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| Start to set harbour
alight |
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Photos By Carlo Borlenghi
for Rolex and Peter Andrews.
Story edited from press release by Peter Andrews. |
| November 29, 2009. |
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The start of this year’s 65th Sydney Hobart Yacht Race will take centre stage in late December, when the anticipated fleet of 112 promises to set Sydney Harbour alight on Boxing Day. With a substantial increase on last year’s 100 starters, this year’s fleet is also just four shy of the 60th anniversary fleet back in 2004, when the number of entries had spiked considerably.
Led by the most exciting line up of maxis ever seen in Australia, this year’s large fleet are expected to commence the race from two starting lines for the nation’s annual summer blue water classic on December 26, 2009. |
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The 2008 Sydney Hobart fleet outside Sydney Heads after the start, making their way to Hobart.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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Commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA), Matt Allen, said the large number of entries was an encouraging show of support for the race.
"It’s a return to the sort of numbers the event attracted a decade ago, and in the midst of what has been a tough year financially for many, it’s a great show of confidence and support for the world famous dash across eastern Bass Strait to Hobart," said Allen.
"The way this year’s line honours contest is shaping up, and with the calibre of international yachts and sailors heading our way, we can expect the eyes of the world to turn to our event when the starting gun is fired at 1pm on 26 December," added Commodore Allen. |
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Ed Psaltis and Bob Thomas will have an eye on an overall another win with their modified Farr 40, AFR Midnight Rambler.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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The 2009 Sydney Hobart has attracted so many big boats as a result of the CYCA’s decision to increase the length overall limit, or LOA, to 100 feet or 30.48 metres, thereby bringing the event in-line with other major international events including the Transpac and Rolex Fastnet Race.
The spotlight is well and truly on the impending line honours tussle, as Bob Oatley’s Reichel Pugh 100 Wild Oats XI, is prepped for an unprecedented five in a row. This mighty Sydney maxi is edging closer to Morna / Kurrewa’s all-time record of seven non-consecutive titles. The difference this year however is that the current race record holder is not the only standout big boat in the pack. |
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Wild Oats XI being chased out of Sydney Harbour by Mike Slade's Leopard, during the 2007 Sydney Hobart.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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Four other 100 footers and two 98 footers have their sights set on ending Wild Oats XI’s, four year dominance of the ocean classic. The dockside talk amongst those who will be driving the challengers south is that out of those six, at least four have a realistic shot at beating the fleet to Hobart.
Of those vying for line honours, Neville Crichton’s RP 100, Alfa Romeo from New Zealand, is causing the most unease. With 143 line honours wins over four years, Crichton’s return from the Mediterranean and Europe, where he has been campaigning the boat since the 2005 Sydney Hobart, comes with a strong word of warning. |
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Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo (NZL), during the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2009.
Photo © Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi.
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At the official media launch, Wild Oats XI’s skipper, Mark Richards revealed that he clearly understands the challenge that lies ahead.
"We cannot assume anything. Our toughest competition this year in the line honours battle will definitely be from Neville Crichton and his Alfa Romeo crew," said Richards.
"Neville is a fierce competitor and puts an amazing campaign together. He has installed a new lightweight mast, a new bow sprit and is the only boat in the world racing under IRC with a tungsten bulb keel." |
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Wild Oats XI’s skipper, Mark Richards takes a dip after taking Line Honours in the 2007 Sydney Hobart.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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When questioned about Wild Oats XI modifications, Richards revealed that Wild Oats has also undergone a lot of modifications.
"In lengthening to 100 feet, we now have a greater sail area and have installed a new bulb on the keel; plus we’re going with a crew of 18, not the usual 24. So we’re carrying less weight in people and the associated equipment, in our aim to go faster than we ever have before. The crew are still pinching themselves having won the last four Sydney Hobart Yacht races. There is no expectation to win again; however, we are in the race to win it again. Whichever team gets the boat to Hobart first and in one piece will be declared the winner!" |
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Mike Slade's Leopard arriving in Hobart during the 2007 Sydney Hobart.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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In a decent blow, British yachtsman Mike Slade’s heavier built Farr 100 ICAP Leopard, the 2009 Fastnet Race line honours winner, or Sean Langman’s newly revamped Elliott 100ft LOYAL, could out-last both the Reichel Pughs’ heading south. Then there is Grant Wharington’s newly modified Wild Thing (the 2003 line honours victor from Victoria), that is also expected to be faster than ever with its new radical seven metre keel.
LOYAL will add plenty of sporting glamour to the head of the fleet with Olympic swimming gold medallist Grant Hackett, boxer Danny Green, HSBC Waratahs captain Phil Waugh and former rugby union player Phil Kearns, all teaming up with an experienced offshore crew led by 18-time Sydney Hobart skipper Sean Langman.
"Those who have joined the LOYAL crew have great respect for the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, the sea and our fellow crew members. It’s one of the great Australian sporting traditions," said Phil Waugh.
