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Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race: Latest updates and live boat cam coverage

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sydney to hobart yacht race track

Yachting World

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How to follow the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race

  • Toby Heppell
  • December 19, 2022

The Rolex Sydney Hobart Race is due to set off on boxing day once again in 2022, with an impressive 111 boats due to take to the startline

sydney to hobart yacht race track

Sydney sailors are counting down the days – not until December 25, but the 26, for the much-anticipated Rolex Sydney Hobart Race .

The blue riband offshore classic was cancelled for the first time in its 76 years in 2020, but bounced back in 2021 and will go ahead one more this year with an impressive fleet of 111 boats entered for the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, which begins on Sydney Harbour at 1pm Monday 26 December.

As is often the case in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, the bulk of the fleet is made up of Australian boats and teams, but there are 8 international boats participating this year, including entrants from Germany ( Orione ), Hong Kong ( Antipodes ), Hungary ( Cassiopeia 68 ), New Caledonia ( Eye Candy and Poulpito ), New Zealand ( Caro ), the United Kingdom ( Sunrise ) and the United States of America ( Warrior Won ).

At the sharp end of the fleet, four 100-foot maxis will lead the charge for Line Honours – Andoo Comanche , Black Jack , Hamilton Island Wild Oats and LawConnect . On current form, Andoo Comanche is likely to be favourite to cross the finish line first.

cruising-australia-2018-sydney-hobart-credit-rolex-carlo-borlenghi

The start of the Sydney Hobart Race means a congested Sydney Harbour. Photo: Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi

Black Jack won Line Honours in the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart, while Andoo Comanche holds the race record (1 day, 9 hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds) and Hamilton Island Wild Oats (formerly Wild Oats XI ) has the most Line Honours wins in race history, with nine.

Two-handed entrants will for the first time be eligible to win the Tattersall Cup (the prize given to the winner of the race on handicap). A total of 21 two-handed boats are preparing to race, including those that finished second and third respectively in the race’s inaugural Two-Handed Division last year – Crux (Carlos Aydos/Peter Grayson) and Speedwell (Campbell Geeves/Wendy Tuck).

How to follow the 2022 Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race

• In Australia Sydney is expected to send off the fleet in style when the race starts at 1300hrs (local time) on Saturday, 26 December.

Spectator boats can watch the start from the eastern channel and follow the fleet down the Harbour to the Heads. Spectator boats wanting to remain in the Harbour may remain in the western side. Exclusion zones will be in place from 1200-1400.

• On television The race start will be broadcast live via the Seven Network, through 7Mate around Australia.

Live coverage will also be webcast on the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race website, with replays available shortly after. See  https://rolexsydneyhobart.com/

• On social Follow the event on twitter for race updates and via  Facebook

• On race tracker The live race tracker will be viewable at  https://rolexsydneyhobart.com/tracker

• Play along on Virtual Regatta

There is also a Virtual Regatta edition for the race, allowing you to virtually pit yourself against thousands over the same course, see  https://www.virtualregatta.com/en/offshore-game/

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sydney to hobart yacht race track

Considered one of the most difficult yacht races in the world, this is one of Australia’s most beloved and anticipated events.

What Is It?

The yacht race starts in Sydney, Australia and takes racers all the way to the Tassie capital of Hobart , taking place over several days. The winner often reaches the finish line in less than two. With over 100 contestants, this is an extremely challenging and competitive race.

What Can You Expect

sydney to hobart yacht race track

Interested in catching the end of the race? Go to Hobart’s Constitution Dock where the fleet will arrive after finishing the race and witness local new year festivities.

The race is held by both the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania and the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (Sydney). The winner receives a Rolex watch--hence the festival’s name. It is extremely difficult to win and the crews of the yachts compete at the most professional level.

When and Where?

sydney to hobart yacht race track

Not sure where to go? If you want to celebrate with the yacht’s captain’s and enjoy champagne, then you will want to go to Hobart.To get there, fly into Hobart’s international airport .

Go to the Royal Botanical Gardens for the best view of the competing yachts. For a fun time, bring food and snacks for a picnic. If you want to see the boats cross the finish line, then you will need to stay in Hobart beforehand. Most boats start to arrive 2 or 3 days after the race begins.

The race started in 1945. Since that time, its taken place every single year without missing a beat. Yacht racing can find its origins in England.

