DOUBLE TRIPLE WITH ICING ON THE TOP

Robert Oatley’s Wild Oats XI was announced this morning as the Overall Winner of the 68th Rolex Sydney Hobart. It had become clear overnight that none of the yachts still at sea could better the corrected time established by the 30.48m (100 foot) maxi skippered by Mark Richards. Wild Oats XI has repeated its historic performance of 2005, when it secured the treble of Line Honours, Overall Winner and Race Record.   Aside from Rani, in the very first race, Wild Oats XI is the only yacht ever to have achieved this impressive display of dominance. She has now done it twice. Bob Oatley was understandably impressed: “The main aim was the fastest time. To get the handicap too was fantastic, a real bonus. Getting the record trip was really the icing on the cake.” By 15:00 AEDT on 29 December, 13 yachts had finished the 2012 Rolex Sydney Hobart including two of the international entries: KLC Bengal from Japan and Ambersail from Lithuania. Last year’s winner, Loki, has so far come closest to unseating Wild Oats XI. Finishing last night at just before 21:00 even she was two hours adrift on corrected time. Black Jack, which arrived an hour before Loki, lies in third overall. Chris Bull’s Jazz holds fourth. Victorian yacht Calm had appeared to have the best opportunity of the yachts destined to arrive before dawn today. Needing to finish before 01:31, she was behind schedule yesterday afternoon. Owner Jason Van der Slot believed they would pick up pace but had not counted on stalling close to the finish: “We parked for two hours off Tasman Island and for an hour in the Derwent. We were aiming to finish in time to win and up to Tasman Island we were on track. It had all gone according to plan until then.” She eventually finished at 06:06 this morning and holds fifth place. Five yachts have retired so far and, for the 58 yachts still racing, a difficult evening lies ahead. In the lee of northeastern Tasmania there is a substantial wind shadow. From midway down the eastern seaboard to Tasman Island spindrift is flying off 3 metre waves in a 26 – 36 knot west-southwesterly. These conditions are forecast to prevail through much of 30 December too.

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On the morning of 28 December 2012, Wild Oats XI once again stamped her name in the Rolex Sydney Hobart history books. From the moment the start gun fired on Boxing Day the silver wraith seemed intent on condemning her rivals for line honours to the position of also-rans. Wild Oats XI’s finish time of 1 day 18 hours 23 minutes and 12 seconds sliced 16 minutes 58 seconds off her own record. Another commanding performance in a race she has begun to treat as her own.   Without doubt skipper Mark Richard’s crew of thoroughbred racers had some luck, but their race was not without problems. The first night saw the wind drop in the scheduled transition and her opponents close down the lead she had worked to establish during the afternoon. The crew held their nerve and once the northeasterly settled in they were off. Ragamuffin-Loyal’s endeavours to stay in touch with Wild Oats XI were hampered by a headsail gear failure from which the 100-foot maxi never recovered; Syd Fischer’s equally accomplished crew forced to accept the unwelcome role of bridesmaid. Ragamuffin-Loyal finished almost five hours behind Wild Oats XI. Had the apparent error of starting the race too early been converted to a penalty, her crew’s sense of disappointment would have been complete. Fortunately, 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. By 20:30 AEDT only four yachts had completed the 628 nm course. Lahana rounded out the maxi contingent just before 19:00, while Black Jack was the first mini maxi some 40 minutes later. Loki and Ichi Ban will be next home. None have so far been capable of posting a time that knocks Wild Oats XI off the overall podium position. The door may be open for a smaller yacht if the weather obliges. Calm, Jazz, Quest and Shogun look best placed to foil a second triple crown. They need the wind to shift substantially in their favour, something it has singularly failed to do so far. Wild Oats XI near finish (Photo by Rolex / Daniel Forster)

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The 68th Rolex Sydney Hobart got underway in exceptional conditions. The forecast southerly breeze providing the perfect angle for a spinnaker start and run down the harbour. The angle would prove less kind as the yachts exited the Sydney Heads and made their turn towards Hobart, finding the 20 – 25 knots now firmly on the nose. Mark Richards and Wild Oats XI looked to be in no mood to be interrupted in her bid to claim a sixth line honours, blasting off the line and showing Syd Fischer’s Ragamuffin Loyal a clean pair of heels before popping out of the Heads comfortably in the lead.

