherman ever felt he had to climb, but fate stepped in last year, when at the age of 57, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and put the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s race on his bucket list.

This morning at 0431am Sherman’s Ker-designed GTS43, Occasional Coarse Language Too, crossed the finish line at Hobart’s Castray Esplanade and Warwick Sherman not only ticked off this item on his list of things he has to do, it looks like he has won IRC Division 2 of the race. “I don’t know which was worse, the chemo (chemotherapy) or the race,” he admitted as he contemplated what he had been through this past year and this past three days. “It was tough. God, it was tough. The first 36 hours were good, but the race to Hobart just keeps changing. You think you’re almost there; then you realise you are nowhere near there. “The last 24 hours we were hammered. We had three reefs in the main and, at one stage, had a storm jib up. We were still making 8 knots, but just slamming down every time. “I found it wore me down quickly; just like the chemo had. You run out of energy, you know. My body core got really cold, so I spent a long time below. I was doing less and less. My crew were just fantastic. They got me through this and they go the boat through it.”

Warwick Sherman is in remission - he is robust - he is competitive, yet he has a down-home demeanour that is endearing. He calls a spade a spade. For a man in his position, it is admirable.

To add to the drama of this, his first Hobart race, his nemesis, Ed Psaltis on AFR Midnight Rambler, a similar boat, was omnipresent during the trip, but always behind, just. “I’d look over my shoulder and there he was. Then, I’d look over the other shoulder, and there he was again. It was like swatting flies. You knew that if you made one mistake, he would be on top of you,” Sherman said.

As it was, Sherman beat Psaltis across the line by 14 minutes to give him the probably division win, with Psaltis second and the other player in their chase across Bass Strait, Sam Haynes’ Celestial – Assistance Dogs, third.

Is that it? “I don’t know. I’ve never been a numbers man,” the CYCA member responded. “I don’t have to keep coming back and accruing things,” Sherman said. “I’ll spend some time thinking about it.”

In his eyes, you can see that this has been a considerable mountain that he has climbed and conquered.

By Bruce Montgomery, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

30 December 2012, 0600hrs

There were no further retirements overnight in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Of the original fleet of 76, 23 have now finished, 48 are at sea and five have retired. A further 33 boats are expected to cross the line in Hobart today. They are mustering around Maria and Tasman. WSW winds averaging 15-20 knots prevailed during the night. Winds are expected to be lighter on the east coast today. The last boat in the fleet, Sean Langman’s Maluka of Kermandie is still expected before the New Year.

By Bruce Montgomery, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

29 December 2012, 1700hrs

In strong wind conditions 30 nautical miles off Tasmania’s east coast this afternoon, rigging damage forced the crew aboard the Tasmanian 11-metre yacht Dump Truck to retire from the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and to run for shelter between Schouten Island and Freycinet Peninsula.

Skipper Justin Wells notified race officials at approximately 1430hours AEDT that they had damaged their D2 fitting, where the shroud or side stay attaches to one of the mast’s horizontal spreaders. Potentially it threatens the stability of the mast.

They immediately reduced sail and are now motoring to Schouten Passage, where they’re expected to arrive at about 2100hours to reassess their situation. A message from on board said they were all safe, but shattered.

The winds have been blowing at more than 25 knots off the north-east coast and are expected to reach near gale force further south in Storm Bay and around Tasman Island tonight before easing. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a strong wind warning for Storm Bay, with gusts of more than 35 knots expected. Sailors have reported winds of more than 45 knots today. Rain squalls have reduced visibility to less than 100 metres at times.

So far 14 boats have finished the race. There have been five retirements; 57 yachts are at sea.

By Danielle McKay, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

29 December 2012, 1500hrs

They came the furthest of any yachts to compete in the 2012 Rolex Sydney Hobart from the other side of the planet, in very different boats, representing very different sailing cultures and traditions, but they finished just minutes apart.

A 12 year old Lithuanian Volvo 60 that roams the world from race to race called Ambersail, and KLC Bengal 7, a two year old Humphreys 54 hailing from Japan arrived in Sydney never having taken part in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s 628 nautical mile race before. And Ambersail was the first Lithuanian entry ever.

Yet in a fleet of 76, spread across 140 miles of ocean, this morning the only two non-Australasian boats in the race found they were converged at Tasman light with no other yachts in sight, rounding Cape Raoul and launching into Storm Bay within hailing distance of each other.

The two raced side by side across Storm Bay, match racing the final leg up the Derwent River.

In the end, Ambersail crossed the line 6 minutes ahead of the Japanese, a very satisfying result for her skipper, Simonas Steponavicius. “We have met this boat quite a few times before,” he said. “She used to carry the UK flag and was called Oyster Catcher. She and Jazz are our usual benchmark boats.” Jazz had already finished five hours earlier, but Steponavicius can live with that this time. “I am not surprised Jazz did her own thing in her own courtyard,” he said. There seemed to be nothing that could dent the Lithuanian’s spirits dockside today. “This is a must do race,” he declared. “It is exactly what I had imagined - it is tough. The conditions are very changeable. We even got a squall from the Southern Ocean at the entrance to Storm Bay.”

On the other side of Constitution Dock, the Japanese were spraying champagne about the boat and cheering, though skipper Yoshihiko Murase regretted the fish that had got away at Cape Hauy. “It was a very good race, but not as good as we expected,” he ruefully remarked. “We had all the TP52s behind us, but after Cape Hauy they passed us.” Local knowledge says keep well away from the wind shadow created by the Tasmanian coast in a westerly, a lesson no doubt now inscribed in Kanji on a bulkhead deep inside KLC Bengal 7. “We all enjoyed the scenery down the Tasmanian coast though,” Murase added.

Both boats had covered huge distances to take part in the Rolex Sydney Hobart. Ambersail, the first ever Lithuanian entrant, has covered some 100,000 miles over the years, roaming from race to race. Normally in November she would have competed in the Rolex Middle Sea Race in the Mediterranean after some racing in America, but this year she turned south from the Caribbean instead. Steponavicius rates the Middle Sea, the Rolex Fastnet and the Rolex Sydney Hobart the top three races in the world: “They are all very different,” he says. “The Middle Sea race is very tactically challenging; sailed in a lot of wind shadows. The Fastnet is also very challenging, with the tides and tidal barriers. “The Hobart is an ocean race where you sail a big distance from north to south, so there is an extreme change of climate and season. A brilliantly interesting race, it is different from everything we have done,” Steponavicius continued. “Yesterday we ran with full spinnaker in winds gusting to 25 knots, in a huge swell, at a speed of 27 knots. It was exhilarating, especially at night.

“We sailed from Japan for 33 days non-stop to be here,” said Murase, “and it was more than worth it.”

Arriving at Sydney City Marine, owner Syd Fischer was on hand to welcome them. “They looked as fresh as anything and were smiling. Then they told me they were at sea for 33 days. I couldn’t believe it,” Fischer said.

So will they come back? “Maybe, I will think about that in one or two days,” a tired Murase offered. “The last part of the race was very hard.” “I would do my best to come back every year. As often as I can,” the Lithuanian Steponavicius declared.

By Jim Gale, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

29 December 2012, 1230hrs

At 12.00pm today, Wild Oats XI was officially confirmed the overall winner of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s 2012 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

The win cements Wild Oats XI, owner Bob Oatley and skipper Mark Richards’ place in history as the first to claim the treble; line honours, first overall and the race record - twice.

Richards steered the yacht to the treble in 2005, but it came in easier style than this time around, when the record was on, then off and on again in the closing stages. He said today that laying his hands on the Tattersall’s Cup (awarded to the overall winning yacht) was the ultimate achievement. “There’s only a couple of boats competing for line honours, but the Tattersall’s Cup – it’s nearly the whole fleet - it’s a big deal,” he said. The yacht shaved 16 minutes and 58 seconds off her 2005 record when she crossed the finish line on Friday 28 December at 07.23.12 AEDT.

Only one other yacht has ever won the trifecta; Captain John Illingworth’s Rani in the inaugural race in 1945.

This is Wild Oats’ sixth line honours victory. Only one other yacht Morna, later re-named Kurrewa IV, has done better. She won line honours seven times, but never won the race outright.

Richards is now setting his sights on equaling the record seven wins. “You get close to something like that and it becomes a real goal for us,” he said. “I’m sure there’ll be bigger and better boats out next year, so we’ll just see what happens.”

By Danielle McKay, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

29 December 2012, 0900hrs

While disappointment was high on the list of those aboard Jazz and Calm this morning, a screaming 30 knot southerly was reported off Tasman Island, along with heavy rain and poor visibility, making life tough for the bulk of the fleet still racing in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s predictions at the final briefing of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia on Boxing Day morning warned competitors of a gale force southerly, so it has come as no surprise. However, it will be uncomfortable and unpleasant.

Meanwhile the bitter pill for Chris Bull and his Jazz (NSW) crew and Victorian Jason Van Der Slot and his crew on Calm this morning, is the ‘so close and yet so far’, as both crews come to grips with the fact that both thought they could have the overall win and the Tattersall’s Cup in their hands, only they were stopped by parking lots close to the finish.

It is expected to be announced later this morning that Wild Oats XI has repeated their 2005 performance and taken the triple of race record, line and overall win.

Winning the famous 628 nautical mile race overall is often like the toss of the dice – the weather is either with you, or against you. This year it was more suited to the bigger yachts which stormed home in big northerly and north-easterly winds.

Calm, moored at Kings Pier this morning, her co-owner Van Der Slot and crew looked shattered. Had they finished the race just after 1.00am this morning, the race was theirs. Unfortunately, they found two parking lots close to the finish.“The Tasman hasn’t been good to us. We parked for two hours off Tasman Island and for an hour in the Derwent. We watched Jazz come up to us under kite – they took 20 miles out of us finding their own private breeze. We only just beat them over the line – that was hard,” Van der Slot said. “We were aiming to finish in time to win – around 1.00am – that’s the cruelty of it all. Up to Tasman Island, we were on track. It had all gone according to plan until then… We did everything possible to win this race. It was perfect until the last section – we had their (Wild Oats XI and Jazz) measure. “It doesn’t help being the top TP52 home: we wanted to win. Our crew was prepared – we trained in the gym – and we made sure the boat was prepared – in fact, we were so well prepared, broke nothing on our boat,” said Van Der Slot.

The Victorian said he had beat the likes of Shogun (Rob Hanna) and Cougar II (Anthony Lyall) because: “We stayed offshore at bit at St Helens, the others went in.” Tenth across the line, the Brindabella crew were happy with their lot in life, even though they had parked up with so many others who finished, or were on the way to the finish this morning. “Jim’s (owner Jim Cooney) pretty happy; we finished two places better on line than last year,” sailing master Brad Kellett said.

Kellett told how they found the big parking lot with a lot of others. “We reached Maria Island and ran out of breeze,” he said. “I handed the helm to one of our young guys, Tristan Cross, and said ‘It’s your turn to steer backwards, I already had a go at doing that in the CYCA Trophy Series!’ “We’re pretty pleased with our race,” said Kellett, who told of the match race to the finish line with Bob Steel’s 2008 Rolex Sydney Hobart winner, Quest, whom they shared their finish time with. Kellett said that like the bigger yachts before them, they had enjoyed the fast running conditions. “The only damage we did was to blow up an A4 kite and one of the bunks.”

Twelve yachts had finished the race at 9.00am, the latest arrival being the 2010 overall winner, Holdens Secret Mens Business, owned by South Australian Geoff Boettcher. The next two boats to arrive will be internationals; Japan’s KLC Bengal 7 (Yoshihiko Murase) and Ambersail (Simonas Steponavicius), the race’s first ever entry from Lithuania. The two were racing within 20 minutes of each other.

By Di Pearson, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

28 December 2012, 1330hrs

Syd Fischer’s maxi Ragamuffin-Loyal has been cleared of any wrongdoing after jumping the start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race on Boxing Day.