Luckily for spectators, the event only costs money for those yachts that register to compete.

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Sydney to hobart yacht race 2023: rolling updates, latest news, favourites, weather, drama, tracker.

LawConnect and Andoo Comanche heading to the heads during the 2022 Sydney to Hobart. Picture: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

By amanda lulham

  • News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
  • 3:03PM December 26, 2023

The 78th edition of the Sydney to Hobart shapes as one of its most memorable, with an ominous weather forecast set to wreak havoc on the 103-strong fleet.

The four supermaxis Andoo Comanche, the defending champion, Scallywag, LawConnect and Wild Thing 100 are the big contenders for the line win - but the overall corrected time victory is anyone’s guess.

Follow our live coverage of the race below.

2.30PM: SCALLYWAG CONFIRMS PENALTY

Skipper David Witt has confirmed he has done two 360 degree penalty turns to exonerate Scallywag from a potential issue at race end arising from close combat with arch rivals Andoo Comanche just after the start of the Sydney to Hobart.

“We just did circles,’’ Witt told The Daily Telegraph around 2.20pm.

Andoo Comanche sailing master Iain Murray indicated he was unhappy with an incident not long after the start where they and Scallywag came close after Scallywag tacked in front of them.

If Scallywag had not done her penalty turns and was found at race end to have infringed in the incident they could have been slugged with a time penalty or worse.

1.30PM: DRAMA AS YACHTS BEGIN CLEARING THE HEADS

Christian Beck’s LawConnect has claimed the honour of being the first yacht to Sydney Heads and out to sea after a thrilling start of the 78th race.

But the yacht then caused confusion when she did a 360 degree turn.

It was unclear at first if this was to sort an issue with the furler or for a penalty.

But soon after the yacht had more issues with their furler in a major early drama for the supermaxi.

Meanwhile Defending champion Andoo Comanche has claimed Scallywag has tacked too close to them in an hair-raising incident soon after the start which will require the later to do a penalty turn or potentially face a protest.

Comanche sailing master Iain Murray said the incident between the pair was a “classic port and starboard” with Scallywag tacking too close to Comanche.

It is unclear if Witt and his team on Scallywag agree or if they will do exonerating turns at a later date.

The drama happened in the opening 20 minutes of the 628nm race.

1.00PM: 78TH SYDNEY TO HOBART UNDERWAY

The 78th Sydney to Hobart has begun under ominous skies, in light winds and with a strange forecast hanging over the heads of the 103 starters who set sail at 1pm in a spectacular sight on Sydney Harbour

The fleet, slammed by a violent downpour before the start, set off in sunshine from four start lines with defending champion Andoo Comanche and her rivals for line honours - Scallywag, LawConnext and Wild Thing - all in pole position.

Spectator fleet numbers were down but anticipation high as the yachts jockeyed for the bets position at the start.

On the front line, that honour went to LawConnect on one end Scallywag on the other end of the line.

12.45PM: FREAK STORM HITS RACE START

A torrential downpour just before the start of the Sydney to Hobart was a preview of what is to come in the 78th race south.

As nervous crews prepared for the action-packed start they were hit by a violent rain cell which also packed some thunder and lightning.

More of the same is forecast for the first afternoon and night at sea.

Yachts left the dock early on Tuesday to check the conditions and do practice runs at the four start lines being used.

This year’s fleet boasts both the line honours and overall winners from a year ago in Andoo Comanche and Celestial.

11AM: SAILORS ‘NERVOUS’ AMID OMINOUS FORECAST

The fleet has started to leave the dock at the CYCA well in advance of the 1pm start with some nervous sailors aboard the 103 starters.

A forecast with everything and anything - including electrical storms, rain, erratic winds and a big bash - has sailors a little nervous and apprehensive.

“You’d think after so many races you wouldn’t be nervous but you are,’’ said Alive navigator Adrienne Cahalan, preparing for her 31st race south as the most capped woman in the race.

“This forecast is a tough one. It will be like a chess game.’’

Prior to the start sailors must parade by race officials to show they have their storm jibs, the smallest sails on a boat and bright orange - aboard.

And they may need them with wild winds forecast for most of the fleet in Bass Strait later in the race, along with 3m seas.

It’s plainer sailing for the line honours contenders who may sidestep almost all of the upwind on the menu for the majority.