 
 
An interesting night lies ahead. The decision how far to head out to sea was the first conundrum facing the crews. So far the bulk of yachts appear firm in the belief that staying inshore, and inside the rhumb line will pay better. Only, one or two boats have shown a determination to head offshore for any length of time. Mike Broughton, navigator on Chris Bull’s Jazz, felt ahead of the start that the fleet would do well to stay inshore for the initial section of the race, certainly until the major swing in wind direction expected during the night. This transition should see the wind back to the northeast and will have the yachts running under spinnaker for an extended period.

 
Start of the 2012 Rolex Sydney Hobart
Earlier this morning, Gordon Maguire, tactician on Stephen Ainsworth’s Loki, indicated some of their pre-race routing suggested the bigger yachts could profit enormously from the predicted northeasterly. If it arrives on cue, they could bite a huge chunk out of the course during the hours of darkness and be lying off Green Cape by mid-morning on the second day, 27 December. The small boats, meanwhile, such as race veteran Roger Hickman’s Wild Rose, might only find themselves parallel with Jervis Bay as dawn breaks. The difference in power between segments of the fleet will be all too apparent at this juncture.

 

WILD OATS XI, after the start
At 17:30 AEDT Wild Oats XI was 8 nautical miles north east of Kiama travelling at 12 knots, with some 50 nm under her belt after 4.5 hours of sailing. Any thought of setting a new record seemed to be on hold as navigator Adrienne Cahalan called in to report the wind speed dropping as evening arrives. Ragamuffin Loyal lies within striking distance just astern. Lahana, Ichi Ban and Black Jack round out the top five on the water. Conditions have been wet and hard on crews during these first few hours and the measure of performance differential between front-runners and back markers is clearly demonstrated by Charlie’s Dream. Averaging just 3.4 knots, Peter Lewis and crew were parallel with Botany Bay having knocked a mere 13 nm off the 628nm course distance.

The start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart is like few other yacht races. The natural amphitheatre formed by the deep-water harbour offers great viewing potential from the water, at water level from the beaches and coves, and grandstand opportunities from higher ground. Every Sydney-sider has a favourite location, and South Head must be one of the most popular and dramatic. A huge crowd always assembles to watch the fleet barrel down the harbour and make the sharp out into open water. This year’s spectacle was worth the effort involved. After a dreadful Christmas Day, when rain and wind battered Sydney, Boxing Day has been a joy. Blue sky and reasonably warm temperatures brought the locals out in their thousands to cheer the determined and enthusiastic crews off on their compelling adventure.

 