Meanwhile, the crew on board Calm is hopeful they can claim the overall win and upset Wild Oats XI’s bid for another treble.

The International Jury ruled this afternoon that Ragamuffin-Loyal was not at fault when she failed to restart after crossing the line early. The International Jury found that race officials failed to notify Ragamuffin-Loyal after five minutes that they had jumped the start, leaving the crew unaware that they should have returned and restarted. With the crew facing virtual disqualification if the jury had ruled against them, Ragamuffin-Loyal’s David Witt said, “justice has been done”. He said the crew had been unaware they had crossed early. The Race Committee brought the redress action to the International Jury on behalf of Ragamuffin-Loyal.

Meanwhile, skipper of Calm Jason Van der Slot is banking on a south-westerly change to drive home his team’s hopes for an overall victory. The TP52 must finish before 0131 hours AEDT tomorrow if the crew is to have a chance of claiming the Tattersall’s Cup, which is awarded to the handicap winner. The team’s ETA is currently around 0330 hours, but Van der Slot reckons they’ll pick up pace as they edge down the Tasmanian coast. “We’re quite comfortable at the moment,’’ he said. “Loki and Black Jack are probably about 30 to 40 miles in front of us now, so we think we’ve got that covered. “With regards to say Wild Oats XI, if the south-wester comes in around Tasman Island we can get some speed up and we might be able to grab hold of those and have the outright handicap honours. “At the moment we’re just sailing as we normally do. It’s not playing on our mind at all. We’re just trying to keep boats that are around us and behind us simply at that; behind us and around us.”

Wild Oats XI broke her own race record this morning, finishing in one day 18 hours 23 minutes and 12 seconds. She’s in with a good shot of repeating her 2005 treble, when she claimed line honours, the race record and the handicap win.

Lahana and Black Jack are positioned third and fourth respectively and are expected to reach Hobart’s Constitution Dock after 2000 hours tonight. 71 boats remain at sea.

By Jim Gale and Danielle McKay, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

28 December 2012, 1330hrs

Ragamuffin-Loyal has finished second across the Rolex Sydney Hobart finish line, almost five hours behind the record breaking Wild Oats XI, after gear damage hampered the defending champion’s bid to win. The crew pumped their fists in the air and shared elated hugs as they passed the Rolex finish buoys at Hobart’s Castray Esplanade at 1208 AEDT, surrounded by thousands of fans. Speaking from Constitution Dock, skipper Syd Fischer said it was an “unfortunate” finish after the team so dramatically defeated Wild Oats XI by three minutes and eight seconds last year. “We had a bit of trouble,” the 85-year old said after finishing his 44th Rolex Sydney Hobart in one day, 23 hours and eight minutes and 44 seconds. “We’re new to the boat, we’ve only had it two months. I think we did pretty well. The boys pushed the boat really hard, it’s just unfortunate that things broke or went wrong.” The team damaged headsail gear on the first night of the race, which meant they couldn’t fly their biggest sails for the remainder of the course.

Attention will now turn to a request for redress that will be heard by the International Jury at 1600 hours today. The redress relates to the yacht being on course side of the start line before the canon had fired. Navigator Andrew Cape said he didn’t expect that the team would be penalised. “We heard an all clear,” he said. “When the start’s called all clear, it’s all clear.”

Cape said tactically it was a challenging race and commended Wild Oats XI on setting the new race record of one day, 18 hours, 23 minutes and 12 seconds. “We didn’t have a lot of time to prepare and Oats did a great job,’’ he said. “Sure, a bit more time with the boat, and a bit more time with the equipment we would have been a little better, but that’s not how it was.”

Olympic silver medalist Geoff Huegill said it was incredible surfing down waves at speeds in excess of 30 knots in his second Rolex Sydney Hobart. But, he admitted it was more challenging than swimming. “At the start of the race there was a comparison there between getting up behind the blocks and doing the Hobart,’’ he said. “The upside to getting up behind the blocks is that my race is over in 50 seconds. Learning to pace myself is one of the biggest things I’ve had to learn.”

Continuing on the racecourse is the battle to secure the final piece of silverware, the Tattersall’s Cup, which is awarded to the overall IRC handicap winner. Mounting a challenge for the cup is Quest, Calm, Loki, Jazz and Shogun, but Wild Oats XI is looking set to repeat her 2005 treble and claim the line honours, the race record and the overall win.

By Danielle McKay, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

28 December 2012, 1100hrs

Chris Bull’s Cookson 50 Jazz poses the most significant threat to Wild Oats XI repeating her 2005 triumph: the treble of race record, line honours and first overall, in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

With line honours settled all the attention now focuses on Australian yachting’s ultimate prize, the Tattersall’s Cup, awarded to the overall winner on IRC. As Wild Oats XI slipped into the Hobart marina she at last gave every other boat the precise time each had left to rob her of the treble.

For most of the fleet the news was dire. There is simply no way they can get to Hobart in time.

Just a few still had some hope: Jazz, Calm, Quest, Loki, Lahana and Black Jack. All would need the wind to freshen as the morning wore on. All would need to arrive at Tasman Island with plenty of wind and enough time to get across Storm Bay and into the Derwent River before it shut down.

As Wild Oats XI finished Jazz was leading on handicap, and was the boat most likely. She was 168 miles from the finish, lying well offshore, south west of St Helens, and closing in on the Tasmanian coast at 8 knots. She had 16 hours to finish. She has to be across the line by 2:04 am tomorrow, more than two hours later than her then eta was predicted, with the wind forecast to freshen during the day. The snag being that the freshening wind would be on the nose the whole way. She would have to sail a lot more than 168 miles as she tacked home.

The race there for the taking, but how co-operative would the gods prove to be? By mid-morning the wind gods appear to have been caught up along with everyone else in the euphoria of Wild Oats XI dramatic finish. The chances seem to have evaporated for all but Jazz, and she has a lot of work to do. If anything, the breeze seems to have weakened. Her estimate time of arrival has been pushed further out with each passing hour, so that now she has very little time up her sleeve. Worse, she may well arrive at Tasman Island too late for the last of the wind.

What will happen to the breeze this afternoon? Will it arrive too late? It is touch and go.

By Jim Gale, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

28 December 2012, 0900hrs

Bob Oatley’s five-time Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race line honours winner, Wild Oats XI, beat her 2005 record time this morning, in a gentle glide to the finish that kept everyone on the edge of their seats. She finished in one day, 18 hours, 23 minutes and 12 seconds, taking 16 minutes and 58 seconds of her old record.

The time difference was a long one in terms of how the crew would have been feeling in those last 16 minutes of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s 628 nautical mile race. Could they or couldn’t they?

At 5 am today, Wild Oats XI’s 2005 record of one day, 18 hours, 40 minutes and 10 seconds seemed out of reach, but at about 7 am, her dashed hopes were revived, and as the minutes ticked by, her chances improved.

Initially, skipper Mark Richards and his crew were a tantalisingly 40 minutes outside the record time and were expected to finish at about 8.30 am. However, as the clock ticked, the super maxi picked up speed to around 15 knots and her finish time was upgraded to 8.00 am, then 7.50 am, 7.36 am, 7.23am and 7.13 am with five nautical miles to go.

The breeze eased. Richards ordered a bigger headsail to keep it moving, which ended with their record victory. It remains to be seen whether Wild Oats XI can go all the way and take the treble (victory on corrected time as well as line honours and the race record).

Dockside, Richards said: “We’re all over the moon. How many places have this level of race with a fleet this size? n “Last year we were beaten by Investec Loyal (now Ragamuffin-Loyal) by three minutes, which was very disappointing. This year we beat them by much more.”

Syd Fischer’s Ragamuffin-Loyal that was about 45 miles behind the line honours winner.

We’ll be back next year,” Richards said. Of the new record, he said: “We just kept chipping away. You expect it to be light in the Derwent and it did get lighter towards the end. This is a very testing event and the Derwent is very, very, testing. It’s always a tough race. “We have a great bunch of people on board and we’re all good mates,” Richards said of the mostly long term crew who were aboard in 2005 and are still sailing the boat today. Of navigator Adrienne Cahalan (who was aboard for the 2005 record) and co-navigator Tom Addis, Richards said: “They did a great job. It’s a difficult job with meteorology to look at, all the updates and critical decisions to make.” Richards also praised tactician Iain Murray, who has taken time out of his role as Regatta Director and CEO of the America's Cup Race Management (ACRM) organisation to return to sail the yacht again. “I can’t wait to give the Oatley family a big hug,” Richards said, grinning from ear to ear. He said that although the race was a relatively easy one “we had some very hard and fast running conditions; we blew out a spinnaker and had some gear failure, so it wasn’t all smooth sailing”.

Covered live on Channel 7, the tension could be seen in the faces and movements of the Wild Oats XI crew, which included Murray, Cahalan and Addis and Steve Jarvin, who was thrilled to claim the record on his milestone 25th race, as they sailed the final miles to Castray Esplanade. Through dint of luck, or just choosing the right boats, Jarvin also holds the record for the most line honours victories in the race’s history, this being his tenth.

Following his boat down the Derwent River aboard a spectator boat, owner Bob Oatley looked close to tears as his ever-evolving yacht made it across the line in record time. Joining Oatley in the celebrations were his wife Val, son Sandy and their families. “We've never given up; we'll try to do it again next year. “New wings on the keel helped enormously I'm sure, so did the new jib. The design, the crew, the sails and the modifications are what makes the boat fast,” Oatley said dockside. “I’m over the moon,” he added, keen to reach Richards, or Ricko, as he’s known in yachting circles, and the crew.

Wild Oats XI will go into the history books as only the second boat in the history of the race to break its own race record. Only Morna, later renamed Kurrewa IV, exceeds that record, have cracked its race record twice.

By Di Pearson, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

Five-time Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race line honours winner, Wild Oats XI, is headed for her sixth title this morning in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s annual ocean classic after rounding the Tasman Island light at 0330 this morning and sailing west towards Storm Bay and Hobart for an 0830 ETA at the finish. If that ETA eventuates, Wild Oats XI will finish about 50 minutes outside her 2005 race record of one day, 18 hours, 40 minutes and 10 seconds.

Owned by Bob Oatley and skippered by Mark Richards, the 100-foot super maxi was on track for the record yesterday when she powered down the Tasmanian east coast at speeds of more than 24 knots before a strong north-easterly. At one stage she was about 30 nautical miles ahead of the 2005 record pace. However, as she closed on the coast near Fortescue Bay last night, the north-easterly gave way to a weaker westerly, which also meant the race leader was in the lee of the land. Wild Oats XI’s tactician Iain Murray had anticipated rounding Tasman at midnight, but she was not to do so until 0330am.

Syd Fischer’s maxi Ragamuffin-Loyal is 40nm behind, a separation that fluctuated throughout yesterday. At one stage, Wild Oats XI was out by more than 50nm, but it reduced to about 20. This morning Fischer’s super maxi was 43 nautical miles astern of the leader.

Leading the race on handicap are Chris Bull’s well-performed Cookson 50 from NSW, Jazz, which is marginally ahead on corrected time of the Victorian yacht Calm, skippered by Jason Van der Slot NSW.
There have been two retirements in the race: Living Doll (Vic), which retired yesterday with a broken rudder in eastern Bass Strait and is heading to Eden with an ETA of 1200 tomorrow and Primitive Cool (Vic), which retired this morning with a damaged mainsail. She is also heading to Eden with an ETA of 1500 today.

By Bruce Montgomery, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

27 December 2012, 2100hrs

The Race Committee of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race lodged a request for redress to the International Jury regarding Ragamuffin Loyal in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s annual 628 nautical mile race. The International Jury has heard the matter and has adjourned the hearing to be held at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania tomorrow (Friday 28 December) at 4.00pm.

The protest form states:

1. At the start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, SYD 100 was on the course side of the starting line.