The 2023 Sydney to Hobart fleet are on alert for things that go bump in the night and halt boats dead in their track in the light as they prepare for the start of the famous ocean race on Sydney Harbour at 1pm today.

Race management has warned sailors to watch out for sunfish and other obstacle in the water which have over the years included submerged containers, debris, sharks, whales and most commonly sunfish.

These speed bumps have ripped off keels, holed yachts and sheered rudder off, triggering major rescues at sea.

Just a year ago Huntress lost her rudder after hitting a sunfish. DRAMA AT SEA

Numerous line honours contenders, including yachts steered by Grant Wharington, aboard Wild Thing 100 in this race, have had their rudders, daggerboards or keels torn off, ending their races and victory dreams.

“Be conscious there are a lot of wildlife out there,’’ said had of the race committee,’’ Lee Goddard at the race briefing.

“There are large concentrations for this race.’’ RACE GUIDE

SYDNEY TO HOBART FAVOURITES

The two major awards are the line honour win and the overall corrected time victory.

The four supermaxis Andoo Comanche, the defending champion, Scallywag, LawConnect and Wild Thing 100 are the big contenders for the line win.

The overall is still very much in the air but the likes of URM and Monneypenny and an assortment of TP52s are considered movers and shakers in this race. There’s also some hope for the two-handed boats in this class.

The defending overall champion is Celestial owned by Sydney sailor Sam Haynes.

The weather forecast for the Sydney to Hobart is one of the most unusual in years.

Rather than being firmed up days in advance, it has kept sailors guessing right until the last minute - with potentially more changes ahead.

The good news is there isn't any indication of severe weather like the low which exploded over the fleet back in 1998 triggering mass search and rescue missions and claiming the lives of six men.

However the smaller boats in the fleet can still expect a torrid time at sea. WEATHER AND

INSIDE 1998 RACE

FAMILY TIES

There are numerous family connections in the 2023 race with one skipper sailing with his daughter for the first time and a sister joining her father and brother at sea.

Grand Wharington’s daughter Georgia is jumping aboard his 100-footer Wild Thing while Jamie Winning-Kermond is aboard for her first race south on Andoo Comanche.

Her brother John “Herman’’ Winning is the skipper an her father John Senior, or Woody as he is known in sailing circles, is back after racing the supermaxi to victory in 2022.

Amanda Lulham

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Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023

Teasing machine.

Teasing Machine

Eric De Turckeim's NMYD 54   Teasing Machine   is one of the top international contenders in this year's race.  As Vice Commodore of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, De Turckeim has been crowned the overall winners of the RORC Transatlantic Race twice, in 2017 and again this year.  They then backed up their win at the 2023 RORC Myth of Malham Race. The yacht also claimed victory in the 2022 Rolex Middle Sea Yacht Race.

De Turckheim came agonisingly close to winning the Rolex Sydney Hobart in 2015, when his previous boat under the same name enjoyed strong winds in the first 24 hours to race down the south coast of NSW but things changed when the yacht hit the notoriously fickle Derwent River.

Competitor Details

  • Line Honours

Full Standings available approximately three hours after the start.

OFFICIAL ROLEX SYDNEY HOBART MERCHANDISE

Shop the official clothing range of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in person at the Club in New South Head Road, Darling Point or online below.  

From casual to technical clothing, there is something for all occasions. Be quick as stock is limited!

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At the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Women Are Making Their Mark

The event is attracting more female skippers than in previous years, and many own the boats.

Two women, both wearing black T-shirts with the word "Katana1," adjust ropes on a boat docked at a marina.

By David Schmidt

The skippers competing in the annual Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race dream of winning a top trophy in this challenging offshore race. This year, 10 of them will be women.

While a female-skippered team has not won the Tattersall Cup, which is awarded to the race’s overall winner, more women have been competing in the race as skippers the last few years. It reflects the expanding ranks in sailing of experienced women, the creation of the race’s two-handed class and an uptick in the number of female boat owners.

Women have been participating in the Sydney Hobart race since 1946, with Jane Tate aboard the Active and Dagmar O’Brien on the Connella. The first all-women’s team, skippered by Vicki Willman, raced in 1975 aboard Barbarian, a 38-foot yacht.

This year, 10 women plan to compete as skippers and co-skippers. This follows an upward trend: nine women raced in 2022 as skippers and co-skippers, and seven competed in 2021. In 2019, this number was six, while three competed in the 2017 and 2018 events.