Entries

Abracadabra	5612	New South Wales	Tripp 47
AFR Midnight Rambler	8338	New South Wales	Ker 40
Akatea	NZL8710	New Zealand	Cookson 50
Ambersail	LTU1000	Lithuania	Volvo 60
Ariel	A140	New South Wales	Beneteau First 40
Asylum	YC10	South Australia	Sydney 38
Aurora	N3	New South Wales	Farr 40 – One Off
Black Jack	52566	Queensland	Reichel Pugh 66
Blunderbuss	RQ4000	Queensland	Beneteau First 40
Brannew	9988	New South Wales	Beneteau First 40 Cr
Breakthrough	6834	New South Wales	Beneteau First 40
Brindabella	10000	New South Wales	Jutson 79
Calm	SM5252	Victoria	TP52
Carbon Credits	6669	Queensland	Beneteau First 45
Celestial-Assistance Dogs	421	New South Wales	Rogers 46
Charlie’s Dream	RQ1920	Queensland	Bluewater 450
Chutzpah	R33	Victoria	IRC 40
CIC Technology Inca	F111	Aust Capital Territory	Vickers 41
Copernicus	6689	New South Wales	Radford 12
Corporate Initiatives	7407	New South Wales	Beneteau First 40.7
Cougar II	5200	Tasmania	TP52
Dekadence	S20	Victoria	DK46
Duende	ESP6100	New South Wales	JV52
Dump Truck	A6	Tasmania	Ker 11.3
Enchantress	SA346	South Australia	Muirhead 11
Eressea	6590	Queensland	Hanse 415
Finistere	F108	Western Australia	Davidson 50
Flying Fish Arctos	7551	New South Wales	McIntyre 55
Frantic	GBR5211	New South Wales	TP52
Geomatic	M495	Victoria	Hanse 495
Halcyon	R75	Victoria	Beneteau First 40
Helsal III	262	Tasmania	Adams 20
Holdens Secret Mens Business	YC3300	South Australia	Reichel Pugh 51
Icefire	R6572	New South Wales	Mummery 45
Ichi Ban	AUS 03	New South Wales	Jones 70
Illusion	5356	New South Wales	Davidson 34
INSX	SM5985	Victoria	NSX 38
Jazz Player	S390	Victoria	Bakewell – White 39
Jazz	5299	New South Wales	Cookson 50
Kioni	6146	New South Wales	Beneteau First 47.7
KLC Bengal 7	JPN4321	Japan	Humphreys 54
Lahana	10081	New South Wales	30m Maxi
Living Doll	R55	Victoria	Farr 55
Local Hero	1236	New South Wales	BH 36
Loki	AUS 60000	New South Wales	Reichel Pugh 63
Love & War	294	New South Wales	S & S 47
Luna Sea	8339	New South Wales	Hick 35
Lunchtime Legend	RQ14	Queensland	Beneteau First 40
Maluka of Kermandie	A19	Tasmania	Ranger
Martela	7075	Tasmania	IMX 38
Merit	8679	Queensland	Volvo 60
Occasional Coarse Language Too	8008	New South Wales	Sydney GTS 43
Ocean Affinity	RQ64	Queensland	Marten 49
Papillon	6841	New South Wales	Archambault 40RC
Patrice Six	360	New South Wales	X41
Peugeot Surfrider	7771	New South Wales	Beneteau 45
Primitive Cool	S777	Victoria	Farr 40 Mod
Quest	52002	New South Wales	TP 52
Ragamuffin Loyal	SYD100	New South Wales	Elliott 100
Rikki	NZL8008	New Zealand	Reichel Pugh 42
Rush	B45	Victoria	Corel 45
Sailors with disAbilities	6953	New South Wales	Nelson Marek 52
She	4924	New South Wales	Olsen 40
Shogun	6952	Victoria	JV 52
Southern Excellence	NOR2	New South Wales	Volvo 60
St Jude	6686	New South Wales	Sydney 47
This Way Up	RF360	Western Australia	Sydney 36CR
Toybox 2	MH4	New South Wales	XP 44
TSA Management	MH60	New South Wales	Sydney 38
Tusitala	SAM1	Samoa	Goss 60
Two True	YC400	South Australia	Beneteau First 40
Veloce	SM602	Victoria	Elliott 44CR
Wicked	SM4	Victoria	Beneteau First 40
Wild Oats XI	10001	New South Wales	RP100
Wild Rose	4343	New South Wales	Farr 43
Zen	3838	New South Wales	Sydney 38

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The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) and Rolex are proud to announce the Nominees for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards 2012.

ISAF received nominations for the 2012 Awards from across the world for sailors representing all aspects of the sport. The nominees are put forward based on achievements made during the qualifying period of 1 September 2011 and 31 August 2012. Only one nominee wins from both the male and female category and the names vying for the coveted and prestigious 2012 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award are:

Male

Ben Ainslie (GBR) – Finn – London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist & 2012 World Champion

Mathew Belcher & Malcolm Page (AUS) – Men’s 470 – London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists, 2011 and 2012 World Champions and 2011-12 ISAF Sailing World Cup Champions

Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) – 49er – London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists & 2011 and 2012 World Champions

Loick Peyron (FRA) – Outright Around the World Record

Tom Slingsby (AUS) – Laser – London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist & 2011 and 2012 World Champion

Female

Tamara Echegoyen, Angela Pumariega and Sofio Toro (ESP) – Women’s Match Racing – London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists

Helena Lucas (GBR) – 2.4mR – London 2012 Paralympic Gold Medallist and 2011-12 ISAF Sailing World Cup Champion

Saskia Sills (GBR) – RS:X – ISAF Youth Sailing World Champion & European Youth Champion

Lijia Xu (CHN) – Laser Radial – London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist
The Voting

The winners are selected by the ISAF Member National Authorities (MNAs), the national governing bodies for sailing around the world. The MNAs are now invited to vote for the male and female nominee they believe most deserves the Award.

The winners will be announced at the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards presentation and dinner, taking place on Tuesday 6 November 2012. The venue for the event is the Mansion House in Dublin, Ireland.

Each winner will be presented with the prestigious ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award Trophy and a distinctive Rolex timepiece.

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The 2011 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race was notable for an unexpected winner of the coveted line honours trophy, a worthy overall winner and a slow passage home for the smaller boats.