"I remember playing cricket in the backyard on Boxing Day, ducking in to watch the start of the Boxing Day test, more backyard cricket and then sitting down at 1pm to watch the start of the Sydney Hobart," he added. |
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Sean Langman's chartered Elliott
30m maxi LOYAL when
it was Maximus,
ahead of the start of the 2006 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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On Brook Lenfest’s 100 foot performance cruiser / racer Rapture from the USA, pro surfer Mark Occhilupo will be onboard to indulge his love of the ocean in what will be his first Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
International entries are again strong with 11 yachts sailing for Spain, the UK, Netherlands, USA, New Caledonia, and New Zealand. Every Australian state and the ACT are represented also, with the majority of boats once again hailing from NSW yacht clubs and ports. New Zealand has a strong showing with Alfa Romeo and Lion New Zealand flying the flag.
Lion New Zealand’s crew will celebrate 25 years since the boat’s line honours win in the gruelling 1984 Sydney Hobart when it was skippered by the late Sir Peter Blake and crewed by yachting legends Grant Dalton, Simon Gundry and Kevin Shoebridge. This year, the Ron Holland designed 78 foot Whitbread will be sailed south by a number of offspring of those original heroes; Sir Peter Blake’s daughter Sarah Jane Blake, Simon Gundry’s son, Conrad, and Godfrey Gray’s son, Sam, all stepping up to the plate. |
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Niklas Zennström’s Rán 2, passing Stromboli Volcano, Sicily, October 18, 2009, during the 2009 Middle Sea Race.
Photo © Carlo Borlenghi / Rolex www.carloborlenghi.com .
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While the big boats enjoy their private battle, the competition for overall winner and the George Adams Tattersall Cup (or Tattersall’s Cup as it is generally referred to) will be fiercer than ever, and age is no barrier for the contenders.
The classic 1973 built Sparkman and Stephens 47 Love & War, a three-time overall winner (1974, 1978, 2006), has well and truly proven itself in this race. Amongst the older generation of boats, Love & War will be challenging Ian Kiernan’s Sanyo Maris, which is fresh from its second consecutive overall win in the qualifying Gosford to Lord Howe Island Race. Kiernan, founder of Clean Up Australia, has the right boat and plenty of incentive for the overall win after being forced
out of his Sydney Hobart comeback race last year with damage.
The grand prix line up is second to none, with the likes of 2008 overall winner, Bob Steel’s TP52 Quest, Stephen Ainsworth’s in-form RP63 Loki and the overall winner of this year’s Rolex Fastnet Race, Niklas Zennström’s JV72 Rán 2, which is making the long passage from the UK to Australia for a crack at one of the world’s most sought after yachting trophies. |
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Stephen Ainsworth's Reichel Pugh 63 Loki, sails past the mid channel marker buoy on Sydney Harbour, during the Big Boat Challenge in 2008.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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Commenting on the battle for the overall win at today’s launch, Loki’s sailing master Gordon Maguire said, "The battle for the overall honours will be just as tough as the battle for the line honours win."
"The winner will be determined by which boat and crew have done their homework, the right amount of work and the one that performs best in the race. If you combine all this, there are probably 12 boats that are serious contenders for handicap honours and then we’ll let the weather sort it. At the end of the day, we will race to the best of our abilities, but it’s the variances in the weather that make the difference. The ability to judge when and where the changes in weather will occur determines who wins the Tattersall’s Cup," Maguire concluded.
Michael Hiatt’s Farr 55 Living Doll from Victoria has won three major regattas this year, twice nudging out Ray Roberts’ Cookson 50 Evolution Racing from the CYCA, always a strong handicap contender. Also with an eye on an overall win are Ed Psaltis and Bob Thomas of AFR Midnight Rambler (CYCA), who are arguably two of the most consistent offshore yachtsmen on the east coast. Since their 1998 Sydney Hobart Tattersall’s Cup win, Psaltis and Thomas have been named CYCA blue water champions (2006-07), and are currently sitting first on the 2009-10 Blue Water Pointscore series provisional pointscore with their modified Farr 40.
The smallest and oldest boat in this year’s fleet is James Connell and Alex Brandon’s 34 footer, Zephyr, while the largest will be the five 100 footers. |
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Michael Hiatt's Farr 55 Living Doll, below North Head after the start of the Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race 2009.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
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The 2009 Sydney Hobart will be preceded by a series of offshore races outside Sydney Heads. Racing for the one design classes, including Farr 40 and Sydney 38 classes will take place between December 11 and 13, and the IRC and Performance Handicap boats between December 17 and 20, 2009.
The annual Big Boat Challenge will be held on Tuesday December 15 on Sydney Harbour. This will be the one and only time Wild Oats XI will go head to head with some of its adversaries, prior to the Boxing Day start of the 2009 Sydney Hobart, as the boat is being deliberately conserved for the great race.
Applications for entry will continue to be processed by the CYCA sailing office and if all the race entry criteria is met, owners will be invited to submit an entry form by 4 December.
For further information about the 2009 Sydney Hobart, go to the official race website at: www.rolexsydneyhobart.com |
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| Outimage and Rolex © 2009 |
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