2. The Principal Race Officer called SYD 100 on VHF 72 and a number of times in the next minute. The Race Committee vessel made a sound signal and displayed Code Flag X, in accordance with Racing Rule 29.1.

3. The Race Committee did not contact SYD 100 in accordance with Sailing Instruction 1.20.3 approximately five minutes after the starting signal.

By Di Pearson, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

27 December 2012, 2000hrs

The Victorian Farr 55, Living Doll, owned and skippered by Michael Hiatt, has become the first casualty of the 2012 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Living Doll has retired from the race with a broken rudder. The incident occurred while the yacht was in Bass Strait, 90 nautical miles south-east of Gabo Island and 90 nautical miles north-east of Flinders Island. The Race Committee has been advised that the crew are all in good shape and that they are managing by themselves. They have not asked any other yacht to stand by. Living Doll reports that she is currently in a 25 knot north-easterly breeze. They have not yet decided where they will go, but assistance is on its way from Eden, and is expected to take seven hours to reach the yacht. The yacht will contact the Race Committee every two hours to update progress. All of the crew’s families have been informed. It is believed the boat was sailing in a 25 knot nor-easter at the time of losing its rudder.

Seventy five of the original 76 yachts remain racing.

By Jim Gale, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

27 December 2012, 1500hrs

Five-time Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race line honours winner, Wild Oats XI, remains on track to beat her own race record as she closes on the Tasmanian north-east coast. Mark Richards has steered Wild Oats to a dream run across Bass Strait today, continually logging 24 knots in a north-easterly wind that has fluctuated between 15 and 30 knots. Abeam of Flinders Island, she is about 10 miles ahead of the pace she set in 2005 to take the treble of line honours, the race record and overall victory in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s annual blue water classic. She must finish before 07.40.10 tomorrow at Hobart’s Castray Esplanade to break the record of one day, 18 hours, 40 minutes and 10 seconds.

Syd Fischer’s maxi Ragamuffin-Loyal is 32 miles behind, but also on record pace. The major threat to Wild Oats’ taking a second treble is the contingent of 60-footers behind her. Peter Harburg’s Queensland yacht Black Jack took over the lead on handicap mid-afternoon. Pundits pre-race suggested the overall race win would more than likely to go to one of the boats in the 63-70ft range, and the prediction appears to be right on target.

Meanwhile, on board the last boat in the fleet, Charlie’s Dream, south of Jervis Bay, Peter Lewis and his crew sat down to a lunch of smoked chicken, King Island double Brie cheese and a glass of chardonnay.“We’re at the back end of the fleet - we always expected to be - but not necessarily right at the back. We're a cruising boat; we do it for comfort rather than speed,” Lewis said.

There have been no retirements in the race.

By Bruce Montgomery, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

27 December 2012, 1130hrs

Wild Oats XI is chasing its own race record, with a chance of repeating its 2005 treble, as it leads the fleet of 76 yachts into Bass Strait on day two of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

In second place, Ragamuffin-Loyal is doing everything it can to close the 20 nautical mile gap on the race leader. The crew has reported that skipper Syd Fischer, 85, has been up on deck “cracking the whip”, in a bid to defend the boat's line honours title, having beaten Wild Oats XI by three minutes and eight seconds in 2011.

Despite both suffering superficial damage overnight, the duelling super-maxis are powering at speeds of more than 20 knots in freshening 25 knots north-northeast winds. Wild Oats XI hit an unknown object overnight and damaged one of its daggerboards beneath the hull. The crew was quick to exact repairs and return to pace under the power of their biggest sail, the size of two tennis courts. At 1115 AEDT the crew was on track repeat Wild Oats’ 2005 performance, taking line honours, winning the race overall on IRC handicap and setting a race record.

It was tougher on board Ragamuffin-Loyal. A headsail fitting broke then they damaged the furling system, in what navigator Andrew Cape described as a “mongrel moment.” Cape said the crew couldn’t see Wild Oats XI, but were doing everything they could to make the most of the freshening north-northeast winds to close the gap. “The faster you go now, the less southerly you have,’’ Cape said. “It’s crucial; every mile you get is another mile later that you won’t have to beat in to. “We can’t see (Oats). We’d like to see them, we’d like to be in front of them. But we’re not. So we’ll just have to keep going.” Cape reckons the northerly winds should stay in until at least 2200hrs tonight, giving the frontrunners a solid 12 hours of speed.

Lahana is third on the course, followed by Black Jack, Loki and Living Doll.

On IRC, Wild Oats XI leads Ragamuffin-Loyal, followed by Black Jack, Lahana and Loki.

By Danielle McKay, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

26 December 2012, 0700hrs

Race leader Wild Oats XI is set to launch into Bass Strait in a freshening northerly breeze in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race this morning.

A short time ago Wild Oats XI’s navigator, Adrienne Cahalan, reported that the crew had had a busy night, constantly changing sails as yesterday’s east-south-easterly breeze moved around to the east and softened to 4-5 knots at around midnight. It gradually shifted around to the north-north east, and gradually built in the early hours of the morning. “We are currently doing 15 knots in 15 knots of wind,” Cahalan reported this morning. “We’ve got a little bit of current too." Cahalan expects the wind to build to around 20 knots this morning, making for a very fast ride across Bass Strait. “We’re now looking at how we approach Tasmania. The next big picture is the approaching front this evening or tomorrow morning. We are working out what our strategy should be,” she said. Cahalan reported that in the lighter breeze during the night, second placed Ragamuffin-Loyal was able to close in on the race leader, but as the northerly kicked in, Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI pulled away again in the near-perfect downwind conditions, opening a lead of 10 nautical miles. “It’s better to be ahead in this situation, which isn’t always the case. Usually the boats behind get the breeze first, but that’s not the case at the moment; we’re getting the new breeze first.”

About 30 miles behind Wild Oats XI, Geoff Cropley, on board Peter Millard/John Honan’s 98ft Lahana, reported: “Us and the lead boats are under spinnaker. We’re in a nice north-easterly breeze of around 15 knots and building.” Cropley said the night had been pretty uneventful aboard Lahana, with only one problem. “We did break the tack line on the Code Zero, but apart from that, all is good. “The breeze died to 4-5 knots from the east around midnight, 1.00pm, but at around 3.00am it started to fill in and build and is continuing to build,” Cropley said. “It feels like we’re in a washing machine though – the leftovers of the south/easterly swell have made it bumpy.”

While the big boats are picking up speed this morning, life remains frustrating for the smaller, slower boats further up the coast. The fleet is now stretched across 140 miles from Jervis Bay to Green Cape, where each boat must radio its position before heading into Bass Straight, and the further along the coast, where they are in softer breeze. Some boats are making very little headway at all.

As Ichi Ban skipper Mat Allen prophesised before the race: “This year the rich will only get richer.”

There have been no retirements at all from the 76 boat fleet.

By Jim Gale, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

26 December 2012, 1615hrs

The opening hours of the 2012 Rolex Sydney Hobart are proving a real test for all competitors, with some reporting three hours into the race that the swell is bigger than they expected, and the 20 knot southerly combined with an enormous chop has made for a cold, bumpy and tiring ride.

“At the moment we are all paying the rent,” is how Jenifer Wells, the navigator of the 27 year-old Farr 43, Wild Rose, put it as they headed back towards the coast after a long initial tack out to sea in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s famous race.

“All the crew are soaked,” Wells said. “I’m the navigator, so I’m below decks and even I’m soaked!”

Brindabella’s sailing master, Brad Kellett reported: “We’re on the proverbial bucking bronco. We have the main reefed and a number 4 jib up. We haven’t broken any stuff yet and no-one is seasick – so far so good.”

Many sailors are still getting over the adrenalin of one of the fastest starts in the race’s history. A huge outgoing tide and a stiff southerly pushed all but Quest out of the Harbour inside 20 minutes, an unheard of speed.

“It was fantastic,” Wild Rose’s veteran ocean racing skipper Roger Hickman declared. “We had some whoopsies with the spinnaker in such a packed fleet; I was afraid we might hit something, but we got out alright.”

Wild Rose, the last IOR overall winner in 1993 (when Cuckoos Nest was also declared the overall winner under IMS), was among a large group of the smaller boats that continued out to sea after the bulk of the fleet tacked back in.

Ex-Taswegian, Hickman and his crew, were looking for a stronger southerly current, an ocean conveyor belt that would transport them towards Hobart, but navigator Wells has concluded that the current was just too far out to sea to make it worthwhile. She hopes to find it closer in in Bass Strait.

With the wind expected to swing round to the north and north-east tonight or early tomorrow, the best option seems to be to stick fairly close to the rhumbline, the shortest distance between Sydney and Hobart.

At the front of the fleet, Wild Oats XI navigator Adrienne Cahalan reported at 4.00pm that the east/south-easterly they were in off Coal Cliff, had eased off a little to 17 knots. “But it is still pretty bumpy and uncomfortable,” she reported.

The Wild Oats XI crew can see Ragamuffin-Loyal and Lahana astern of them, followed by Ichi Ban, Black Jack and Loki

Cahalan described the start as “one of our best ever,” saying the giant yacht had reached speeds of 20 knots and over as it blasted down the Harbour.”

That was downwind. Now reaching, Wild Oats XI was only doing about 12 knots off Coal Cliff (just north of Wollongong). It is short of the 15 knots she has to average, point to point from Sydney to Hobart if she is going to break the record.

However, as Cahalan points out, “It is still early days. We knew it was going to be a slow start. Now it all depends on how long we have to wait for the next wind change.”

By Jim Gale, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

26 December 2012

The start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race did not disappoint today and in perfect gusty southerly 20-25 knot winds, under a sunny sky, the 76 yachts in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s annual race, popped kites and Code Zeros at the start, making for a spectacular sight.

Wild Oats XI made for riveting viewing. It was almost impossible to drag one’s eyes away as Mark Richards assumed his usual position at the pin end of the line, the crew work again impeccable. It was like watching a Skud missile launch as Bob Oatley’s 100 foot super maxi shot off the line on cue and bolted, taking around six minutes to make the turning mark, leaving all in her wake.

Even those behind were quick; it was one of the fastest exits from Sydney Heads in some time, with all except Bob Steel’s Quest outside of the Harbour inside 20 minutes. Quest struggled and took a penalty turn just inside the Heads, although the reason is unknown at this stage.

A little further up the line from Wild Oats XI, Syd Fischer’s Ragamuffin-Loyal tried to keep pace with her nemesis, but could not keep up. Halfway down the Harbour, Peter Harburg’s Black Jack, with Mark Bradford at the helm, and Stephen Ainsworth’s Loki, steered by Gordon Maguire, nearly overtook Ragamuffin-Loyal, footer, Black Jack having another go as they neared the sea mark.

However, Ragamuffin-Loyal held her own, around 2 minutes behind Wild Oats XI at the sea mark, Black Jack, the RP66, Loki a RP63, Peter Millard/John Honan’s 98ft Lahana and Matt Allen’s Jones 70, Ichi Ban around one minute plus astern of their bigger rival. Ragamuffin-Loyal has been scored OCS, but the Race Committee will seek redress on Ragamuffin-Loyal’s behalf, due to the proper procedure for individual recall not being followed.

The rest followed in hot pursuit, the 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart overall winner, Two True (Andrew Saies) from South Australia, struggling to pull down a kite as they headed into the brunt of the southerly in 4 metre seas, making the going tough.

One could almost feel Simon Kurts and his crew on Love & War and Sean Langman and his crew aboard Maluka of Kermandie, the oldest and smallest yacht in in the fleet, smiling as turned the corner into the brunt of the southerly, their heavier boats revelling comfortably in the conditions, while others struggled in the tough seaway and gusty winds.

Nor was Maluka of Kermandie last out to sea, that honour going to the 2008 winner, Quest, while Peter Rodger’s Olsen 40 She, with 43 Hobart race veteran, Bill Ratcliff aboard, only overtook Maluka of Kermandie once they were outside Sydney Heads, only Quest behind them.