The Boxing Day start of the 628 mile race south to Hobart was spectacular, with the 88-strong international fleet setting off from the heart of Sydney Harbour, with its iconic bridge and Opera House as a backdrop. The Heads and shoreline were teeming with spectators as news helicopters flew overhead. Leading the charge on the beat out of the Harbour was Bob Oatley’s maxi Wild Oats XI, the line honours winner in five out of the last six Rolex Sydney Hobarts.

Weather-wise the start of the race was fairly conventional with some fast running conditions for the afternoon, but with a dramatic 180 degree wind shift into the south forecast for the first evening. A swell from the north generated by the ex-tropical cyclone Fina, combined with this wind shift, created a horrific confused sea on the opening night, as the 30 knots southerly wind kicked in with a punch, gusting up to 40 knots. But it is these brutal, testing conditions competitors expect when they set out on the Rolex Sydney Hobart and give the event its reputation as one of the world’s toughest offshore yacht races.

For the crews it was a case of battening down hatches and muscling through and by the first morning there was an impressively low attrition rate with just two retirements. They were joined later by a third, the 2003 line honours winner Grant Wharington’s Wild Thing, suffering sail damage.

24 hours in and race favourite for line honours, the Mark Richards-skippered Wild Oats XI ,was 11 miles ahead of Anthony Bell’s maxi Investec Loyal, these two having broken away from Peter Millard’s Lahana with singlehanded round the world sailor Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss holding fourth on the water. On IRC handicap Roger Hickman, an old hand in the Rolex Sydney Hobart, competing in his 35th race, had pulled into the lead aboard his 1993 race winner, Wild Rose.

For this Rolex Sydney Hobart Wild Oats XI had been ‘turboed’ with the addition of new twin daggerboards and a larger square-topped mainsail, but her dominance as the fastest boat in the race was called into question when at 20:00 on the second evening of the race she was overtaken by the similarly-sized, but older, Investec Loyal.

With the wind lightening and backing from the southwest into the southeast, so Wild Oats XI was caught in a wind hole. Her co-navigator, Ian Burns explained what happened: “They [Investec Loyal’s crew] were keeping track of how we were doing and the moment we stopped under a cloud with no wind under it, they basically sailed right around the outside of this large hole we were stuck in and came back above us. It was good work on their part.”

The theoretically faster Wild Oats XI managed to catch up and overtook Investec Loyal at 07:30 on the second morning of the race as the two boats were sailing down the east coast of Tasmania. For the rest of the morning followers of the race were on the edge of their seats as the two boats match raced around the remainder of the course.

As they rounded the south side of Tasman Island, so Wild Oats XI was becalmed again and, taking their chance, Investec Loyal once again pounced, sailed around the outside of them to regain the lead. Crossing Storm Bay and sailing up the Derwent River to the finish, the Wild Oats XI crew, sailing with many of Australian yachting’s elder statesmen and women on board, threw all they could at Investec Loyal, but it was not enough. Investec Loyal crossed the finish line at 19:14:18 local time, after 2 days 6 hours 14 minutes and 8 seconds at sea, just 3 minutes and 8 seconds ahead of Wild Oats XI. This was the fourth closest finish in the 67 year history of the Rolex Sydney Hobart.

Unfortunately celebrations were dampened when the line honours winner was protested by the race committee. This was over a conversation between Investec Loyal tactician Michael Coxon and a helicopter pilot on the first morning of the race in which Coxon enquired about whether the mainsail or the trysail was being used on board Wild Oats XI. Investec Loyal’s line honour victory was finally confirmed when, after a three hour long protest hearing, the International Jury concluded that Coxon, in his capacity as Managing Director of North Sails Australia, had made the enquiry about Wild Oats XI’s new 3Di mainsail for professional reasons and this in no way had benefitted Investec Loyal’s performance during the race.

 “It was one of the great experiences in my life,” said Anthony Bell, Investec Loyal’s owner and skipper of his win. “The whole thing from the very start, right through to the finish line, was exhilarating. It was a really tough fought out race, but the crew believed in the boat and the cause right from the start and we are so happy to have got past the finish line first.”

Bell’s campaign doubled as a vehicle to raise money for charity (it raised Aus$ 1 million in 2011) on this occasion for the Humpty Dumpty Foundation, which purchases vital medical equipment for 178 children’s hospitals around Australia and East Timor. For this reason among their crew were a number of celebrities including sports stars, such as Australian rugby union internationals Phil Kearns and Phil Waugh.