“It is a changed world for the better,” said Adrienne Cahalan , a two-time Tattersall Cup-winning navigator. She plans to start her 31st race — a record for women — as navigator aboard the 66-foot yacht Alive this year.

“Women are accepted as equal players and leaders,” Cahalan said of the race, noting that women are underrepresented in the Sydney Hobart only among the professional and big-boat crews.

The race, which starts on Tuesday, began in 1945 and is a serious affair. Six sailors died and five yachts sank in the 1998 event. Veterans call it one of the world’s greatest, and hardest , offshore races.

The 628-nautical-mile course begins in Sydney Harbor . After exiting protected waters, teams turn south-southwest and race down the New South Wales coastline, before crossing Bass Strait. This shallow-water swath separates Australia from Tasmania and can sometimes create boat-breaking waves.

Then, navigators approach Tasman Island before the boats make the final 40-mile push across Storm Bay and up the River Derwent to Hobart.

For women, a big part of their overall increase as skippers, sailors said, was because of an inclusive and welcoming community that helped create opportunities.

“There’s a women’s sailing network in Sydney where there’s a lot of engagement from females,” said Lt. Tori Costello, who plans to co-skipper the Royal Australian Navy’s 40-foot Navy One this year. “There’s been so many more females just being involved, being given opportunities to get out there and race.”

Sailors said this change was helped by the creation of women’s sailing events, including the Australian Women’s Keelboat Regatta and the Sydney Harbour Women’s Keelboat Series. They also cite SheSails, an Australian organization that encourages female participation in sailing, and several active women’s-sailing Facebook groups and clubs, as contributing factors.

Internationally, they point to the Magenta Project, which works to create better equity and inclusion within sailing, as another important element.

“Just about every sailing club I know of has a women’s group actively educating and providing opportunities for women” said Kathy Veel, the owner and a skipper of the 30-foot Currawong and a three-time race veteran. “There are now many very skilled, experienced yachtswomen who seek the challenge of being in charge.”

Another catalyst, sailors say, was the creation of the race’s two-handed class, which debuted in 2021. While most boats racing to Hobart have a full crew, two-handed teams race with just two people.

“Even if you don’t own the boat, the second person in most cases is a co-skipper,” said Wendy Tuck, the first woman to win an around-the-world race as skipper and a two-time two-handed class veteran. “It is a great opportunity.”

While two-handed sailing doubles the number of skipper roles, it requires, and breeds, a high level of competency and trust.

“Two-handed racing is a great format for fast-tracking skills in all aspects of sailing and seamanship,” Veel said.

After all, one skipper often sleeps while the other stands watch.

Many yachts that compete in the two-handed class are about 30 to 40 feet long. This matters, as their smaller sails generate less load than the bigger yachts.

“The smaller size of most two-handed boats makes them very manageable for female sailors,” Bridget Canham said. In 2022, she and Veel became the first all-women’s two-handed team to complete the race; they plan to compete together again this year.

Annika Thomson, skipper and an owner of the 52-foot Ocean Crusaders J-Bird, said that it was not as daunting to race two-handed aboard the smaller boats. She would know: In 2022, Thomson and her husband, Ian, raced their 52-footer two-handed to Hobart.

She was skipper.

“It’s not recommended,” she said as a joke, of racing a big, powerful boat double-handed to Hobart. “We did it, now we forgot all about it.”

This year, Thomson plans to skipper her boat with a crew of 11, including her husband, who will navigate.

While professionally-run yachts often hire professional skippers, many amateur teams are led by owner-skippers.

“Sometimes to take on a leadership role a person needs to create their own opportunities,” Cahalan said. “For example, by buying or chartering your own boat and putting your own team together.”

She isn’t alone in this thinking: Seven of the nine female-led boats are racing with full crews.

“My thought is always, and always has been, if I want to skipper a yacht, I probably need to own it,” Thomson said. “The more women that own yachts, the more women who are encouraged to buy their own yachts.”

Case in point: Of the nine female-led yachts, seven are owned or co-owned by women. These include Thomson’s 52-footer, Hilary Arthure’s 35-foot Wyuna, and Jiang Lin’s 34-foot Min River.

