Offaly-born Australian-based sailing superstar and ace navigator Adrienne Cahalane, a veteran of 30 Hobart races with overall and class wins to her credit, was among the expert panel for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Long Range Weather Forecast pow-wow on Sunday.

Race crews face a tense week preparing for myriad race scenarios due to the ‘significant uncertainty’ of the long-range weather forecast each year.

As Afloat has reported previously, as well as Cahalane, there is Irish interest in the Australian Grand Prix event this year, especially in the two-handed division.

In its long range forecast presented on Monday at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, organisers of the 628 nautical mile race, Gabrielle Woodhouse, Senior Meteorologist from the NSW Bureau of Meteorology [BOM] said it is too early to make a precise indication.

That is due to the high temperatures and humidity across NSW in recent days that are also set to continue leading up to the 1 pm St. Stephen's Day start next Tuesday.

Woodhouse said the BOM should have a clearer picture of what’s in store for the 107-strong fleet by the weekend.

Sydney Hobart Long Range Weather Forecast - From left to right race navigators, Gabrielle Woodhouse, David Henry, Alice Parker, Chris Wild, Kathy Veel, Adrienne Cahalan Photo:  Andrea Francolini

She said the best indication now was for a light south-westerly wind at the start with rain and the chance of thunderstorms later.

A low-pressure system is expected over the Tasman, but when that hits is also uncertain.

“It’s too hard to say. The spread of scenarios is too huge,” Woodhouse said on Monday.

“At this stage, it's most likely that the race will begin with some kind of south or south-westerly wind, and during the race, probably we will see some rain and some thunderstorms.

“There's significant uncertainty, and with that prospect of a potential low pressure system, somewhere over the Tasman Sea.

“What we'll see at the moment, for at least the next few days, is quite a bit of movement in some of those forecasts. And we'll start to narrow that down during the weekend.”

For every boat in the 100-plus strong fleet, the huge question mark over the forecast calls for a busy time in the coming days for the navigators to be prepared for anything.

For the David Witt-skippered Dovell 100, SHK Scallywag, the situation could well vindicate the decision to have two navigators on board – Juan Vila and Chris Wild.

The Hong Kong registered boat is one of four maxi yachts in this year’s race in which they are traditionally the Line Honours favourites. The other maxis are the defending Line Honours champion Andoo Comanche, along with LawConnect and the new Wild Thing 100.

Asked about the decision to have two navigators on SHK Scallywag, Wild said: “Navigation is a little bit like a department than a role. There’re multiple facets to it, especially on a maxi.

“With [uncertain] conditions, it’s a good call to have that capability, especially for the second half of the race.

“You do a lot of planning before you leave and then you get to stay on your toes in the second half of the race.”

Adrienne Cahalan, navigator of the Phillip Turner owned and Duncan Hine skippered Reichel/Pugh 66 Alive, said: “We will really have to look at all the different scenarios, including some of the worst ones.

“I can't really think of a year when it's been, you know, so much rain, so much moisture, and so much uncertainty in the forecast.

Alice Parker, navigator of the Reichel/Pugh 72 URM Group, said of the BOM forecast: “It's such a moving picture.

“I find it a little bit exciting when the forecast is this uncertain because anything can happen and there'll be opportunities for little boats and opportunities for big boats.”

Kathy Veel, owner/co-skipper with Bridget Canham of Currawong 30 Currawong said that for the race in the Two-Handed division, she was not overly concerned about the uncertainty.

With Currawong being last to finish last year, Veel is used to handling numerous systems.

“I made a point really of not looking too closely at the weather until a couple of days out, because you can't control it, you're not going to change it,” Veel said.

“There's a lot of other things to worry about. So why worry about the weather a week out?”

David Henry, owner/co-skipper and navigator of the two-handed entry, the Sydney 36, Philosopher, is also preparing for the long haul.

“The only thing we definitely know at this stage is we don't know. I'm just hoping for more good news at the end,” he said.

“We don't have one weather system to worry about, we probably have at least two weather systems to get through.

“We have double trouble when it comes to trying to predict what the weather is going to be.

“What we see on Boxing Day is one weather pattern. A day or so after that, we're looking further down the track, because we'll probably take three or four days to get there.”