As the slower boats were becalmed in Storm Bay and up the Derwent River, so it became evident that this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart would be one for the smaller large boats, including the competitive 50ft fleet. However the stand-out boat in this size range was Stephen Ainsworth’s Reichel Pugh 63, Loki. Over the last 18 months this has proved to be one of the most successful campaigns in on the Australian circuit. Under IRC, Loki’s corrected time was 50 minutes faster than that of Michael Hyatt’s Farr 55 Living Doll, with 84 year old Syd Fischer’s modified TP52 Ragamuffin third and the Cookson 50 Jazz of Britain’s Chris Bull, fourth.

 

“We are elated. It is a fantastic feeling, a huge thrill to win this race,” said a jubilant Ainsworth, after being presented with a Rolex Yacht-Master timepiece by Patrick Boutellier of Rolex Australia and the coveted Tattersall’s Cup, for winning IRC handicap honours. “Having done 14 races, I know how hard it is to win this race. So many things have to go right for you and the wind gods were with us. Our race went extremely well. The aim for the navigators was to avoid stopping and we successfully did that, although we came close a couple of times. Look at what happened to Wild Oats XI – that could easily have happened to us.”

Ainsworth’s crew, led by Irish round the world sailor Gordon Maguire, was 18 strong, but of these only one third were professionals. “The handicap win came when the big boats parked up,” said Maguire. At one point the maxis had extended to almost 120 miles in front of them, but as they had slowed, so Loki had managed to reel back 60 miles.

Earlier in the race the competitive 40 and 45ft Beneteaus had been among the most promising on handicap along with Roger Hickman’s Wild Rose. However the progress of the smaller boats was hampered as the wind shut down for them as they manoeuvred around the east coast of Tasmania into Storm Bay and up the Derwent River leading up to Hobart.

Darryl Hodgkinson, skipper of the First 45 Victoire summed it up best: “I thought it was going to be a carbon copy of last year’s race where we sat in the Derwent. This year we actually camped in Derwent! The last miles from the Tasman Light to the finish typically take six to seven hours. On this occasion it took 15.”

A pre-race favourite among the smaller boats was the new Ker 40 AFR Midnight Rambler, but co-owner Ed Psaltis, winner of the race in 1998, said they had made some wrong tactical choices and, entering Bass Strait, ended up in a giant wind hole, entrapping them for six hours.

While there had been a strong turn-out in Hobart’s Constitution Dock to witness the end of the match race marathon between Investec Loyal and Wild Oats XI, this was rivalled when Australian youth solo round the world sailing phenomenon Jessica Watson arrived aboard Ella Baché another Challenge. Watson’s crew have now entered the history books as the youngest to take part in the Rolex Sydney Hobart, but having spent two and a half months training as a team prior to the start Watson was delighted with taking second place in the Sydney 38 class.

“It was really, really good, everything you would expect,” said Watson on her arrival. “We had three quite bouncy nights on the nose. We didn’t see any severe conditions, but there was some pretty uncomfortable stuff for quite a while there.”

Having previously sailed solo, Watson was full of praise for her crew. “The crew were awesome. It was the best sailing we’ve ever seen them do. It’s what we have been training for and they did exactly that. Everyone did an amazing job. All credit to them – I just held on for the ride.”

The last boat to arrive, crossing the line late in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve, was that of Sydney boatyard owner Sean Langman. Langman is best known for his attempts to win line honours in previous races, but on this occasion was sailing the wooden 1932 coastal cruiser/fishing boat, Maluka of Kermandie as crew for his 18 year old son Peter.

This year’s race once again proved that to earn victory in the Rolex Sydney Hobart is something that takes persistence. As Gordon Maguire concluded: “I won this race in 1991 on an IOR 2 tonner Atara with Harold Cudmore. It was my second Hobart race and I thought ‘easy’. It has been 20 years since I won it again. I have won an awful lot of regattas in between and I do this race almost every year, so it is not an easy race to win. You can’t just come down here with the best boat in the world and win it. You have to come down here with the best boat in the world and have all the luck in the world – all that has to happen in the same race. It is a very unusual beast.”