There’s more than pride in vessel ownership at stake. The Sydney Hobart race can award dozens of trophies. Of these, three are specifically reserved for women

For some skippers, these aren’t enough.

“While these trophies are great in that they acknowledge the women who were pioneers and role models in the sport, the prize women really want to win now is the Tattersall Cup,” Veel said.

“I think it’s much more likely a female two-handed boat could win a division,” she said, pointing to the costs and complexities of campaigning a competitive yacht. “But I don’t want to rule anything out.”

Thomson was more optimistic. “It would be really cool if someone took it up this year,” she said, referring to the Tattersall Cup.

Still, she was realistic.

“How long is a piece of string?” she asked, using an Australian phrase meaning that something is only finished when it’s finished.

Trophies aside, sailors said the real rewards of skippering a yacht in this race were camaraderie, teamwork and the chance to lead a team through a demanding test.

Half of the race is “not the best times, and you’re questioning why you’re doing it,” said Costello of the often-rough conditions. “It comes back down to those moments where you’re wide-eyed and it’s a bit crazy out there, and everyone has that knowing look like, ‘OK, we’re going to get through this.’”

And, with more women taking on this leadership challenge, sailors said the race’s future had never looked more inclusive.

“Women are a big part of the population, so we aren’t going anywhere,” said Tuck, who plans to start her 16th race this year as a watch captain aboard Disko Trooper, a 32-footer. “Well, yes,” she corrected, “we are going to Hobart.”

Sydney to Hobart yacht race: How two days of sailing came down to just 51 seconds

Two huge sailing yachts on the River Derwent with Hobart behind them.

The skipper of the line honours-winning yacht in this year's Sydney to Hobart race says the victory is all the more remarkable because his boat, LawConnect, is a "shitbox" compared to second-place getter and race favourite Andoo Comanche.

"I know it looks good on TV but if you go up close to that boat, it's rough as anything and Comanche is a beautiful boat, it's better in every way, four tonnes lighter etc.," Christian Beck said.

"Shitbox" or not, LawConnect overtook Andoo Comanche in the River Derwent in the final moments of the 2023 race to take out its first line honours in a sensational daylight finish, just 51 seconds ahead of its rival.

Crew of the yacht Lawconnect smile and hold up trophy, the black sails of their yacht in the background.

"The lead changed several times, they took the lead pretty close to the line, we thought there's no way we can get it back," Beck said.

"There were guys [on board] that couldn't watch, it was very nerve-racking."

In a race that took the two leaders almost two days to finish, the turning point began just a couple of nautical miles from the finish line.

As Andoo Comanche tried to build speed off the Hobart suburb of Sandy Bay and seemed to stall in very little wind, Law Connect made its move.

A large yacht was LawConnect written on the sail overtakes another vessel, surrounded by spectator boats.

'"They seem to be accelerating out of the jibes a lot quicker than Andoo Comanche, so I don't think Andoo have a lot of options here, I think they're going to get rolled … really aggressive moves by LawConnect," said Lisa Darmanin, a commentator for the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. 

But, not long after Andoo Comanche snatched it back again.

Then, in the second-closest finish in race history, LawConnect came back about 100 metres from the finish line. 

After being runner-up three times in a row, the sweetest moment arrived for Christian Beck as LawConnect crossed the finish line in a time of 1 day, 19 hours, 3 minutes and 58 seconds.

"I can't believe that result. Honestly it's a dream come true," he said.

How did they pull it off?

LawConnect manouvering its way to the finish line.

So just how did the "underdog" manage to snatch the win away from Andoo Comanche after it held the lead comfortably while rounding the Tasman Peninsula and entering the River Derwent?

As we've heard, a lack of wind was a big factor.

"Our boat is big and wide and heavy and it's fast offshore but it is terribly slow when it is bumpy and no wind," the disappointed skipper of Andoo Comanche, John Winning said. 

"[As the finish line neared] we sent a guy up the rig and he said 'There's no wind at the finish, zero wind at the finish.'" 

But sailors are used to dealing with changes in wind so strategy was obviously a major factor at play too.

As well as the "aggressive jibing" from LawConnect, the winners were focused on learning from Andoo's "mistakes".

"Broadly, the strategy is to watch them and if they get into a bad spot, we avoid that bad spot," Beck said.

Spectator craft another factor

Then there were all the spectator boats to contend with.

