Entries have closed for the 80th running of the ‘Great Race South’, the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, with an elite fleet set to face the starter’s cannon on St. Stephen's Day.
The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) announced today that a massive fleet of 142 yachts has entered the iconic Australian race, 38 more than faced the start line last year (after a review of safety). It is the second biggest fleet this century behind the 2019 race that celebrated the 75th edition of the event.
The fleet includes a host of world-class yachts and sailors, all set to take on the 628 nautical mile epic alongside a 121-year-old marvel, and 13 boats from overseas, including from Germany, Hong Kong, Netherlands, USA, New Caledonia, New Zealand and Poland.
Other highlights of the entry list include:
- last year’s Overall winner Celestial V70, skippered by CYCA Commodore Dr Sam Haynes, amongst five past Overall winners (Celestial V70, Love & War, Unicoin, Wild Oats XI (now Palm Beach XI) and Wild Oats)
- 2023 and 2024 Line Honours victors, Christian Beck’s LawConnect
- six 100ft maxis, led by LawConnect and including Master Lock Commanche (Matt Allen & James Mayo), Wild Thing 100 (Grant Wharington & Adrian Seiffert), Mark Richards’ Palm Beach XI, Bill Barry
- Cotter’s Iuxury cruiser Maritimo 100 and Hong Kong based international star SHK Scallywag
- 11 female skippers, including Elizabeth Tucker leading an all female crew aboard First Light
2025 Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Overall winner, Smuggler, who also claimed the 2024 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore - 20 Double Handed entries
- 121-year-old classic Maritimo Katwinchar, owned by Bill Barry Cotter and skippered by Michael Spies
- the return of the IRC Grand Veterans and Veterans divisions featuring yachts like Maritimo Katwinchar, three-time Overall winner Love & War and Windrose
- the introduction of the IRC Cruiser/Racer Division - where cruising comfort meets offshore performance – featuring the stunning Oroton Drumfire
Richards, with his entry Palm Beach XI, which was formerly Wild Oats XI, is sure to set tongues wagging as he returns to the race after a two-year hiatus. Palm Beach XI was confirmed as a starter just an hour before entries closed. Under Richards’ helm, Wild Oats XI claimed nine Line Honours and two Overall victories in the great race.
Haynes, who last year became just the third sitting CYCA Commodore to win the event, is aiming to become the first to win twice while in charge of the world-renowned sailing Club. He also claimed the Overall title in 2022 with his TP52 Celestial.
Last year, Haynes and Celestial V70 claimed the George Adams Tattersall Cup for the Overall win by 9 hours 44 minutes and 42 seconds — the largest since Rani's victory in the race's first edition in 1945.
Incredibly, that margin of victory could have been even larger, save for a few issues with the yacht’s sail wardrobe, something that would surely be an ominous sign for this year’s Overall contenders.
“One of the things which happened at the very start (in 2024) was the A3 (sail), which is a spinnaker, a very vital Spinnaker on a Volvo 70 as a type of sail which really powers that type of boat,” Haynes said.
“It ripped and the sail gave way. It was an older sail. It had delamination.”
That issue and some damage to a few other sails have pushed Haynes and his program to invest in an upgraded set of sails for 2025.
“So, we actually have a whole (new) sail wardrobe coming for the boat, which is quite a significant upgrade on a Volvo 70,” he said.
“They’re big sails, and it's very important to have that. The sails drive the boat. So that's going to make a big difference to the yacht and the sails themselves.”
See the fleet here