 

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December 26th is normally a day of rest, those that celebrate Christmas wholeheartedly using the opportunity to relax from the feasting and excess. Not so the crews of the 93 yachts currently aiming to be on the start line of the 67th Rolex Sydney Hobart. Boxing Day, as the Commonwealth nations refer to the second day of Christmas, is no time to be sitting idle. With 628 nautical miles ahead of them, the notorious Bass Strait ‘Paddock’, and a rendezvous with ‘a quiet little drink’ in Hobart, they have plenty to do and to think about.

 

According to Garry Linacre, Commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, the organising authority for the contest, “This year’s race has attracted a great group of yachts with an exciting mix of brand new, recently acquired and well established boats that will provide strong competition for line honours and through the divisions. The race for the elusive Tattersall’s Cup for overall honours will again be absorbing.” All Australian states are represented on the entry list, and six international entries will sail for France, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the UK and the USA.

The newest yacht in the race is likely to be the Ker 40 AFR Midnight Rambler (AUS), launched in September and co-owned by Ed Psaltis, Bob Thomas and Michael Bencsik. Psaltis and Thomas are best remembered in the context of the race as having won overall the infamous 1998 edition, on a previous iteration of AFR Midnight Rambler. By contrast the oldest yacht is the 79-year old 9-metre Maluka of Kermandie (AUS), skippered by Sean Langman. Langman is one of the race’s current crop of true characters. Unlike Psaltis and Thomas, he may not have won the race overall, or taken line honours. But he entertains with his entries and tries as hard as any to realise the dream. In 2002, Langman defied conventional wisdom in bringing his 66 foot ‘skiff on steroids’, Grundig, home safely and in the second fastest time ahead of several larger maxi yachts.

Maluka is not just the oldest, but she is the smallest. Dwarfed by the 100-footers in size and technology. Wild Oats XI, the Reichel Pugh designed canting keeler, which set the current course record holder of 1 day 18 hours 40 minutes 10 seconds in 2005, is aiming for a sixth line honours win from seven starts. Up against her is Anthony Bell’s similar-sized Investec Loyal. What Investec Loyal lacks in winning pedigree compared to Wild Oats, she makes up for with an eclectic crew that accommodates some of the world’s best sailors and a number of Australian sporting celebrities, including the two-time Rugby World Cup winner Phil Kearns and former world title boxer Danny Green.

 The combination of the East Australian Current and the rapidly changing weather contribute to the challenge of navigating the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. 

   
Also on the Investec roster is the American navigator, Stan Honey. A Volvo Ocean Race winner with ABN AMRO One, Honey has raced on many of the sailing world’s recent winning and record-breaking projects. Almost oddly, he has only attempted the Rolex Sydney Hobart once before in 2006; “I’ve only raced in one Hobart race in the past, 2006, in which I navigated ABM AMRO One.  We had just taken the lead from Wild Oats, when we lost our mast. Maximus (now Investec Loyal) was also dismasted that same night, at about the same time.  So I have started but never finished a Hobart Race.” For the man that navigated the trimaran Groupama 3 to a record breaking round the world run in 201O, the Rolex Sydney Hobart remains one of the most prestigious and toughest of the major ocean races. Honey says; “I am delighted to have the opportunity to participate in another race.  The combination of the East Australian Current and the rapidly changing weather contribute to the challenge of navigating the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.”

Honey is not the only American to be racing this year. Rives Potts’ 48-foot Carina (USA) is making the pilgrimage from the east coast of the USA via the 2011 Transatlantic Race, the Rolex Fastnet and a few places in between, “Carina is being delivered to Australia by my son Walker and my nephew Rives. She has just left Bora Bora with around 3,000 miles to go and should be in Sydney by mid-December.” Beneath this seeming air of nonchalance, Potts comes to the fray with some form in 600-mile offshore tests of seamanship. He was part of Ted Turner’s Tenacious crew that won the 1979 Fastnet. And, whilst she has classic lines, Carina has proved adept at performing offshore to her handicap, winning the 2010 Bermuda Race and her class in this year’s Rolex Fastnet.

 it will most likelybe rough and cold  Rives Potts, Carina (USA)
Like Honey, Potts is looking forward to taking on the southern hemisphere’s most famous race, “this is my first Rolex Sydney Hobart but from what I have read and from all of the stories I have heard from my sailing mates who have done the race before, it will most likely be rough and cold. We would like to sail a good, safe race and to push as hard as we can. Winning would be the best, but I am sure that every other competitor feels the same.”

