Irish Crews Live the Dream in 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

Q: How many yachts have competed between 1945-2019 in the Sydney Hobart Yacht?

6257 completed the Sydney Hobart Yacht race, 1036 retired or were disqualified)

Q: What were the largest Sydney Hobart Race fleets?

Largest fleets: 371 starters in the 50th race in 1994 (309 finished); 154 starters in 1987 (146 finished); 179 starters in 1985 (145 finished); 151 starters in 1984 (46 finished); 173 started in 1983 (128 finished); 159 started in 1981 (143 finished); 147 started in 1979 (142 finished); 157 started in 2019 (154 finished)

Q: Who was the 2019 Sydney Hobart Race winner?

IRC Overall: Ichi Ban, a TP52 owned by Matt Allen, NSW Last year’s line honours winner: Comanche, Verdier Yacht Design and VPLP (FRA) owned by Jim Cooney and Samantha Grant, in 1 day 18 hours, 30 minutes, 24 seconds. Just 1hour 58min 32secs separated the five super maxis at the finish

Irish Crews Live the Dream in 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

30th December 2019

Afloat.ie Team

The HYC Breakthrough crew at the race start

Outside of overall victory for Howth's Gordon Maguire and line honours for County Meath's Jim Cooney, the corinthian team on the Howth Yacht Club entry Breakthrough have been talking about competing in the Sydney Hobart bluewater classic to media in Tasmania.

For HYC's Jonny White, racing in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, let alone finishing it, was a dream that he has woken from and now accepts is real after crewing on HYC Breakthrough.

White, a member of the Irish crew that sailed on the Beneteau First 40 HYC Breakthrough, rated his debut in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia event as: “Epic. Absolutely epic.”

“This is the first time for us all ... I don’t think it will be our last.”

Led by Irishman Darren Wright and representing the Howth Yacht Club in Ireland, the crew chartered the boat from her Australian owners Matthew Vadas and Jonathon Stone.

The Irishmen have a ‘bucket list’ of offshore races, and they had already sailed in dozens of Round Ireland and Rolex Fastnet Races. The Rolex Sydney Hobart was a ‘must do’ event.

Jonny White speaks to the press in Hobart

Breakthrough was an ideal choice of boat. Vadas last raced her in the 2016 Rolex Sydney Hobart to 52nd overall. In 2015, she was 12th, her best result after four previous finishes.

Speaking after HYC Breakthrough finished 92nd on line honours in 3 days 10 hours 43 minutes at 11.43 pm, Sunday, White smiled and said: “It’s quite a surreal experience, really.

“Coming from Ireland as a sailor, if you ever thought you could end up here, it was probably a dream. Was it a dream too far? Now, we realise it wasn’t.”

White is keen to re-live his dream. He said he hopes to return, and that the HYC Breakthrough crew do too. “[This is the] first time for us all ... I don’t think it will be our last.”

Darren wright Kieran Jameson Darren Wright (skipper) with Kieran Jameson (at mast) in Hobart

Irish crewmate Keiran Jameson concurred with White, saying of his experience in the 628-nautical-mile ‘Blue Water Classic’: “It was really great. It had everything in it that we wanted.

“Bass Strait was a fantastic crossing, really exciting. Crossing Bass Strait for us was the dream … and we got a blow as we crossed it. That was perfect … couldn’t be better.”

Jim Cooney HYC Line Honours winner Jim Cooney, skipper of Comanche (second from left) with the Howth Breakthrough crew in Hobart

Published in Sydney to Hobart

Tagged under

Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

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The Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual offshore yacht racing event with an increasingly international exposure attracting super maxi yachts and entries from around tne world. It is 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).

The 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race starts in Sydney Harbour at 1pm (AEDT) on Monday 26 December.

This is the 77th edition of the Rolex Sydney Hobart. The inaugural race was conducted in 1945 and has run every year since, apart from 2020, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

88 boats started the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart, with 50 finishing.

The Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - FAQs

How many Sydney Hobart Yacht Races have been sailed?

The number of Sydney Hobart Yacht Races held by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia since 1945 is 75

How many yachts have competed between 1945-2019 in the Sydney Hobart Yacht?