At 3.00pm Wild Oats XI had just passed Cronulla, with Ragamuffin Loyal, Lahana, Ichi Ban, Black Jack and Loki in a line off Cronulla Beach.

At 3.10pm, Geoff Cropley reported from Lahana: “We’re on port tack reaching just off the coast near Cronulla. Ragamuffin-Loyal is about a quarter of a mile in front of us. We’re sailing in 15-20 knots from the east/south-east and it’s quite comfortable. “We’re just settling in for a long port tack,” Cropley signed off.

By Di Pearson, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

26 December 2012

In the time honoured tradition of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia three veterans of the race 50 years ago will fire the starting sequence for the 2012 Rolex Sydney Hobart on Boxing Day.

The chaos of Sydney Harbour, the bulk of the racing yachts trying to thread their way through the washing machine created by the hundreds of spectator craft will no doubt bring back memories. For the frontrunners, the carbon fibre super maxis and 60 footers though, will clear the bay in barely 10 minutes are from another world.

The 10 minute gun, a 19th century replica canon, will be fired by Phil Hill, who sailed to Hobart in 1962 aboard Malohi, the yacht then owned by Syd Fischer. Twenty-one at the time, Hill had already been to Hobart twice; on the radio relay ship when he was 17 and 19, so he knew a bit of what to expect, though he may not have been fully prepared for the intensely competitive Fischer. “We had very quick run across Bass Strait,” Hill recalls, “and as the wind built up, Boy Messenger asked Syd whether we should drop the spinnaker, or wait until it blew out. ‘Wait until it blows out’ Syd shouted back’,” Hill recalls fondly. “Syd drove his boats very hard downwind. He was a former surfboat sweep. He’d have us all at the back of the boat. I was the lightest and youngest in the crew, so I was the only one allowed to move about the boat.”

Despite a fog down the Tasmanian coast, it was a comparatively mild race that year. Hill went down on Malohi the next year, 1963. “We took a pounding. Syd says that 1963 was worse than the disastrous 98 storm,” remembers Hill, who went on to later race to Hobart on Fare Thee Well and Salacia, when he first sailed with Tony Cable, who will set a record this year of 47 starts. “They were comfortable boats in those days; you could go to sleep when you were off watch,” said Hill who can only wonder that at 85, Syd Fischer is still racing to Hobart on Ragamuffin-Loyal. There will be little opportunity for sleep on the 100 foot maxi, but then it should get to Hobart within two days.

One of the great American characters of Australian ocean racing, Jimmy (the Reb) Sandison will fire the five minute gun. Sandison, originally from Georgia, crewed Huey Long’s superb maxi, Ondine, to a line honours win in 1962, and then followed it up with two line honours victories aboard Astor, another on Stormvogel and a final win on Ondine II, a boat he describes these days as a 70 foot monster. “Ondine and Astor had charged down the Tasmanian coast in a hard nor-wester, with Astor in the lead, when the wind dropped right out. Ondine was a noted light wind flyer and we had just about caught up with Astor at the Iron Pot,” Sandison recalled. “We raced neck and neck up the Derwent until the last quarter mile. Ondine carried a regular spinnaker pole, but on Astor they had to take the pole all the way around the back and up the other side when they gybed. We dip-poled and beat her across the line by one minute.” Those were the days when maxi yachts roamed the high seas from race to race. “I joined Ondine in Tahiti, when one of her crew left, and after we raced to Hobart we sailed her back through Wellington and the Panama Canal. Then I sailed out on Astor.” The American yachtsman describes Ondine’s modern day equivalents as 100 foot skiffs. “You could deliver one to America, but I wouldn’t want to be in the crew. We used to boast how many steak dinners we ate during the race, now they race on freeze dried food.” They call Georgia born Jimmy ‘the Reb’ because he insisted on flying the rebel flag during races. An honorary Australian, Sandison did his boat building apprenticeship at Halvorsen’s in Sydney. He spends a month in Australia every year visiting family and catching up with his CYCA mates from all those races half a century ago. “My 12 year old granddaughter, Hannah, will be with me on the official start boat, Aussie Legend,” he says. “She is so excited she doesn’t know what to do with herself.”

The final gun belongs to Colin McLachlan, the only surviving member of the crew that steered the great Solo to her first overall in 1962 - it was his first ever Hobart race. “I visited an old family friend in Hobart after we finished, and I slept for 20 hours,” he recalls. The celebrations lasted a little longer than that, and finally Solo left for New Zealand on one 926 mile long tack. Solo cruised the great southern fiords, and McLachlan fondly remembers the lobster they dined on, provided by the fishing boats they encountered. “They gave us their undersize catch, because they thought Solo was a fisheries boat,” McLachlan says.

Ah, those were the days.

By Jim Gale, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

26 December 2012

The Race Committee of the Rolex Sydney Hobart has announced this morning that the Grant Wharington’s super maxi Wild Thing will not be allowed to race.

Just two and a half hours before the start of the race, Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Commodore, Howard Piggott, announced: “The Race Committee of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race will not be accepting the entry of the boat Wild Thing as a result of non-compliance with the Notice of Race, in particular NOR 4.1, dealing with documentation to be lodged and verification of construction requirements.

“The Race Committee has worked with the owner of the boat, Grant Wharington, to allow him up to three hours prior to the start of the race to provide the documentation required however that has not been forthcoming, and the Race Committee has no option but to not accept the entry of Wild Thing.”

Piggott said the Race Committee had been working with Wharington over recent days to try to get the necessary documentation lodged, and had extended the deadline until 10am this morning, three hours before the start.

Wild Thing has undergone extensive modifications in recent months, including a new a section of her hull that added two feet to her overall length. The race rules require that a boat designer and builder provide declarations that the yacht has been built to ABS standards.

“This is the final decision of the Race Committee, that puts safety first,” Piggott told the media at a press conference.

He added: “It’s disappointing; we’ve made every effort. I assure you we want to see boat’s racing. However, it’s out of our hands. We must comply with the Notice of Race, and ensure our safety standards are maintained. I believe we just have to get on with it now and go out and yacht race.”

By Jim Gale, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

26 December 2012

Skippers and navigators of the 77 yachts competing in the Rolex Sydney Hobart received their final weather briefing from the Bureau of Meteorology at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia this morning prior to heading out onto the Harbour. Smaller yachts beware; the forecast continues to favour the largest boats and punishes the rest. The fleet will start in a southerly that will move to the south-east, so spectators around the Sydney Harbour foreshore can expect a spectacular spinnaker start. A 20-knot wind will hold for the rest of the day, giving the fleet a beat down the NSW coast until the wind swings around to the north-east overnight, light at first, but strengthening for a day of fast running. Winds will again shift overnight, to the west this time, with shifty, variable conditions along the Tasmanian east coast as a result; and there will be a series of west/south west fronts through Bass Strait for the remainder of the race, the Bureau of Meteorology’s Michael Logan warning that the smaller boats may be inflicted with gale-force westerlies on Sunday. The forecast appears to favour the biggest boats in the fleet, with expectations that the overall winner will come from the group of 60 foot plus boats which will open a big gap on the smaller boats during day two, and will be tied up in Hobart while the others contend with the west/south west fronts.

It is possible that this year, for the first time since Wild Oats XI took the triple, winning line and handicap honours and breaking the record in 2005 into the bargain, the line honours winner could also win the race overall. Whether the record will be broken this year is still up in the air. The forecast looks promising, but all will depend on when those wind changes swing in, and how long the transition from south to north takes, and how long that northerly hangs in on day two.

There is no sign of any northerly late in the race to boost the tail-enders back into contention this year. Indeed, the Gods are being particularly unkind to the smallest and slowest boats.

Maluka of Kermandie, the 80 year old timber gaffer crewed by Sean Langman, his daughter Nicole and son Pete, among others, will struggle to make Hobart in time for the New Year fireworks. “We’re prepared for the worst,’’ Langman wryly remarked after the briefing. “In terms of bonding with the kids, it’s probably a good thing we’ll be out there longer - although they may never speak to me again - but, at least when we finish, they’ll be able to say they did a real Hobart.”

The reaction was opposite for Athens 2004 49er silver medallist Rodion Luka from the Ukraine, who will helm and trim on Ichi Ban, the 70 footer belonging to Matt Allen, who said: “We’re very excited, the weather is good for us. I am also excited, as this is my first Hobart, although I did other big ocean races. I think we will do very well on handicap – that is our aim.”

By Jim Gale, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

The international panel at today's media conference. L-R: CYCA Commodore Howard Piggott, Simonas Steponavicius (Ambersail), Yoshihko Murase (KLC Bengal 7), Sebastien Guyot – team leader (Peugeot Surfrider), Nicholas Lunven – skipper (Peugeot Surfrider), Wade Lewis (Akatea)

23 December 2012

Even after 67 editions the Rolex Sydney Hobart continues to deliver something new; this year it’s a Lithuanian team who’ve sailed more than 12,000 nautical miles to compete. It’s part of the team’s global agenda. They’ve already competed in Rolex’s headline regattas, from the Fastnet to the Middle Sea Race.Owner-skipper Simonas Steponavicius said there was just one more box to tick for the 18-Lithuanian sailors on board Ambersail. “The Sydney Hobart is one of those events you start thinking of when you’re at work, it’s one of those legendary races,’’ he said. “It’s very competitive and very tactical racing; this is sailing at its purest.” The team, which is a household name at home, has averaged 20,000 nautical miles racing and en-route to races a year. They’re hoping for a stiff breeze that’ll suit their hardy Volvo 60.

The second surprise contender in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s annual race is Japan’s KLC Bengal 7. It’s been 15 years since the island nation’s fielded an entry in the Sydney Hobart. Skipper Yoshihko Murase said his team doesn’t have much of a profile in Japan. Speaking through an interpreter at the CYCA, Murase said he hopes to increase Japan’s profile as a sailing nation. “In Japan we don’t get much attention for sailing, but if we win we will get more,’’ he said. The team has proven competitive in the lead up to the race, with Bengal 7 claiming line honours and an overall victory in its maiden regatta at Okinawa-Tokai Yacht Race in May 2012.

Representing one of sailing’s super-powers, French entrant Peugeot-Surfrider’s crew will be looking to protect their nation’s reputation. French sailors currently hold two coveted sailing titles; the Volvo Ocean Race and the Jules Verne, not to mention victory in the last edition of the Vendee Globe. It is this success that Peugeot-Surfrider team leader Sebastien Guyot would like to match. Guyot has recruited two Australians to assist the otherwise French crew on board the Beneteau First 45, which, he emphasised, was a French design. “French have done really well this year, obviously everyone wants to do well on board,’’ he said. “Firstly we want to be safe and arrive in Hobart; but we will do our best to perform well.

Travelling fewer miles than other international crews is the team on board New Zealand entry Akatea, one of two Kiwi contenders. Crossing the Tasman wasn’t the issue for the team, owner Ross Lewis’ son Wade admits. It was the admission that the team would be stronger with four Aussies on board, including 18 year-old Cameron Johnston, the youngest crew member in the fleet.“Aussies are actually OK, most New Zealanders don’t realise this,’’ he said, tongue in cheek. Lewis reckons his team’s Cookson 50 is in with a shot against its divisional competitors. “Our boat’s the same as Jazz, a proven racer (which finished fourth overall last year and second in 2010), but we don’t have a swing keel’’ he said. “We’re looking to mix it with the 50s. If the conditions work out in our favour for our division, we should be up there, or thereabouts. Conditions are looking pretty good at the moment.”

By Danielle McKay, Rolex Sydney Hobart media tea

22 December 2012

Four days out from the start of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Rolex Sydney Hobart, the weather forecast is evolving, but it still looks grim for the smaller boats in the fleet - grimmer, if anything, than when the Bureau of Meteorology first showed us it’s long range forecast yesterday.