In the final moments, a catamaran passed closely to Andoo Comanche and the crew was seen yelling and gesturing.

"We had all the spectator boats and we're trying to clear them out and they were like 'You've won', and we were like 'No! We have not won yet. Stop making waves everything is going to make a difference,'" Winning said.

Tasmania Police said action would be taken against a 57-year-old man for "allegedly breaching" marine and safety regulations.

"The man was skippering a private vessel when it reportedly encroached into the exclusion zone set by Marine and Safety Tasmania," it said in a statement.

The offence carries a fine of up to $3,900.

LawConnect and Andoo Comanche nearing the finish line.

Winning said he didn't blame spectators for the result.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, I wish there were 500 of them," he said.

"It's even, everyone gets the same thing if they were ahead of us they would have had the wash but unfortunately we got the wash.

"Makes a little difference but that didn't cost us the race, we cost us the race."

A super maxi yacht arriving into the Hobart waterfront.

And as the bubbly flows for the LawConnect crew, Beck is joking about now being able to offload the "shitbox".

"It's probably a good afternoon to sell it, the afternoon it beats Comanche, probably its highlight of its career, I'm sure."

Crowds of people at Constitution Dock in Hobart

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Last Sydney to Hobart yacht arrives with 18 minutes left of 2022

A ny other day, they would have slipped quietly into Constitution Dock. But when 70-year-old Kathy Veel and 62-year-old Bridget Canham crossed the Sydney to Hobart finish line - the last of the fleet to do so - at 11.42pm on New Year’s Eve, it was as if they’d heralded the early arrival of 2023.

A crowd in the thousands who had packed out the Hobart shoreline to ring in the new year chanted “Currawong, Currawong!” as the two-hander made its way past the packed-out Taste of Summer festival and around Constitution Dock.

Cheers came from the water, too, where boats had lined up to greet the nine-metre yacht as it pushed up the River Derwent.

After a lap of honour around the thrilled spectators, interviews on the boat, and the well-deserved popping of a giant bottle of champagne: the fireworks. Veel and Canham watched from the 1973 vessel that had carried them south.

You couldn’t have written a better ending to a story that stretched five days at sea, 630 nautical miles, and a day of waiting in Eden as they waited for bad weather in Bass Strait to pass.

“You wouldn’t believe the stops we pulled to get this happening,” said Canham. “The biggest challenge we had was getting here before New Year’s Eve,” she said. “We’ve been working our butts off to get here. And it’s paid off.”

Veel said the experience was “unbelievable”. “[It was like] nothing I’ve ever had ... in my whole life, she said. “When you heard people going, ‘Curr-a-wong!’, I thought, ‘What?!’

“I’m really proud of what we’ve done.”

The sailors described the weather conditions down the coast as “brilliant”.

“The boat behaved so well, it was just magic,” said Canham, a retired nurse.

The sailors are among the oldest to compete in the Sydney to Hobart race, and certainly the oldest in the race’s new two-handed fleet section. But Veel, a retired teacher now living in Bullabarra, near Katoomba, said they didn’t want to be defined by their age - nor their sex.

“It’s not, to be honest, how we think of ourselves,” said Veel in the lead-up to the race. “We’re sailors who happen to be women rather than women who sail.

Veel purchased the boat last year, and ran a GoFundMe page to raise financial support so the pair could purchase the necessary supplies to enter the race.

In 2021, Veel was named Blue Mountains Volunteer of the Year for her work with the not-for-profit sailing-based Making Waves Foundation.

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter .

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023

sydney to hobart yacht race track

  • 29 Jan, 2024 11:27:00 AM

Thank You for making the 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race – A Race for the Ages

Reflecting on the resounding success of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023 fills us with gratitude. The coordination required for hosting such an iconic event was made possible by the dedicated efforts of everyone involved.

Congratulations to all the divisional winners of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023

  • 23 Jan, 2024 10:00:00 AM

Congratulations to all the divisional winners of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023

Congratulations to all the divisional winners of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023.

2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - A Race for the Ages

  • 22 Jan, 2024 09:00:00 AM

2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - A Race for the Ages

The 78th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race was one of the most challenging offshore classics in years and delivered some of the tightest finishes for both Line Honours and Overall victory in the race's history.