Former Kinsale sailor Steph Lyons, the Kildare horsewoman who includes experience of the Sail Training Brigantine Asgard II in her seafaring story, is continuing to add to her remarkable CV in Australia, where she works in a senior role in business while also being very active on the water - her continuing story started to be recounted in Afloat.ie on January 21st 2020 

She’s lined up to be the bowman for the fourth time in the big one, the 2023 Rolex-Sydney Hobart starting on December 26th. This time, she’s on the Cookson 12 (aka the Cookson 40) known as Calibre 12. She has thus logged serious experience on some of the best Australian offshore designs from around the turn of the Century - boats which to most of us look wellnigh perfect, but those who are into the latest French round-bow scow types might think otherwise.

While there’s absolutely no gender preference on the boat while racing, it’s Steph who is nominated to accept any prizes

Whatever, that enables us to run a short vid showing what the Cookson 40 is like, not least because the boat in question is called Grace O’Malley. As for Calibre 12, she’s currently in the local ICU’s Keel Section following some recent impactive navigation, but the word is she’ll be better than ever in time for December’s peak of the Australian offshore programme.

The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia has announced that the 78th edition of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is off to a great start with 66 entrants signed up, just 99 days before the historic race on St. Stephen's Day. This year's fleet promises to be highly competitive with former winners, diverse international entries, and a formidable two-handed division.

Amongst the 66 entrants, six international boats from Germany, Hong Kong, New Caledonia, New Zealand, and the USA have signed up, complementing the rest of the entrants from various states throughout Australia. Sam Hayne's TP52 Celestial, the Overall Winner of the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart, is expected to return to contest for one of the most prestigious trophies in offshore racing - the Tattersall Cup.

The fleet also boasts four 100-foot maxis, including John Winning Jr's Andoo Comanche, four-time winner and race record holder, and Christian Beck's JK 100 LawConnect, runner-up in the past three races and Line Honours winner as Perpetual LOYAL in 2016.

Twenty percent of the fleet will be made up of two-handed entries, with ten entries already received. The Rolex Sydney Hobart will host a varied list of newcomers, including Chris O'Neill's J/99 Blue Planet, Peter Elkington's Young 11 Pacman, and Anthony Hammond's Jeanneau Sun Fast 3600 Maverick.

Arthur Lane, Commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, expressed his excitement about the upcoming race and thanked Rolex for its ongoing support of sailing and the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, as well as the race's many other partners who make it possible. The Commodore also highlighted the significant global interest in the race and the representation from all across Australia.

Overall, the fleet is shaping up to be worth watching throughout the race, with formidable entries and former winners.

Some of the notable boats competing in the 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart are:

• Andoo Comanche: John Winning Jr’s chartered VPLP/Verdier 100 has won Line Honours four times (2015/2017/2019/2022) and holds the current race record.
• Alive: Phillip Turner's Reichel Pugh 66 holds the current monohull race record for the Rolex China Sea Race and was the Overall winner of the 2018 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
• LawConnect: Christian Beck’s 100-footer was second over the line in 2022 for the third consecutive time and won Line Honours for Anthony Bell as Perpetual LOYAL in 2016.
• Love & War: Simon Kurts’ perennial S&S 47 has won the Sydney Hobart race Overall on three occasions (1974/1978/2006) and is always in consideration when the conditions favour smaller boats.
• Pacman: Peter Elkington’s Young 11 from Queensland was 3rd in the Two-Handed IRC Division in 2022 and 2nd in Division 3 Overall.
• SHK Scallywag: Sun Hung Kai’s Hong-Kon based maxi was 3rd on Line Honours in 2021.
• Smuggler: Sebastian Bohm’s TP52 placed 6th Overall in 2021 and 9th in 2022 and won the 2018 Ponant Sydney Noumea Race. One of several TP52s expected to feature.
• URM Group: Anthony Johnston’s Reichel Pugh 72 recently won the 2023 Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race and finished 3rd in IRC Division 0 in the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart.

It's seventeen years since the Royal Western of Ireland YC of Kilrush on the Shannon Estuary was represented on the Sydney-Hobart Race Prizewinners Podium.