“I think the rich will get richer in this race,” is how Ichi Ban skipper Matt Allen put it this morning. “The weather has probably slowed down from yesterday, but the biggest yachts, like Loki, Lahana, Wild Oats XI and Ragamuffin-Loyal all have a great chance at winning the race on handicap.”

Allen can include his own Jones 70, Ichi Ban, in that list as well. It is shaping up as his best chance of a win since he launched the big, twin rudder ocean racer in 2005. The key is a change of breeze forecast for the end of day two/early day three of the race. Westerly or southerly – it is too far out to say. Before that, the entire fleet will have worked through a fresh southerly on the first afternoon, transitioning to a light north-easterly in the evening and strengthening the following day for some 20 hours, when everyone will take off under spinnaker - especially the front runners. The monster 100 footers will open a big lead on the minnows, and will likely be around Tasman Island, or even tied up in Hobart, when the second southerly puts the breaks on the boats still crossing Bass Strait.

“When the breeze switches to the south, anyone who is not at Tasman Island is going to be pretty quickly out of calculation. “It’s certainly a big boat race,” Allen confirms. “To get through that weather window you’re going to need a pretty fast boat. The cut off will probably be Loki (the RP63 and last year’s winner).” And yes, Allen is confident that in all but light airs Ichi Ban is faster than Loki.

Mike Broughton, the navigator of the Cookson 50, Jazz, agrees. He fears not even 50 feet will be big enough to score in this race. “I don’t feel as happy this morning as I did yesterday in terms of forecast,” he reveals. “Whilst we’ve got a great 20 hours of strong running on day two, I think day three is going to be the challenge for us. The wind shadow of Tasmania on that south-east corner has snared us before. I think it might get us again - hopefully not.”

It is a very poor long forecast for the 40 to 50 foot boats, which would expect to reach Tasman Island on day four. A mix of southerlies and northerlies would suit all-round boats like Andrew Saies’ 2009 winner Two True, but the second round of headwinds now being talked about, on top of a rugged first afternoon, will not only slow them down relative to the frontrunners, it will tell on the crew as well.

“A southerly off the east coast of Australia over 20 knots is always tough,” says Saies. “Short pitch seas and into the wind. “Ironically, our boat does quite well in those conditions rating wise, but our crew doesn’t always do quite well. It’s usually down to two or three of us to get the coffees and tend to the sick and injured. Twenty knots is fine; it’s when it starts to hit 25. After 24 to 48 hours of that, like we had last year, it can get tough.”

The South Australian will now focus on winning his division, and for that, this is a good forecast for his Beneteau First 40. After two disappointing non-finishes in a row, CYCA member Sam Haynes will be happy to get his Rogers 46 Celestial-Assistance Dogs to Hobart - period. Then he can concentrate on the rest of his division.

“I mainly hope to be in Constitution Dock. I want to make it after two failures in a row. It’s pretty hard to take that,” he says, “but that said, we are sailing better and Celestial is more versatile now as a yacht.”

“Here, here!” Ian Box chimes in. He has a brand new XP44, Toybox 2, to play with. “You can’t win a race unless you finish, so there’s that constant compromise between nursing the boat and going as fast as you can at the same time. It is a bit of a marathon. There’s a long way to go and a lot of fatigue issues to deal with for the boats that don’t get there at the front of the fleet,” Box says.

Matt Allen concedes that if a newly forecast day three southerly kicks in a bit earlier than expected, one of the canting-keel super maxis, Wild Oats XI, Wild Thing or Ragamuffin-Loyal will steal the silverware, but at the moment he is very happy to be in the group of Ichi Ban, Loki, Black Jack and Lahana, thinking one of these will win.

Brindabella’s owner, Jim Cooney, reckons he’ll be in that mix too. “I think as long as we get down the coast safely and cleanly the first day, then once we get the breeze swinging around a bit then Brindabella will pick up her legs and go. “Light airs are the challenge for us,” he says of the 19 year-old 1997 line honours winner. “She is a fairly hefty piece of equipment, so we need a decent bit of breeze.”

However, before they all get too confident, the last word goes to long time navigator, Lindsay May. He is doing his 40th race this year on Love and War, the timber veteran he steered to victory in 2006. Simon Kurts’ classic S&S 47 will be a long way behind the 60 and 70-foot speedsters, but Lindsay thinks that, this far out, the fat lady still has an aria or two left: “It will be difficult, but we’re still seven days out from when this critical shift happens, so it could change,” he says.

By Jim Gale, Rolex Sydney Hobart media tea

21 December, 2012

Rolex Sydney Hobart super maxi navigators are reveling in a dream forecast that’s promising record-breaking conditions, but an unpredictable westerly looming over Tasmania is leaving the race for the coveted IRC trophy – the Tattersall’s Cup - wide open.

The prediction is that the fleet of 77 yachts in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s annual race will start under spinnaker in a southerly wind on Boxing Day; a spectacle that hasn’t been seen on Sydney Harbor since a brave few popped their kites in a south-easterly during the 2006 start.

Wild Oats XI navigator Adrienne Cahalan said the 15 to 20 knot winds from the south would make for an ideal start when the cannon fires from Aussie Legend at 1300 AEDT. “Every Hobart sailor dreams of a southerly on Christmas Day,’’ said Cahalan, who is competing in her 21st Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, a record for women.

Bureau of Meteorology senior duty forecaster, Michael Logan, said the southerly would clock to the north-east and lighten on day two. “This year we’ll start with a headwind and there will be a lot of work to do once you get in to day two,’’ he said. “The winds will make for much faster downwind sailing.”

The north/north-easterly winds are set to create powerful sailing as the leading teams charge across Bass Strait towards the Tasmanian coast. It’s here where the big boats are likely to exceed the 14-plus knot average that they must maintain to break the race record. But, a possible westerly change on December 28, two days into the race, is set to cause plenty of havoc as the lead yachts approach the final miles. Just when the westerly change will set-in is anyone’s guess, with five days remaining before the race start. One thing is for certain; the super maxis, including Wild Oats XI, Wild Thing and Lahana, are hoping they will cross the finish line at Hobart’s Castray Esplanade before the westerly arrives. If their dream scenario unfolds, they will be on track to break the race record of one day, 18 hours, 40 minutes and 10 seconds, set by the then 98 foot super maxi, Wild Oats XI, in 2005.

They will also be in good stead to claim the elusive dual line honors and IRC title win, which Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI captured in 2005, along with the record. However, if the westerly arrives early on December 28, the race will be wide open. “The computer forecasts say we have a chance of record pace,” Cahalan said. “But, we have to deal with the transition on the first night and the Derwent River when the front comes through on the 28th.”

Lahana skipper Carl Crafoord will be keeping one eye on the boats around the 60-foot mark and the other on his pursuit of the IRC trophy. “If we can get in before the westerly change, that gives us a good chance on IRC,” Crafoord, a veteran of 26 Hobart races said. “There are only four boats in our rating band: Loki, Black Jack and Ichi Ban. That’s not many boats in our window.”

It will be a much tougher race for the smaller boats in the fleet. Few will endure more than Sean Langman and his crew on board the 30ft Huon pine, gaff-rigged Maluka of Kermandie. Langman’s crew finished last on line in the 2011 Rolex Sydney Hobart, sneaking in on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve. Langman admits that just finishing is the ultimate aim. “It’s not looking too flash for the smaller boats,’’ he said. “We will contend with more upwind conditions,” he said of the southerly he and others such as Simon Kurts’ Love & War will enjoy on Boxing Day. “Certainly it will be a big boat race. It’s exciting for the big boats. We’ll be listening and just hoping we’ll get there in time for the New Year’s Eve fireworks,” said Langman, who just two years ago was steering the super maxi Investec Loyal across the finish lin

Jennifer Crooks, CYCA Communications Officer

20 December 2012

At about $1.50, the bookies are ranking Wild Oats XI firm line honours favourite in this 2012 Rolex Sydney Hobart; then they have Ragamuffin-Loyal at $3.25 and Lahana at $10 – and finally you get to Grant (Wharo) Wharington’s Wild Thing, at $13.

Pretty generous odds considering the punters, the bookies, Wild Thing’s rivals, not even Wharington himself knows just how fast his new-look super maxi is.

The black hulled 100 footer truly is the dark horse in the dash to Hobart.

Since last year, there have been massive changes to Wild Thing, including a completely new back end. The last nine and a half metres of the formerly 98 foot super maxi have been chopped off and a new 10 metre stern glued on, bringing the hull length up to 100 feet and widening the stern so that the sides now run parallel from the widest point new the mast.

A new underwater shape, plus the crew can now get their weight right aft when the big boat is planing on a broad reach. There is also all new titanium standing rigging and a completely new wardrobe of sails.

“There’s not much of the original boat now,” Wharington says. “We’ve kept the 6.8 metre deep keel we put on in 2009 (originally Wild Thing’s keel was a modest 4.8 metres, lengthened to 5.2 in 2005). She’s better now than when she was brand new; when she won line honours in 2003.”

Of course her rivals are getting faster too. Each winter, yachties tinker with their boats. It fills in those short, windless winter days and super maxi owners have the resources to tinker more than most.

Wild Oats XI has publicly revealed her new for’ard retractable centreboard and keel winglets, to improve her light wind performance, as will her massive new lightweight Code Zero. The team reckon if they had averaged a gain of just one second a mile last year they would have been in Hobart 11 minutes earlier. The changes have been made to find seconds, minutes – possibly even hours. Nothing like the performance impact Wharington will be looking for from the modifications he has made to Wild Thing.

The thing is, though, no-one knows how big an impact.

The final pieces for the new rigging arrived from Sri Lanka while Wild Thing was on her way down to the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia from Queensland; the brand new main arrived in Sydney from Los Angeles a day after the yacht.

None were in time for the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge, the only opportunity Wharington or his opponents might have had to compare performances before the Boxing Day start. Wild Thing is the Great Unknown, much more so than Syd Fischer’s Ragamuffin-Loyal, of the 2012 Rolex Sydney Hobart.

Wharington’s boat is now 4 tonnes lighter than her rivals. Her underwater shape is closer, now, to Wild Oats XI’s. Could she be as fast?

It’s the sort of cat-among-the-pigeons scenario that no doubt appeals to the brash young (for a super maxi owner) Wharington. A tradie by background (a carpenter), ex Victorian Wharo is a rough diamond in the smooth world of big time yachting.

You would never mistake this straight talking, bit-of-a-larrikin charmer for a merchant banker or lawyer. He gets his hands filthy on Wild Thing. There isn’t a bolt or hydraulic valve on the boat he doesn’t know personally.

Wharo seems to have worked out long ago that he will be dead a long time. Life is an adventure, not a career – and he loves flat out fast boats. His first Wild Thing, 25 years ago was widely seen as an affront to the more staid racing yachts of the time. Not for nothing did he call her Wild Thing.

“When we started in the Kenwood Cup in 1990, we were the mavericks,” he says with a grin. “Those were the IOR days,” he says, when speeds of 10 knots, even on a maxi, were something to talk about.

Sports journalists love him. Articulate, accessible; he’s always good for a quote and most years lobs at least one bombshell. He championed canting keels on big boats early on, and paid the price in 2004 of pushing the boundaries when the boat capsized, keel-less in Bass Strait.

Traditionalists were horrified when he opted for electric winches on a racing boat. “Initially it was a cost thing,” he explains. “Electric winches were $300,000 cheaper than conventional pedestal winches. Then we realised these small electric motors replaced 10 coffee grinders cluttering up the deck; it was practically a no-brainer.”

Not surprisingly Wharington feels vindicated. The IOR tortoises have given way to the exhilarating hares of Loki and the TP52s. To cant or not to cant, is the question for those chasing a handicap win, but no question at all for the line honours contenders where speed, not rating is king.