Four boats still racing – reflections on Toecutter’s debut

  • 01 Jan, 2024 09:00:00 AM

Four boats still racing – reflections on Toecutter’s debut

This morning four yachts remain at sea in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race: Jason Bond’s Beneteau First 47.7 Enigma (NSW) and Kiwi husband and wife, Michael and Tracey Carter on Allegresse, both due to finish today.

Q & A with Charles Devanneaux – owner of US entry Lenny

  • 01 Jan, 2024 08:59:00 AM

Q & A with Charles Devanneaux – owner of US entry Lenny

**Charles Devanneaux (second from right) with crew of LENNY** Although French, with a full French crew, Charles Devanneaux represented the USA where he lives.

VIDEO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - Rolex Daily Video Summary

  • 01 Jan, 2024 07:00:00 AM

VIDEO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - Rolex Daily Video Summary

Explore the below links to discover footage from the different race days in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race shot by Rolex.

VIDEO | Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023

  • 31 Dec, 2023 07:10:00 PM

VIDEO | Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023

The 78th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race will go down in history as a relentlessly demanding test of determination, as well as physical and mental resilience for the 103 yachts taking part.

Jessica Watson arrives in Hobart to great fanfare

  • 31 Dec, 2023 07:00:00 PM

Jessica Watson arrives in Hobart to great fanfare

When Azzurro, the ‘Little Boat That Could’, docked in Hobart this afternoon just before 3.45pm, there was a huge crowd waiting to meet her – or more precisely, one of her crew – Jessica Watson OAM, who had just finished the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

Vanessa Dudley completes her 25th Rolex Sydney Hobart

  • 31 Dec, 2023 05:30:00 PM

Vanessa Dudley completes her 25th Rolex Sydney Hobart

When the modified Joubert 42, Tilting at Windmills, docked in Hobart this afternoon, crew member Vanessa Dudley became just the third woman to achieve the milestone 25 Sydney Hobarts in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s race.

PHOTOS | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Official Prizegiving

  • 31 Dec, 2023 05:04:00 PM

PHOTOS | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Official Prizegiving

PHOTOS | Day 5 Morning - Tasman Island and Storm Bay

PHOTOS | Day 5 Morning - Tasman Island and Storm Bay

PHOTOS | Day 5 and Day 6 finishers

PHOTOS | Day 5 and Day 6 finishers

PHOTOS | Official Presentation of Tattersall Cup and Rolex Timepiece to the Overall Winner

PHOTOS | Official Presentation of Tattersall Cup and Rolex Timepiece to the Overall Winner

VIDEO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Official Prizegiving

VIDEO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Official Prizegiving

VIDEO | Race Update - 31 December Morning

VIDEO | Race Update - 31 December Morning

AUDIO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Sked 10

AUDIO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Sked 10

AUDIO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Sked 9

AUDIO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Sked 9

AUDIO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Sked 8

AUDIO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Sked 8

AUDIO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Sked 7

AUDIO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Sked 7

AUDIO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Sked 6

AUDIO | 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Sked 6

  • Line Honours

Full Standings available approximately three hours after the start.

Virtual Regatta. The official game

OFFICIAL ROLEX SYDNEY HOBART MERCHANDISE

Shop the official clothing range of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in person at the Club in New South Head Road, Darling Point or online below.  

From casual to technical clothing, there is something for all occasions. Be quick as stock is limited!

IMAGES

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  2. Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race 2021

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  3. Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Course Map

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  4. Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

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  5. Last yacht finishes Sydney-Hobart race, 4 days after winner

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  6. InfoTrack, Scallywag duel for Sydney-Hobart yacht race lead

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COMMENTS

  1. Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023

    Yacht Tracker - Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Year 2023 2022 2021 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 ...

  2. Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

    The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately 630 nautical miles (1,170 km). [1] The race is run in conjunction with the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, and is widely ...

  3. Sydney to Hobart yacht race

    The cannon sounds and they are off in the Sydney to Hobart for another year. (Rolex/Studio Borlenghi) From its beginning in 1945, the Sydney to Hobart yacht race remains one of the pinnacles for ...

  4. Sydney to Hobart yacht race

    Since its beginning in 1945, the Sydney to Hobart yacht race has become one of the pinnacles for sailing competitors, with the event being a test of skill, teamwork, nautical engineering and ...