Back in 2005, Ger O'Rourke with his then-new Cookson 50 Chieftain RWIYC took an impressive first in class and fourth overall in what was otherwise a big boat race. This time round, the TP 52s have dominated, but there has been plenty of intense in-class racing for smaller boats further down the fleet, and Class 4 was as hard-fought as any.

In it, the Sydney-based First 40 Ariel (Ron Forster & Phil Damp) emerged from the struggle to place third ahead of an impressive array of renowned boats. And at the prize-giving, they nominated their furthest-travelled crewman to go up on stage to collect the trophy. It was "no contest" as to who was furthest-travelled, as Kilrush sailor Duncan Kerin had made the trek halfway round the world to do his first Sydney-Hobart Race as part of Ariel's crew, and he deservedly got a special round of applause in Hobart for Mission Accomplished-Plus.

With a third in Class 4, Ariel has put Kilrush back in the Sydney-Hobart picture for the first time since 2005

For a brief moment in the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Thomas Kneen, the British owner of the JPK 11.80 Sunrise, thought: "This is ridiculous. Why are we doing this?"

It was on Wednesday night, as Sunrise powered through strong winds and seas, carrying breakages to the masthead halyard lock, then the boom and tiller, as well as torn sails.

It was quite a predicament for the British entry undertaking its first Sydney Hobart, even though it was the 2021 Fastnet Race winner and  Middle Sea Race runner-up.

Sunrise finished the Sydney Hobart on Thursday at 1:56.17pm as the 30th finisher and in a time of 3 days 56 minutes 17 seconds, with its boom bandaged by gaffer tap and sail straps.

After Sunrise docked in Hobart, Kneen reflected on his moment of doubt in light of the boat’s state during the race.

Thomas Kneen, the British owner of the JPK 11.80 Sunrise Photo: Brian Turvey

After the initial lighter winds for Monday’s start strengthened on Tuesday, Kneen said: "We set off like a scalded cat, sailed through the fleet, feeling pretty happy with the world."

However, by Wednesday, things were breaking. First, the masthead halyard lock "which we've broken on every 600 plus mile race we've done. That was standard operating procedure."

Then the boom "broke in two". Then the tiller broke, then sails started to tear open.

"With all this damage, I was thinking, 'this is ridiculous we are even doing this'," Kneen said.

"We had holes in the mainsail. The tiller came off. We had Chinese crash gybes in the middle of the night.

"It was brutal, but it all held together last night going upwind in 35 knots."

When it came to fixing the boom, Kneen’s crew of eight delivered with some ingenuity.

"Within two hours, the crew sawed up some bunk pipes, and with duct tape and sail ties, we braced the boom with them," he said.

And so, Sunrise pushed on towards Hobart as the conditions continued to change.

"Every time I finish racing this boat, I get prouder of the crew. They are amazing," Kneen said.

"They take on a project and they take on a problem and nothing seems to stop them."

Kneen said the Sydney Hobart is unique for the challenge it is in the ocean sailing world.

"This is like nothing we've done before," he said.

"In every 600 plus mile race you get thrown a bit of everything. But this is all extremes.

"It's perfect champagne sailing, then brutal downward sailing with breaking rollers behind you. Then no wind at all. Then 30 knots upwind. Then coming up here, 10 knots downwind.

"The other thing that's amazing about it is the environment here is so different.

"It was cold. When you go across the Irish Sea it is cold, but [Wednesday night] was freezing cold, and the sea state was brutal. It's like the middle of the Irish Sea, but on steroids.

"So, I would say it's a much more difficult challenge to what we have done before."

One of Kneen’s crew, Australian Adrienne Cahalan, for whom today’s finish was her 30th in the Sydney Hobart - a record for women - vouched for his high estimation of the race.

"It was a real Hobart - this Hobart - and when you sail on a boat this size, you're out there to experience everything that crosses a deck," she said of the 39-foot yacht.

Cahalan was understandably proud of her record number of finishes in the race.

"It was really a special moment, crossing the finishing line,” she said.

“Finishing is a really big thing in this race. To cross the line for my 30th was a really proud moment. It's always very special, no matter where you come - first over the line - or 30th.