Electric winches are the rule on the big boats. And so, for that matter, are PR advisers feeding the media. “If you look at UBS Wild Thing, my original Melbourne Osaka boat 25 years ago, she is still immaculate and looks remarkably similar to today’s TP52s,” he offers.

Wharington believes that tinkering at the edges, making existing boats go faster, is the immediate future for the top end of the fleet. “These are so expensive to build no-one is going to build a new one, you need to tweak what you’ve got,” he explains.

“The next big speed advance will be in saving weight, including crew weight,” he says.

Electric winches did away with a lot of hefty prop forwards on the coffee grinders, and furling sails have culled a few more gorillas. “You don’t need so many people with furling sails. We’re thinking we might try a furling mainsail next year, and if it works, we might use it to go to Hobart.”

Though he will sail with a full crew of 18 this year, he thinks less crew, and crew weight will be the future. He has six women in the crew this year, and even amongst the men, no real monsters.

Wild Thing has taken a rating hit with all the changes. The emphasis is very much on getting there first, but of course, first she has to get there at all. After the high of the 2003 line honours win, it has been a wild ride for everyone.

Capsizes, last minute scrambling for Alfa Romeo’s spare mast from the south of France in 2009, limping into Hobart with the top mast section dangling high above the deck in 2007 and retiring after suffering sail damage early in last year’s race.

There is still a huge amount of work to do between now and Boxing Day, but Wharo seems to feed off high drama, impending deadlines, even disaster. “If you’re going to step off the back of a boat into a life raft in Bass Strait, do it with six helicopters and an 80 foot police launch hovering around you,” he is able to joke about 2004.

Some years you win, some you lose.

In modern sport, even the champion teams like the All Blacks, Manchester United, Geelong, the Melbourne Storm, like to know everything there is to know about their opponents, and then some. There is nothing as irritating as a long-odds ambush.

Wild Oats XI and Ragamuffin/Loyal deserve their short odds, but they will have to wait until the first afternoon, as they storm past Wollongong and Jervis Bay towards Green Cape, before they know whether the bookies have got it right about Wharo.

By Jim Gale, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

December 18 2012

The fleet for the 68th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race now stands at 77 following the withdrawal of Dodo, the Andrews 52 skippered by Adrian Dunphy.

Ragamuffin-Loyal’s mast is ready to be re-stepped today and Syd Fischer plans full crew training for Thursday and Friday, as his renowned navigator, Andrew ‘Capey’ Cape arrives from Europe in time to jump on board. The team, naturally, is heartened at the yacht’s progress and looking forward to at least two days of long hours on the 100ft super maxi.

Finistere, Robert Thomas’ Davidson 50 from Western Australia, has arrived in Sydney late last night, after sailing the boat all the way from Perth over the past week.

The crew experienced gales and huge seas below Western Australia’s Cape Leeuwin on the south-westerly tip of Australia. Their so-called dream run was interrupted halfway across the Great Australian Bight when the motor on the sail drive unit failed.

Owner/skipper Rob Thomas scrolled the internet for parts whilst at sea, pulling into Sandringham Yacht Club in Victoria, where parts were shipped and installed last Thursday. They re-commenced their journey to Sydney on Sunday with a stop in Eden.

18 December 2012 

When Cruising Yacht Club of Australia yachtsman Warwick Sherman sets foot on his yacht Occasional Coarse Language Too on Boxing Day, he will remember all the reasons he is finally looking down the barrel of his first Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race at the age of 58.

It’s not that Sherman lacks the experience or the appetite for the acquired taste the 628 nautical mile race is - far from it, the Huntley’s Point yachtsman has plenty of offshore experience and ocean miles under his belt.

But it was being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin mantle cell lymphoma in June 2010 that finally pushed him to try it. But, says Sherman, the purpose in undertaking his first jaunt south to Hobart is threefold. “It’s just something you should do as an ocean racer, it’s something you should do at least once in your life; but the motivation was when I got ill,” Sherman admitted.

Sherman is a rarity among men; he is not afraid to talk about his illness and he is not afraid of showing emotion in regard to it; nor embarrassed by people enquiring after his health – or those just offering him help and a hug. “When I was diagnosed, the doctors told me not to worry, but once they took a closer look, they found it was a rare form of lymphoma. I was under a new protocol – before me, mortality was not an option for sufferers. Even now there’s not enough history too know what the survival rate will be…,” Sherman said from aboard his near-new Occasional Coarse Language Too at the CYCA. “I did the right thing, I faithfully had a medical check-up every year since turning 50, and that’s how it got picked up,” he said. “The doctors said they could treat me straight away, or wait and let the disease hit aggressively – and treat it aggressively - and I took the second option; better than going two rounds with chemo after being weakened by the first lot. “That’s when I decided to buy the new boat. I ordered it and it arrived 12 months later in July 2011. I started chemo in October 2011 and finished in March 2012, so I was unable to sail for a while, the doctor said it was too dangerous, as I could have ruptured my spleen and bled internally.”

Originally Sherman’s boat was put together for the 2011 Hobart, “but I was too sick to go,” he said.

Following on, the yachtsman had stem cell replacement and went out and won his division in the CYCA’s 2012 Audi Winter Series on his Ker GTS43, Occasional Coarse Language Too, and its name reflecting the nature of yachting when things go awry. “I took a positive approach, I wasn’t going to let the cancer rule my life,” Sherman stated.

All the while, his partner and crew Judi Burrell stood by him, as she is now doing in the lead-up to the 628 nautical mile Rolex Sydney Hobart. “Judi’s always been part of the crew, but she decided to stand aside for the strength of the team, which is five of my regulars and seven Tow Trucks,” Sherman said, referring to a solid crew of sailors who sailed the yacht Tow Truck and who know how to drive a boat hard, fast and safely, including Anthony Paterson and Brett Filby. “It’s pretty funny to think Judi has done three Hobarts and I haven’t done any,” Sherman said of Burrell, who did pit duty on Alan Brierty’s Limit, but who will cheer her man on from the sidelines this time around.

“I’m not sorry not to be going; I feel fortunate to have done the three I have,” Burrell said laughing. “I’ll be at the CYCA to see him off. It can be quite stressful for the skipper, I remember AB (Brierty) before all of his,” she said. “I’ll stay ashore and support him – keep him calm and focussed. I’m looking forward to meeting them all on Constitution Dock (Hobart) when the finish with the scallop pies and beer.” Burrell said Sherman had not asked her what the race was like. “He saw photos from Limit when I did the 2010 race and hasn’t asked anything since,” she said smiling.

Sherman is determined to do well in the CYCA’s annual 628 nautical mile race. “I’m a bit out of the loop because I haven’t done longer races of late, then my steering failed in the Gold Coast race, but we’ll see,” he said.

He reckons the Ker 40, AFR Midnight Rambler (Ed Psaltis, Bob Thomas, Michael Bencsik) and Bruce Taylor’s Caprice 40, Chutzpah from Victoria, will give him the most trouble should the conditions favour the 40-45 footers.

“It might sound a funny thing to say, but I have no emotions in particular about the race – I’ve done 12 Gosford Lord Howe Island races and others, so one side of me is telling me ‘you could have died, so push yourself’, and the other side says ‘So why not take it easy – it’s quite a long race and you don’t want to go out there and do something stupid after coming through the cancer’.”

By Di Pearson, RSHYR Media

If you want to hit a target at long range you might try a hi-powered rifle – to hit a 600-mile target - How about a cruise missile? But a blunderbuss?

Still, Tony Kinsman insists there is nothing short-range about his Blunderbuss. In fact, he has seven and a half thousand sea miles to prove it.

That is how many miles his Beneteau First 40 Blunderbuss has travelled since Tony and his three sons launched her a year ago, and by the time she is back in Brisbane via Hobart’s Constitution Dock after completing the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Rolex Sydney Hobart, the mileage will be up over 9000 miles.

It’s a measure of just how committed Tony and his sons Fred (21), George (23) and Harry (26) are to an ocean racing adventure that began four years ago; one that has added a whole extra dimension to the traditional father/son relationship.

In the first few years, the family campaigned a Beneteau 40.7, also called Blunderbuss, including in the 2010 Rolex Sydney Hobart, the first time either father or sons had competed in the annual 628 nautical mile race.

“We didn’t do too well,” Tony concedes, “We blew out a sail, that sort of thing, but we wanted to keep going and do better.”

So in 2011, Blunderbuss 1 made way for Blunderbuss 2, and a decided lift in the family’s competitive fortunes. The Farr designed Beneteau 40s rate very well and the Kinsman’s won their Club Championship this year, having won their division in last year’s Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race.

And joining the winner’s circle hasn’t been the only benefit of trading up. “She is a beautiful boat to sail,” Kinsman says of the F40, “Markedly better than the 40.7 - especially downwind. She has a deeper rudder and is much more controllable.

“In the Brisbane Noumea race we had 35 knots downwind for more than 12 hours, but we were able to control her quite comfortably. We exceeded speeds of 20 knots at times - only momentarily as we surfed down a wave, true, but the spray from the bow comes over like a fan hitting the boom. In some other boats you would be very apprehensive,” he says.

Kinsman is a long-time passionate sailor, and exposed his kids to the contagion at an early age. As a youngster, he sailed Sabots and Fireballs, went ocean racing in his carefree 20’s and then settled back into off the beach dinghies and catamarans. Over the years, the family chartered yachts in Queensland and around the world.

Four years ago, with his oldest son Harry in his early 20s and the youngest, Fred putting his pimply teenage years behind him, Tony began to look at ocean racing again.

“This was always a father and sons project,” he acknowledges. “Ocean racing appeals to younger people; they like the risks and they enjoy each other’s company. You go through phases when you bring up kids, but when you get through all that and they start to mature and mellow and develop relationships, it opens a window and we can take advantage of that.”

Yacht racing imposes its own schedules. You have to show up for race days, which are set down in concrete well in advance. For Kinsman, it beats random barbeques and a card on Christmas Day hands down. “We all live in different places now, lead different lives, but it (Blunderbuss) brings us together - and we have a stronger relationship for that.”

“We will always do one of the larger races each Christmas; the Hobart in 2010 and this year - Coffs last year,” Kinsman says.

“We can’t do Hobart every year. For a Queensland boat it is a much larger project. You end up in Hobart and that’s a long way from Queensland. The crew delivers the boat as well, so it’s a bigger organisation and commitment of time that we can’t always make.”

Kinsman is confident they will do a lot better this year than in 2010. He and his crew have done a lot more sailing together and everyone on board has done long races so knows what to expect.

There is one comparative newcomer, Craig Blackwood, who came to ocean sailing late, in his late 30’s actually, when he helped bring Blunderbuss from Devonport to Sydney after the 2010 Rolex Sydney Hobart. “It was his first time offshore and we got really thrown about a lot,” Tony says. “I expected him to say never again, but he said ‘that was fantastic’ so he’s part of the crew.

Blunderbuss is one of six Beneteau 40s competing in this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart, so he is looking forward to an intense race within the larger race. “We’ll all be sailing in the same bit of water. We’ll be able to see each other; it’ll be a tough race,” he says.

The Farr designs rate very well in their divisions, so the leading Beneteau First 40 could well win the division, and even the race, as another F40, Two True (Andrew Saies) from South Australia did in 2009.

Blunderbuss gives some of the other Beneteau 40’s a bit on handicap, mostly because of the sail wardrobe Kinsman has chosen, but “We’ve been sailing actively for 12 months and we’ve had our fair share of results,” he says confidently.

A Blunderbuss is, after all a weapon, not a description.

By Jim Gale, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

16 December 2012

Ichi Ban may have been pipped to the post by 98ft Lahana for line honours victory in Race 2 of the CYCA Trophy Passage series today, but Matt Allen and his crew on the Jones 70 got their own back by winning the race overall to clinch the series from Lahana by one point.