  5. 2022 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

    The 2022 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, sponsored by Rolex and hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Sydney, was the 77th annual running of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.It began on Sydney Harbour at 1 pm on Boxing Day (26 December 2022), before heading south for 628 nautical miles (1,163 km) through the Tasman Sea, Bass Strait, Storm Bay and up the River Derwent, to cross the ...

  6. Sydney to Hobart yacht race 2023

    Spectators watch the start of the 2022 Sydney to Hobart race. (Getty Images: Jenny Evans) Good vantage points for spectator boats include "Taylors Bay, Chowder Bay, Obelisk Bay and North Head on ...

  7. Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race: Latest updates and live boat cam coverage

    The 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race will go down in history as a "Big Boat" race with the top three yachts all being over 60ft and early finishers. The smaller boats in the race encountered head winds of 35-45kts and rough seas - making it impossible to finish ahead of their deadlines to take the top trophy, the Tattersall Cup.

  8. Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race 2023: Live updates, results, retirements

    Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race 2023 as it happened: Andoo Comanche holds slender lead, Olympian among three more retirements By Billie Eder and Dan Walsh Updated December 27, 2023 — 9.05pm first ...

  9. How to follow the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race

    How to follow the 2022 Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race. Sydney is expected to send off the fleet in style when the race starts at 1300hrs (local time) on Saturday, 26 December. Spectator boats can watch ...

  10. Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race 2023: Live updates, results, retirements

    Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race 2023 as it happened: LawConnect wins line honours in thrilling finish against Andoo Comanche By Billie Eder Updated December 28, 2023 — 10.32am first published at 5.46am

  11. Sydney to Hobart yacht race

    Race record holder Andoo Comanche holds the lead on the Sydney to Hobart yacht race — and favourable winds have it close to beating its own record pace from 2017. Look back at how the race ...

  12. Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

    The Rolex Sydney Hobart is a 628 nautical mile yacht race that is described as one of the most gruelling ocean races in the world. The annual race begins in Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day and finishes in Hobart. Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Once a year, Sydney's harbour is overtaken by yachts in every direction by the Sydney Hobart race.

  13. Sydney to Hobart yacht race 2023: rolling updates, latest news

    The 2023 Sydney to Hobart fleet are on alert for things that go bump in the night and halt boats dead in their track in the light as they prepare for the start of the famous ocean race on Sydney ...

  14. Sydney to Hobart yacht race, day one reports from the bluewater classic

    The top 12 boats on line honours at 4pm AEDT (Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race) Share. Copy link; Update. 26 Dec 2021, 5:15am Sun 26 Dec 2021 at 5:15am. By Andrew Mcgarry.

  15. Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023

    The Yachts - Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Year 2023 2022 2021 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 ...

  16. Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023

    The yacht also claimed victory in the 2022 Rolex Middle Sea Yacht Race. De Turckheim came agonisingly close to winning the Rolex Sydney Hobart in 2015, when his previous boat under the same name enjoyed strong winds in the first 24 hours to race down the south coast of NSW but things changed when the yacht hit the notoriously fickle Derwent River.

  17. At the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Women Are Making Their Mark

    Mridula Amin for The New York Times. Women have been participating in the Sydney Hobart race since 1946, with Jane Tate aboard the Active and Dagmar O'Brien on the Connella. The first all-women ...

  18. Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023

    THE START. The race begins at 1pm local time (AEDT) on Monday 26 December 2022. Australian viewers can watch the live broadcast of the race start from 12.30pm on the Seven Network or on the 7plus app . International viewers can watch along on the Rolex Sydney Hobart home page or CYCA TV YouTube channel . For spectators lucky enough to be in ...

  19. Sydney to Hobart yacht race: How two days of sailing came down to just

    The skipper of the line honours-winning yacht in this year's Sydney to Hobart race says the victory is all the more remarkable because his boat, LawConnect, is a "shitbox" compared to second-place ...

  20. Last Sydney to Hobart yacht arrives with 18 minutes left of 2022

    The arrival of 70-year-old Kathy Veel and 62-year-old Bridget Canham in Hobart at 11.42pm on New Year's Eve was met with fireworks and cheering from the crowd on Constitution Dock to ring in 2023.

  21. Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023

    2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - A Race for the Ages. The 78th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race was one of the most challenging offshore classics in years and delivered some of the tightest finishes for both Line Honours and Overall victory in the race's history. Watch Video. 01 Jan, 2024 09:00:00 AM.