After the strong north winds which provided a rugged finish yesterday off Hobart - particularly for the winning group of TP52s – conditions eased during the night, and the morning sun brought gentler sailing for the smaller boats, which now had no chance of getting into the overall Sydney-Hobart Race podium frame, but were more than busy enough with their own in-class racing.

Aboard the 2021 Fastnet Race overall winner, the JPK 1180 Sunrise, owner-skipper Tom Kneen of Plymouth had enthused about how Offaly-born Irish-Australian ace Adrienne Cahalane – doing her 30th Sydney-Hobart Race – had been making a special input into the Sunrise tactics with her almost mystical insight into local tidal variants and wind waverings all the way down the course.

And that – combined with Sunrise’s well-proven all-round qualities – has led to a Div 3 victory of truly extravagant proportions. Sunrise completed the course in just 56 minutes over the three-day mark, putting her ahead of many much larger boats from more senior classes on the water, while taking Class Line Honours and correcting into a Division 3 lead of better than five hours over Peter Elkington’s Young 11 from Queensland, which in turn was 41 minutes ahead of the First 44.7 South Brittany from NSW.

The dawn comes up for Tom Keen’s Sunrise on Day 3 as she closes the Tasmanian coast and a Div 3 overall win of “truly extravagant proportions”. Photo: Rolex

Meanwhile out at sea one of the smallest boats in the fleet, the Sun Fast 3300 Sun Fast Racing, campaigned in the Two-handed Division by Limerick’s Lee Condell and Aussie shipmate Lincoln Dews, found that the realties of size limits had her back in lighter winds than her larger rivals already approaching the finish. Thus although yesterday she was indicated as having an overall lead, as the formerly firm wind patterns collapsed, it was all that the two of them could do with Sun Fast Racing to stay within site of a podium place, but they have managed it and better in what is now the darkness in Hobart.

Approaching the Derwent in the dark, Sun Fast racing had slipped back to third, but Condell and Dews played it so well in the river that they got back up to second overall by the finish. That’s some going for a 60-year-old skipper doing his first Sydney-Hobart Race, and it’s an eloquent salute to Lee Condell’s late father Alan, one of the leading figured in Limerick sailing. He was one of those who slipped away from among us during the pandemic lockdown, and it’s in honour of his memory that this successful Two-Handed challenge was being made 

Strong winds off Tasmania for the New Zealand TP52 Caro (Max Klink). With a crew including Dun Laoghaire’e Cian Guilfoyle, Caro was first TP52 to finish, and corrected to third overall in the Sydney-Hobart Race 2022. Photo: Francolini/Rolex

1830hrs (AEDT) | Thursday 29 December - It was never going to be anything but emotionally charged when Sam Haynes and his Celestial crew were crowned overall winners of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

Haynes and some of the same crew lost the race win last year after being penalised for an infraction of the rules, but accepted second place gracefully.

On winning the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s 628 nautical mile race, Haynes said, "I’m screaming loud and proud. It means everything, everything, especially after last year. We put together a program targeting this race.

"It’s like an elation – it’s huge for the crew and me. I can’t believe it; it’s a bit of a life changer," an excited Haynes said.

"This boat is a weapon. It’s up there with the best 52-foot IRC boats in the world.

"It was hard waiting (to be told one way or the other). It was extremely difficult waiting. We couldn’t really enjoy the experience until now. I’m so proud of the whole background - our program - and to sail against the best IRC fleet I’ve sailed in, ever.

"It’s like an elation – it’s huge for the crew and me"

"It was an outpouring of emotion when we finally got the result. We are so proud of our team."

This year, the competition was stiffer than ever with two top international TP52s in Caro, the Max Klink-skippered 2021-launched TP52, and Chris Sheehan’s Warrior Won from the US. Those two finished third and fourth respectively, behind Haynes’ TP52.

The Aussie competition was hot too, especially Gweilo, which has been sailing up a storm these past two seasons. Matt Donald and Chris Townsend's boat ultimately placed second overall. In all, there were a record 12 TP52s in the race playing cat and mouse, not to mention the rest of the field.

Maybe it was the competition from these TP52s driving each other hard, maybe it was the need to avenge what he lost last year, but Haynes was at the top of the leaderboard for the overall win from the moment the fleet of 109 left Sydney Heads, pointing south to Hobart.