Peter Millard and John Honan were disappointed their 98 footer missed out by that lone point after their fifth overall place today, but were still savouring their double victory of yesterday. Sam Haynes’ Celestial Assistance Dogs has finished third overall with fifth and second places in the series, with Haynes also taking the top place in ORCi and PHS ahead of the Rolex Sydney Hobart.

Bruce Taylor’s Chutzpah (Vic) was also fast out of the Heads and came home third in today’s race. He too, was pleased with his crew and boat’s performance as he heads into his 32nd race to Hobart.

Competitors knew there was trouble brewing when the predicted nor’ easter could puff out no more than 6 or so knots at the start and wrestled for prominence with a nor’ wester. Those in the middle and to the east got caught. Going hard left to the western side of the Harbour, such as Ichi Ban did, made the best of a peculiar situation.

Ichi Ban’s owner, Matt Allen, takes up the story: “The boat end of the start line was favoured; we couldn’t be there. We wanted to sail low and fast, so we went for the pin end. You could see the breeze on our side.

Allen’s boat jagged every little bit of breeze exiting the Harbour, they did not miss a single puff. “Spiesy (noted skiff sailor Michael Spies) did a brilliant job calling the breeze,” Allen acknowledged after his yacht charged out of the Harbour leaving daylight between them and the rest of the fleet.

Ichi Ban took a big dig out to sea. “It was tricky out the Heads; we even got a puff of south-east and there was too much joggle closer in to North Head,” said Allen, who was happy to find 16-17 knots at the top mark (at Long Reef) and beat Lahana around the mark by around 15 minutes, knowing full well the bigger 98 footer would mow them down sailing home to the Watsons Bay finish under spinnaker.

However, Lahana pipped Ichi Ban just short of the line and only 21 seconds separated the two in what Principal Race Officer, Robin Morton, called “the most exciting finish I’ve seen – it was that close – I thought Ichi Ban had it till they gybed.”

Allen explained they had not gybed earlier, because the breeze had dried up to 4 knots, so waited instead till the last. He said with the Rolex Sydney Hobart looming, the crew, including three Volvo Ocean Racers, was in a happy place. Joining the crew also is Athens 2004 Olympic 49er medallist, Rodion Luka from the Ukraine, who today was leading the UON SB20 Worlds at Hamilton Island with five races put away.

“It’s good to know everything is going according to plan and we have a bit of time between now the Hobart to correct anything that may crop up,” Allen said, adding his boat was not sailed all year long like others, so needs to be checked ahead of the big day.

Meanwhile, back in the early stages of the race, Lahana, along with two thirds of the fleet, was languishing on the eastern side of the Harbour when the breeze line faded as Millard tacked and drove towards it. “We got caught between the nor’ easter and nor’ west breeze,” crew member Geoff Cropley remembered.

Cropley also noted that New Zealander Gavin Brady had “added a lot of depth to the crew – he’s a great addition to the boat,” he said of the gun match racer and big boat sailor.

Aboard with Cropley today was 10 year-old son Archie, who has been learning to sail in the Optimist dinghy. “I enjoyed it and the crew did a good job today,” said Archie, who will be at Greenwich, where Lahana is kept, to see his Dad off on Boxing Day.

Others to make it out of the Harbour in good time were Tony Kirby’s X41, Patrice Six, Peugeot Surfrider with Nicolas Lunven in charge, Bruce Taylor’s Caprice 40 Chutzpah, Bob Cox’s DK46 Nine Dragons and Sam Haynes’ Rogers 46, Celestial Assistance Dogs.

Many were unlucky, some starting too early, meaning a return to the start line, while others, such as Jim Cooney’s Brindabella, were left wallowing aimlessly off Watsons Bay, with little Velocity, the Beneteau 31.7 owned by Brian Carrick, last seen drifting backwards in the Harbour.

Eight boats retired, some without even leaving the Harbour; Rob Hanna’s Shogun (Vic), Englishman Chris Bull’s Jazz, Darryl Hodgkinson’s 2011 Blue Water Pointscore champion Victoire, Warwick Sherman’s Occasional Course Language Too, Larki Missiris’ Wild One, Leslie Green’s new Ginger, Les Goodridge’s Wax Lyrical and Velocity.

On Wax Lyrical, two crew members ran into each other, one of whom had previously had two neck injuries. “As a precaution, we got an ambulance to meet us at the Club and make sure she was alright,” owner skipper Les Goodridge told, adding that paramedics had given the crew the all clear as far as further injuries go, but took her to hospital to make sure the previous injuries had not been exacerbated.

For full results log on to: http://www.cyca.com.au/racing/cyca-trophy-series/results/

15 December 2012

Lahana takes double in CYCA Trophy Passage

Lahana, Peter Millard and John Honan’s 98ft super maxi from NSW has taken double honours in the CYCA Trophy-Passage Series’ first race at 1.08.13pm today, making short work of the 18 nautical mile course that took the 24 boats from Sydney Harbour north to Long Reef on the ocean side of Manly.

Millard and Honan and their full complement of Rolex Sydney Hobart crew took line honours and then won the race overall from their 23 competitors. Hobart newcomer, Warwick Sherman (Occasional Coarse Language Too) finishing second overall and Middle Harbour entry, Nine Dragons, a DK46 owned by Bob Cox in third.

Millard said this afternoon they were “smokin'” all the way to Long Reef and back, sailing upwind to the mark before setting a spinnaker for a speedy run back home to the finish in Watsons Bay on an overcast gray afternoon.

“It was light at the start,” Millard confirmed, saying the nor’ easter was at around 8 or 9 knots.

“We tucked in close to Manly on the way out of the Harbour (two thirds of the fleet followed suit) which gave us a good line to the turning mark. Then we had a fast run home,” Millard said, adding that the breeze had topped out at 15 knots.

Matt Allen’s Jones 70, Ichi Ban, kept Lahana honest up the work, but the bigger boat got away from it downwind, with Ichi Ban ending the day in fourth place overall.

As they came in through the Heads to finish, the breeze was lightning off, but the fleet was lucky the sea was not quite as toggly as the breeze suggested it might be when competitors turned the corner to head north off North Head.

Warwick Sherman was “extremely pleased,” with his pair of second places today, also finishing second overall in PHS, as the seasoned offshore sailor prepares for his first ever assault on the Rolex Sydney Hobart.

“The boat went well and the crew did really well too. We had all but two of our Hobart crew on board,” Sherman told.

“We got caught out a bit at the start; there was a big bunch up at the boat end and some were pushed out of the start,” the CYCA skipper said.

“It was a bit sloppy offshore, but we sailed in a really nice breeze. We had a great competition with Nine Dragons and there was no more than a boat length in it. They just got us over the line (by eight seconds), our handicap saved us (they beat Nine Dragons by eight seconds),” he said.

Perennial favourite, Brindabella (Jim Cooney) took the spoils overall in PHS, with Sam Haynes’ Rogers 46 Celestial Assistance Dogs scoring third.

The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia race started at 11.00am. At 3.00pm, 17 of the 24 had finished. Most are entries in the Club’s 628 nautical mile Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and using this two race series as their final preparation for the big race ahead.

The smallest yachts in the fleet, 9.1 metre Selkie owned by Chris Antico and Velocity, the 9.5 metre Beneteau 31.5 belonging to Brian Carrick, were the last two to finish the race at 3.36.13pm and 3.42.51pm respectively.

Racing finishes tomorrow with one final passage race.

For daily results log on to http://www.cyca.com.au/racing/cyca-trophy-series/results/

By Di Pearson, CYCA Media 

14 December 2012

The team at Ragamuffin Loyal are pleased to say that the assessment of damage to the 100 footer’s rigging, sustained on Wednesday evening, is a positive one and repairs are underway. The repairs should be complete within the next few days, and all are looking forward to being on the start line for the Rolex Sydney Hobart on Boxing Day and are disappointed to be missing this weekend’s CYCA Trophy Passage Series.

13 December 2012

Last evening an incident occurred with the mast of Syd Fischer’s Ragamuffin-Loyal and the Ragamuffin-Loyal team are currently assessing the damage and will make an announcement as soon as they are able.

The 2012 Rolex Sydney Hobart fleet currently stands at 78 yachts, following the withdrawal of Victoire (Darryl Hodgkinson’s Beneteau 45) and Terra Firma (Nicholas Bartels’ Cookson 50)

12 December 2012

Helsal, arguably the flagship name of the late Australian yacht designer, Joe Adams, will pay its respects to him in a special way in this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

Rob Fisher’s Helsal III will sail the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s annual race with decals on each side of its hull in tribute to the man responsible not only for designing three of the Fisher family’s four Helsals, but the highly successful Australian marque of Adams 10s and 12s.

The 81-year-old Adams was murdered at his home in Baguio City in the Philippines in October. Adams spent most of his life in Sydney before moving to Port Macquarie and then to the Philippines, where he eventually sold his design business and retired.

In 1972 Rob’s father, Sydney surgeon Tony Fisher, was attracted to the idea of a ferro-cement yacht to replace his boat Derwent Hunter. He figured he wouldn’t have to worry about woodworm or osmosis with a concrete hull. To Tony’s mind, there seemed to be a lot of positives, despite the prevailing view that concrete yachts would never be up to racing.

He engaged Bob Miller, later to be known as Ben Lexcen, to design a racing boat capable of taking line honours in the Sydney-Hobart. Joe Adams was working with Miller at the time.

“Bob teamed up with Alan Bond in preparation for the 1974 Southern Cross America’s Cup campaign, so Joe took over the design work of Helsal,” Rob Fisher recounts.

The first Helsal, named after Tony’s wife Helen and daughter Sally, was launched in April 1973 and went on to take line honours in that year’s Sydney-Hobart race in a little over three days. It has always been referred to since as “the Flying Footpath”.

“There had never been a ferro-cement boat like this one. It was a very different construction,” Fisher says. “Dad engaged a bridge engineer named Peter Ellen. He came up with the idea of positioning tension cables 45cm apart throughout the hull. Most other people had just used concrete and reo.”

Helsal weighed in at 40.4 tonnes, which was not overweight, considering Fritz Johnson’s maxi Windward Passage was 36.3 tonnes and Jim Kilroys Kialoa III, which broke Helsal’s record two years later, weighed 39 tonnes.

By 1975, just before the Kialoa record, the Flying Footpath held every race record on the Australian east coast. She was the first sloop-rigged maxi in the world (most others had been ketch-rigged), but powering her up was a problem.

“It had massive, massive rigging,” Rob Fisher says, “and in those days you couldn’t build a sail that would hold its shape. With today’s materials it would have been much easier.”

The Fishers sold Helsal in 1979. She went to the Philippines as a charter boat, but went up on a reef the following year. She was towed into Manila harbour where she sat around during a dispute between the tow company and the insurer.

She was blown onto a breakwater in Manila during a cyclone and sank. She was raised, but the force of the incident broke some of the cables within the concrete and destroyed the famous yacht’s integrity. As far as Rob Fisher knows, she is still in Manila harbour “With a half a dozen families living aboard.”

In 1979, Adams designed Helsal II for the Fishers, two metres shorter and of fibre glass. She was a pocket maxi, designed to rate the maximum under the IOR rule. The Fishers took her to a second and third across the line in Hobart races in the early 80s and she set a record for the Montague Island race in 1981. They sold her in 1984, but Helsal II may have been the best of them.

“In the 1980 race we were south of Flinders Island, leading Peter Blake’s Ceramco New Zealand,” Fisher says, “and we should have won. We misjudged our distance from the coast and hardened up too soon. Ceramco overtook us; we caught up, but then lost it with some bad crew work.

“Blake came on board after the race and asked us to race him to Macquarie Island and back as part of his preparation for the next year’s Whitbread. We had to decline, told him this was as far south as we were going.”

Ceramco lost her mast in the first leg of that Whitbread, though still managed third place at the end.