 

Another yacht participating this year with half an eye on the main prize is Chris Bull’s Jazz. Remarkably for such a seasoned campaigner, well-known in the northern hemisphere, Bull has not yet managed to win one of the big 600-mile offshore races, helping show how remarkable are the achievements of those that do. Bull has come mighty close. At last year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart he comfortably won his class, but was ousted from pole position for the main prize by Geoff Boettcher’s Secret Men’s Business 3.5. The second time this has happened in this race. He hopes to go one better this year. The Jazz crew comprises a number of foreign nationals aiming to help him in this goal. Amongst them is Maltese sailing-legend Christian Ripard. Ripard is another coming to race with form and ambition, and, may prove the lucky charm Bull needs. In October, Ripard won the 606-nautical mile Rolex Middle Sea Race having finished second in the 2010 edition. Ripard was in Bull’s crew in the Rolex Sydney Hobart last year. Could history be about to repeat itself?

Jazz is a Cookson 50. In recent years, much of the pre and post race comment has been about yachts of around this size with some highly competitive entries, including a number of optimised TP52s. The 84-year Syd Fischer may be the elder statesman of the Rolex Sydney Hobart, but with a fourth place in the 2008 race on his TP52 Ragamuffin (AUS), he demonstrated the qualities of these yachts and his determination not to be outdone by younger competitors. Amongst the five TP52s entered this time, two are racing under the colours of Hong Kong adding a touch of Asia to proceedings.

Anthony Day’s Ffreefire features a crew that lives or has resided in Hong Kong or Singapore and is one that has been sailing offshore together for many years on this boat. With Russ Parker, Rear Commodore of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, onboard the team relishes the challenge of the race and is hoping for a convincing performance. The second Asiatic TP52 is Geoff Hill’s Strewth, which finished third overall in the 2010 Rolex China Sea Race. Hill is harnessing the undoubted navigational talents of Lindsey May, who was the winning skipper of Love & War in 2006.

Whilst any number of sailors and adventurers will be setting out on their first Rolex Sydney Hobart, including one of Australia favourite daughters, around the world yachtswoman Jessica Watson, who at 18 is leading a crew whose average age is just 19, kudos should be given to Tony Cable, who plans to embark on his 46th race. That is two-thirds of the total number Rolex Sydney Hobarts so far held, and certainly suggests that Cable is not one who enjoys a leisurely Boxing Day.

The 2011 Rolex Sydney Hobart starts from Sydney Harbour at 13.00 AEDT on 26 December.

How To Follow Event??
Further information on the Rolex Sydney Hobart may be found at www.rolexsydneyhobart.com

 

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 ISAF and Rolex are proud to announce that the male and female winners of the 2011 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards are:

Iker Martínez & Xabier Fernández (ESP) and Anna Tunnicliffe (USA)

The renowned two-man crew of Iker Martínez and Xabier Fernández (ESP) were unable to attend the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards ceremony in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Fittingly, they are currently at sea competing for Team Telefónica in the first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race from Alicante, Spain to Cape Town, South Africa. The Spanish duo have won the Award eleven years after the first of their three nominations. Through a video feed recorded on the Team Telefónica boat, the pair confirmed that they will be celebrating this prestigious achievement despite the immediate distractions of an ocean race.

United States athlete Anna Tunnicliffe was one of five nominees present at the ceremony, held in the impressive Cuartel de Ballaja. It is the second time that the ISAF Sailing World Cup champion in Women’s Match Racing has been awarded the honour, having previously achieved the recognition in 2009. An emotional Tunnicliffe was presented with the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Trophy and Rolex timepiece and commented: “Thank you very much for this award, it is a true honour. Congratulations to all of the other nominees, you guys are fantastic and amazing sailors. I really have to thank everyone that’s been part of the reason I won this award, especially my team. This is truly a team effort. I couldn’t have done it without them. I would also like to thank my family and my husband for being very supportive and my sponsors. It is truly amazing. Thank you.”

ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards

The ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award is the highest award a sailor can receive in recognition of his/her outstanding achievements. The Awards are presented annually based on a worldwide selection process that incorporates an open invitation for nominations, followed by a vote amongst the over 130 member nations of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF).

The Awards have been held every year since 1994 and past winners include Peter Blake (NZL), Ellen MacArthur (GBR), Ben Ainslie (GBR), Robert Scheidt (BRA) and Russell Coutts (SUI). In 2010 the Awards were presented to Tom Slingsby (AUS) and Blanca Manchón (ESP).

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