Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and starts in Sydney on Boxing Day and finishes in Hobart. The overall race distance is approximately 630 nautical miles (1,170 km). The race is a cooperative effort with the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania. It is also one of the most complex and challenging yacht races in the world.
The race was initially planned to be a cruise by Peter Luke and some friends who had formed a club for those who enjoyed cruising as opposed to racing. However, a visiting British Royal Navy Officer, Captain John Illingworth, suggested it made a race, and the event was born. The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race has grown over the decades since the inaugural race in 1945. It is one of the top three offshore yacht races in the world, and it now attracts maxi yachts from all around the globe. The 2004 race marked the 60th running of the event. The current race record was set in 2005 by Wild Oats XI. It crossed the line in 1 day, 18 hours, 40 minutes and 10 seconds.
Hobart Wharf
The longest surviving skipper from the inaugural race, Peter Luke, who contributed to the formation of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and the establishment of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, died on 23 September 2007 aged 92, the last of the original sailors who pioneered this event. His yacht, Wayfarer, still holds the record for the slowest elapsed time.
In 1998, 115 boats were competing and the fleet into a severe and deadly storm. Winds of up to 78 knots whipped waves said to be as high as 10 metres. Helicopters braving gale force winds rescue over 50 yachtsmen. Only 44 of the 115 boats finished the course. Six sailors died.
The 2010 Event
The first few days of the 2010 event were rough. Sixteen boats withdrew from the race due to the damages they sustained at sea. Adrienne Cahalan, the navigator aboard Wild Oats XI, said the conditions were “violent and awful”. She said, “We’ve spent the day in damage control for the boat and crew. In these conditions, keeping a boat this size and this fast from not launching off one wave and crashing into the next is extremely difficult. When you do, it’s like a truck hitting a wall. That’s when the damage happens to the yacht and the crew, so preventing this from happening has been our priority.”
In 2010, Wild Oats XI again won and held five-line honours wins for the Sydney Hobart Race. Wild Oats XI has the record for the most consecutive line honours wins, four, when she won in 2008.
It was great to see some of the yachts go past Merimbula and then fly down to Tasmania to see them finish in Hobart.