"I knew they (Warrior Won, Caro and Gweilo) were all over us at the top of the division. It was ‘their turn our turn’ in areas of the current," he said.

"Warrior Won and us were close together for so long – 4 nautical miles separated us at some points – we could see each other. We were match racing the whole way before we got to Tasman Island."

Haynes acknowledged the TP52s, "it was a great fleet of them, pushing each other the whole time."

The Sydney sailor spoke of his passion for the sport of sailing: "Being involved in sailing, in ocean racing and to win the race for the Tattersall Cup is the ultimate. I’m from Sydney, where I am Vice Commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and I have a close relationship with them and our sponsor, Rolex.

"I nearly gave it all away last year though…. then I went and did some racing overseas on my J/70 and came back and discussed it with the crew and we decided to give it another go."

On his crew, Haynes said, "I can’t speak more highly of them. This time Rob Greenhalgh (a British sailor) and Josh Junior (New Zealand) joined us," he said of the highly respected yachtsmen. "Lindsay Stead, Luke Payne and Frank O’Leary were good new additions this year too."

Those who were on Celestial last year and joined Haynes, a Sydney veterinarian, again this year, were: David Chapman, Wulf Wilkens, Callum Cecil, Lewis Brake, Harry West, James Dagge, Jack Macartney, Malcolm Parker and Tasmanian yachtsman, Troy Grafton.

After docking in Hobart yesterday, Haynes said while he waited for confirmation of his win, "we’ll do the usual," which is to pay a visit to Customs House Hotel, when every yachtie worth their salt goes. "And I’ll do lots of tracker watching," he said, with a laugh.

He will have worn out the refresh button waiting.

Haynes has an illustrious association with this race and other majors at the CYCA. In 2018, he sailed his former Celestial, to 17th overall in the Rolex Sydney Hobart (second best-placed TP52 to Ichi Ban), to finish the Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore (BWPS) second to Ichi Ban.

In 2017, he placed ninth overall in the Rolex Sydney Hobart to be runner-up in the BWPS. In 2016, he was 16th for a divisional third, and in 2015 placed 29th for a divisional third.

Before that, with his Rogers 46, also named Celestial, Haynes was second in the 2012 BWPS and won all three (IRC/ORCi/PHS) crowns in the 2014 BWPS - one of the closest on record - including winning the 2014 Sydney Gold Coast race. He placed 11th overall for second in Division 2 in the 2014 Hobart, following on from third overall in the 2013 race.

These impressive results and persistence have culminated in winning the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart.

While the TP 52s in general and Sam Haynes’ Celestial (NSW) in particular have fulfilled expectations by dominating the overall top positions for the supreme Corrected Time champions’ Tattersall Cup in the Sydney-Hobart Race, for three hours in Hobart last night and this morning the race-finished leader was being posted as Sean Langman’s RP69 Moneypenny, which continues firmly and permanently in place on the leaderboard as winner of IRC Division 0, comfortably ahead of some seriously heavy metal.

It was just seven weeks ago that ex-Pat Howth sailor and multiple Hobart Race success achiever Gordon Maguire joined the strength on Moneypenny. Maguire was overall winner of the 2021 race as Sailing Master on Matt Allen’s TP 52 Ichi Ban after the notably by-the-book Organising Committee imposed small but crucial time penalties on the safety-rule-infringing Celestial, thereby adding a fifth overall win to the Irish helm’s unrivalled Sydney-Hobart record.

But as the 2022 race came up the agenda, the Maguire participation was unclear. After many years of success, Matt Allen was taking a break from the all-consuming involvement which the Big One to Hobart involves. Thus it was only in November that it emerged that Gordon Maguire had been seen around Moneypenny, a Reichel Pugh design of American build origins that was originally an RP65 but is now an RP69 through a stern-lengthening.

Like apparently everything to do with the charismatic Sean Langman, Moneypenny was very much work in progress, and in typical style Maguire threw himself into the optimizing challenge, with the only word received back in Howth being a laconic: “Never busier”.