6,257 completed the Sydney Hobart Yacht race, 1036 retired or were disqualified)

What is the estimated total crew to have competed in the Sydney Hobart Race?

About 60,061 sailors have competed in the Sydney Hobart Race between 1945 and 2019

What were the largest Sydney Hobart Race fleets?

Largest fleets: 371 starters in the 50th race in 1994 (309 finished); 154 starters in 1987 (146 finished); 179 starters in 1985 (145 finished); 151 starters in 1984 (46 finished); 173 started in 1983 (128 finished); 159 started in 1981 (143 finished); 147 started in 1979 (142 finished); 157 started in 2019 (154 finished)

What were the largest Sydney Hobart Race fleets post 2000?

116 in 2004 (59 finished); 117 in 2014 (103 finished); 157 in 2019 (154 finished)

What was the Smallest Sydney Hobart Race fleet?

Nine starters in the inaugural Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in 1945

What was the largest number of international entries in the Sydney Hobart Race?

In 2015 and 2017 there were 27, including the 12 Clipper yachts (11 in 2017). In the record entry of 371 yachts in the 50th in 1994, there were 24 internationals

Who was the first winner of the Sydney Hobart Race?

Rani, Captain John Illingworth RN (UK). Design: Barber 35’ cutter. Line and handicap winner

What was the 2019 Sydney Hobart Race fleet size?

157 starters, 154 finishers (3 retirements)

Who was the 2019 Sydney Hobart Race winner?

IRC Overall: Ichi Ban, a TP52 owned by Matt Allen, NSW. Last year’s line honours winner: Comanche, Verdier Yacht Design and VPLP (FRA) owned by Jim Cooney and Samantha Grant, in 1 day 18 hours, 30 minutes, 24 seconds. Just 1hour 58min 32secs separated the five super maxis at the finish

What is the Sydney Hobart Race record?

1 day 9 hours 15 minutes and 24 seconds, set in 2017 by LDV Comanche after Wild Oats XI was penalised one hour in port/starboard incident for a finish time of 1d 9h 48m 50s

Who is the oldest ever skipper to compete in the Sydney Hobart Race?

The oldest ever sailor was Syd Fischer (88 years, 2015).

Who are the youngest ever sailors to compete in the Sydney Hobart Race?

As a baby, Raud O'Brien did his first of some six Sydney Hobarts on his parent's Wraith of Odin (sic). As a veteran at three, Raud broke his arm when he fell off the companionway steps whilst feeding biscuits to the crew on watch Sophie Tasker sailed the 1978 race as a four-year-old on her father’s yacht Siska, which was not an official starter due to not meeting requirements of the CYCA. Sophie raced to Hobart in 1979, 1982 and 1983.

Quite a number of teenage boys and girls have sailed with their fathers and mothers, including Tasmanian Ken Gourlay’s 14-year-old son who sailed on Kismet in 1957. A 12-year-old boy, Travis Foley, sailed in the fatal 1998 race aboard Aspect Computing, which won PHS overall.

In 1978, the Brooker family sailed aboard their yacht Touchwood – parents Doug and Val and their children, Peter (13), Jacqueline (10), Kathryne (8) and Donald (6). Since 1999, the CYCA has set an age limit of 18 for competitors

Who was the first woman to compete in the Sydney Hobart Race?

Jane (‘Jenny’) Tate, from Hobart, sailed with her husband Horrie aboard Active in the 1946 Race, as did Dagmar O’Brien with her husband, Dr Brian (‘Mick’) O’Brien aboard Connella. Unfortunately, Connella was forced to retire in Bass Strait, but Active made it to the finish. The Jane Tate Memorial Trophy is presented each year to the first female skipper to finish the race

What is the oldest yacht to compete in the Sydney Hobart Race?

In 2019, Bill Barry-Cotter brought Katwinchar, built in 1904, back to the start line. She had competed with a previous owner in 1951. It is believed she is the oldest yacht to compete. According to CYCA life member and historian Alan Campbell, more than 31 yachts built before 1938 have competed in the race, including line honours winners Morna/Kurrewa IV (the same boat, renamed) and Astor, which were built in the 1920s.