The third Helsal that the Fishers owned (and still have) was Arthur Bloore’s Adams 20 The Office, which they bought in 1987. Bloore, a Queenslander, had fitted her with a centreboard. She was a cruiser/racer version of Helsal II.

During her time in Queensland, she had a small fire on board and Tony Fisher was asked if he would buy her.

“He wasn’t keen, but when he went up to see it, he couldn’t help himself,” Rob Fisher said.

In 1988 the Fishers broke the Lord Howe race record on Helsal III. It was then put out to charter in Bali. They sold it there in 1995, then it came back to Sydney in 2000 to be gutted into a full cruising boat, but sat around on the mooring for four or five years.

Tony Fisher tried to buy it back, was resisted so went to France and bought Helsal IV; a Philippe Briand designed cruising yacht. As soon as he bought Helsal IV, the owner of Helsal III decided to sell.

Fisher bought Helsal III for a second time and, with the Fishers all now living in Hobart, Tasmania, had local designer Fred Barrett design a fixed keel and generally update the boat, bringing the mast aft and going to a masthead rig.

Helsal III competed in the 2008, 2009 and 2010 Rolex Sydney Hobart’s, took 2011 off to break the Launceston-Hobart race record, and she is back in the Hobart for this year.

“For a 29-year-old boat she’s pretty quick for her age,” Fisher says.

“It will be a special race for her, given what happened to Joe. That’s not the way anybody should go. He’ll be with us.”

PS The Fishers sold Helsal IV last year, but she’s still around Hobart.

By Bruce Montgomery, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

11 December 2012

Bob Oatley may have to crack two bottles of champagne tonight as his two ocean racing thoroughbreds Wild Oats X and Wild Oats XI shared the silverware from today’s Solas Big Boat Challenge, the dash around Sydney Harbour that has become the traditional curtain raiser to the Rolex Sydney Hobart.

In a display of raw power and boat speed that has become the signature of Oatley’s 100 foot super maxi and Rolex Sydney Hobart line honours favourite Wild Oats XI, skipper Mark Richards put daylight between himself and second placed Lahana, crossing the line nearly 10 minutes in front.

In a fresh south easterly and in the absence of Ragamuffin–Loyal and Wild Thing, Richards chose to sail well within his boat’s limits, with a reef mainsail, but still lead the fleet around every mark. Richards sailed with his full Hobart crew today and they looked sharp and well-oiled at every turn despite briefly snagging a spinnaker sheet under the bow.

After the race Richards said that the southerly winds and sloppy chop had made for a surprisingly testing day. “It was a lot of work. The boat was flying around the race track and didn’t give us much time to set up for sail changes and stuff. Ropes were going everywhere.

“The best thing for us is we got around unscathed, with all fingers and toes. It was a good workout.”

But it was Wild Oats XI’s baby sister, the similarly canting keeled RP66 Wild Oats X that stole the show. 18 foot skiff sailor Troy Tindall had thrown together a crew of his Double Bay mates for the race and they turned on a blinder.

“We sailed together for half an hour yesterday and before the start (today) there were some pretty nervous moments,” Tindall conceded, “but we got a really good start and took off from there.”

The skiffies trailed the two big boats across the line of course, but were close enough to take a four minute lead on corrected time on Lahana, and nearly four and a half minutes on Wild Oats XI to win the race outright on IRC.

If Wild Oats X was smoking, so was her RP66 sistership Black Jack. Just boat lengths separated the two boats. At times they looked more like speedboats than sailboats with spray from their fine bows arcing back past the foredeck as they sliced through the choppy harbour.

Black Jack, though, paid for a poor start. The lost minutes at the beginning cost her second place on handicap to 2011 Rolex Sydney Hobart winner Loki, despite Loki shredding a spinnaker on the first downwind leg. A costly day out for owner Stephen Ainsworth.

Ainsworth was pretty laconic about the sail after the race, “we were going to bring it down anyway,” and will draw some consolation from his second place finish, but he knows that if he wants to make it two wins in a row in the big race he will have to hang onto Black Jack all the way to Hobart.

On today’s evidence Black Jack has a big edge over Loki in pure boat speed, but with her canting keel and extra three feet over the conventionally keeled RP63 Loki she gives away time on handicap. Both are no doubt pleased Wild Oats X and her skiff sailors are staying home, but the battle between Loki and Black Jack will be a highlight of this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart.

With neither Ragamuffin-Loyal nor the revamped Wild Thing on the racetrack, today gave little guidance on the race for line honours come Boxing Day.

Richards is clearly pleased with the speed he is getting out of Wild Oats XI, and as Lahana’s owner Peter Millard conceded after the race, in drag racing terms ”Wild Oats XI is a generation apart . We realise we are a bubbling V8 against a V12.”

The Rolex Sydney Hobart can be a drag race for the front running boats, but not always. If not, Millard will be hoping that his tactician, Gavin Brady, newly returned to Lahana after campaigning internationally on a number of maxis in recent years, will find a way round the faster boat.

“The boat is faster than it was,” Brady says, “the changes have improved the boat’s performance and structure.”

Lahana will probably need Ragamuffin-Loyal or Wild Thing to put pressure on Wild Oats XI, perhaps forcing an error or at least allowing the New Zealanders to race their own race in different water.

It’s a long way to Hobart and a lot more unexpected things can happen in 628 miles than in the high speed dash around Sydney Harbour today.

By Jim Gale, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team

4 December 2012

Melbourne yachtsman Bruce Taylor just might be the best sailor never to have won a Rolex Sydney Hobart.

For more than 30 years he has spurned the so much more convenient Melbourne to Hobart dash. Instead, year in year out, he has come up to the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Sydney so that he can turn around and bash his way south down the punishing NSW coast and across Bass Strait, all for Australian yachting's most coveted prize.

Yet despite a second overall and a slew of wins in his class, the Tattersall's Cup for overall first on handicap has eluded him.

And this mad obsession has proven contagious in the Taylor household. Son Drew will again fly down from Hong Kong to join Bruce and his veteran crew, the 21st time father and son have crossed the Boxing Day start line together - an extraordinary record

There are times when he has come so close, when Chutzpah - for that is the name of every one of the Victorian yachtsman's Hobart racers - has led the fleet at Tasman Island, only to stall under the cliffs, or more frustrating still, bob around in the breathless midnight to dawn Derwent River parking lot just a few miles short of the finish line.

And there's the rub. The current Chutzpah is a gloriously fast Reichel/Pugh designed Caprice 40 that is a sort of mini TP52; a super quick running and reaching fun machine. If you sail a TP52 to its limit, you are a good chance to get up the Derwent River early evening, before it shuts down. A mini TP52 like Chutzpah is odds on to get to Tasman Island sometime between midnight and 3am. It's just the maths of race starting time versus distance.

Taylor doesn't want a costly TP52. What he needs is a few straight days of 20 knot northerlies so that he can reach Tasman Island before the witching hour. Get that and he reckons he and his Corinthian crew will throw a cat with attitude amongst the hotshot professional pigeons crewing aboard the race favourites.

What he doesn't need is your typical Rolex Sydney Hobart; a mixture of fresh northerlies for sprinting and bitter southerly slogs to windward. "Chutzpah is a very extreme boat," Taylor concedes, "Not an all-round boat at all. I told Reichel/Pugh I wanted the fastest running and reaching 40-footer in the world, and that is what we've got, but if it's an upwind we will be caned."

The man most likely to wield the cane is Taylor's arch divisional rival, Ed Psaltis. Psaltis has already won the Hobart outright, ironically on a former Chutzpah, and Taylor ranks him one of the world's best Corinthian ocean racers.

Last year, Psaltis replaced his all-round modified Farr 40 AFR Midnight Rambler with a faster reaching and running boat, very similar to Chutzpah, but less break-or-breakthrough. The current AFR Midnight Rambler has sacrificed a bit of downwind speed for an edge uphill. Psaltis figures that, in a typical Hobart Taylor will burn him off in the northerlies, but he will claw time back on handicap during the southerlies.

The crew of AFR Midnight Rambler are relentless. They drive their boat hard. The boat's name, Midnight Rambler, testifies to Psaltis' conviction that the race is won in the coldest, darkest hours when tired rivals drop that that little bit off the pace. However, Taylor is confident that if he does get the right conditions, he and his crew still have the drive and skill to make the most of it, even if some of the joints creek a bit these days.

"Thirty year ago we were the youngest crew in the race," Taylor jokes, "now we are the geriatrics."

As a group, they race around the buoys most weekends on a Sydney 38 - and Chutzpah when the big ocean races come around. "The Sydney 38 keeps us sharp," Taylor says, "but ocean racing is a different game."

Stoic endurance and tactical smarts have to make up for aging muscles and backs. "We are all busy doing different things. We don't see much of each other off the water, but when we're sailing, there's a special crew dynamic, an esprit de corp. We're very lucky. We all know each others strengths and weaknesses."

And Taylor's son Drew is bringing some extra youth and muscle with him from Hong Kong this year, in the shape of grinder Phil Crinon. "Phil just keeps on grinding as long as you feed him," Drew laughs.

"We were starting to think we might need electric winches," Taylor chortles, "but we won't need any of that with Phil around."

Drew says that it says a lot about the cohesion and spirit of Bruce's regular team that he is able to slot back in each year and take up where they left off.

For his part, Taylor senior concedes that there is a pay-off in having some youngsters on the boat. "Drew and I are both reasonably competitive, but he drives harder than I do these days. At 62 I am probably lacking a bit of his stamina, but neither of us is out there for a cruise."

There is something a little quixotic in Bruce Taylor's most recent campaigns for the Tattersall's Cup though. It's the boat, you see. She is extreme. If winning was absolutely everything, then he probably would have built himself a slower boat.

That's right - slower.

Remember, this is a handicap race. Every yacht, ultimately, is racing against its handicap, or corrected time. The 40 footers that have succeeded have typically arrived at Tasman Island about 12 hours later than Chutzpah is likely to get there, and sped up the Derwent River on an afternoon breeze.

And while the current rating system looks kindly on the new more extreme 50 and 60 footers, in the 40 foot division the handicap rules still favour heavier yachts like the Beneteau 40s. Chutzpah isn't just fighting AFR Midnight Rambler; she is fighting the hours she gives away to the more traditional 40's.

Taylor, though, endured the dog days of the IOR. He's has had enough of the humdrum. "A Beneteau 40 is twice Chutzpah's weight," Taylor observes. "They take as long to get to Hobart as the boats did in 1985." In contrast, "For sheer sailing pleasure, Chutzpah is out of this world."

Drew agrees. "She is a brilliant boat, definitely the way forward. When you're screaming down waves at 18 to 22 knots in a 40 foot yacht, it's unbelievable," he says enthusiastically.

The modern fliers like Chutzpah are exhilarating, agile, strong, and the future. They are also stripped out, noisy, bone jarring. They are demanding and athletic and apt to remind you of your venerable years each time they blast off the top of a 10 foot swell into empty space.

Taylor wonders how much longer he can keep putting in the huge effort and stress of campaigning a serious contender in the CYCA's annual 628 nautical mile race to Hobart, not to mention bringing the boat up from Melbourne first.

"The CYCA is fantastic; very helpful and welcoming, but it takes so much more effort doing everything from another city than just going down to the boat from home for the race."

Last year, barely an hour before the race start, flight delays meant he and his crew were still wondering if their wet weather gear and food would arrive in time from Melbourne. Fortunately, Musto clothing came to the party with wet weather gear for those crews affected, but then flights arrived in time.

"This could be my last," Taylor says.

"Yeah, right," says Drew. "Five times he's said 'this is my last boat', and god knows how many times 'this is my last Hobart'. And I can't give up until he does. I'd look too much like a wimp. One day we've got to win this bloody thing."

Taylor really wants to win the Rolex Sydney Hobart. Maybe then he could relax and join his fellow Melburnians at the Boxing Day Test for once. But damn it, he'll do it in a sports car - not a mobile home.

By Jim Gale, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team