The process seemed to continue afloat, for although Moneypenny was only so-so in the early stages of the Hibart Race, once they got down to the Big Boys’ Business offshore she began to move steadily up the rankings, and came up the Derwent in style this morning to finish at 08:13:43 hours and complete the 628 mile course comfortably within the two days, coming in close enough to Philip Turner’s higher-rated Reichel Pugh 66 Alive to take over the Class 0 overall lead – which Moneypenny has retained – while for three glorious hours she was tops overall on the leaderboard. 

Gordon Maguire in Hobart – 2022’s Hobart Race with Moneypenny has provided “maybe the busiest seven weeks of his life”

Gordon Maguire has been involved in many campaigns involving various levels of hectic preparation, but it’s possible that the seven busiest weeks of his life have just concluded with this class win. That said, he is among the first to praise the perfection with which the TP 52s filled the bill of requirements for the 2022 Sydney-Hobart Race, with skilled owners and boat managers tuning their craft to get a rating which best suits the boat’s age and potential.

It’s a matter of tiny margins, and we saw it well illustrated back in 1987 when Jo Richardson optimised Stephen Fein’s Dubois 40 Full Pelt to become the all-beating Irish Independent, skippered by Richardson with Dun Laoghaire’s Tim Goodbody as lead helm to become the Fastnet Race overall winner and tops point scorer for Ireland’s Admiral Cup team.

CELESTIAL’S POPULAR OVERALL WIN

All the 40-footers in 1987 crossed the line in Plymouth together on a screaming run in a photo finish. But because Irish Independent rated that tiny fraction lower, she was overall winner by a matter of seconds. Equally today in Hobart, while the newest TP52 Caro (Max Klinck NZ, with Dun Laoghaire’s Cian Guilfoyle in the crew) may have narrowly been the first to finish, she wasn’t far enough ahead of Sam Haynes’ older lower-rated Celestial to save her time for what was to be the overall win for Celestial, if a claim for assistance given to a disabled boat by another competitors well down the fleet isn’t given disproportionate compensation.

The new Caro – with Dun Laoghaire’s Cian Guilfoyle in her crew – was the first TP52 to finish, but slips to 3rd overall in class and fleet on corrected time. Photo: Andrea Francolini/Rolex

Meanwhile, Caro didn’t save her time on Matt Donald and Christ Townsend’s (NSW) Gweilo either, but she stayed in front on CT of the American TP52  challenger Warrior Won (Chris Sheehan, with Don Street of Glandore’s grandson Dylan Vogel in the crew) in a finish which amounted to boat-for-boat racing.

ADRIENNE CAHALANE MAKES “MAJOR INPUT” ON SUNRISE SUCCESS

Still out on the racecourse, Tom Kneen’s Fastnet Race-winning Sunrise continues to lead Div 3, but with darkness coming down on Hobart, the 70 miles she still has to sail to the finish could be tricky as the winds can go all over the place. But for now, Tom is lavish in his praise for the input from Offaly-born tactician Adriennne Cahalane, doing her 30^th Sydney-Hobart in probably the most comfortable boat she has ever sailed down the often rugged course. “Adrienne is invaluable for her contribution as we negotiate the fickle winds out of Storm Bay and working the tidal routing in order to spend the maximum time in positive current and flatter water”.

No fuss. Tom Kneen’s JPK 1180 Sunrise slips past the crucial turning mark to get clear of Sydney Harbour and start the long trek south to Hobart.  Photo: Andrea Francolini/Rolex

LIMERICK’S CONDELL TAKES LEAD IN TWO-HANDERS

Another entry of serious Irish interest which has become better and better as the race progresses is Limerick’s Lee Condell sailing the 20-strong Two-Handed Division with Lincoln Dews in the Sun Fast 3300 Sun Fast Racing.

With 120 miles still to race, Lee Condell and Lincoln Dews lead the Two-Handed Divison

In the early stages they were showing 11^th, but then they worked up to fourth, and then lo and behold in the next position check thy were on the podium in third place overall and today, with just 125 miles still to race though admittedly with the poke starting to go out of the wind, they’re first in class, with an estimated hour and 15 minutes in  hand  on the next boat. It’s those last 125 miles which are going to be the real test as the favourable wind patterns begin to collapse – our thoughts are with them.

Race Tracker here: https://rolexsydneyhobart.com/tracker/

1600hrs (AEDT) | Wednesday 28 December -  A year ago, Sam Haynes was on the brink of quitting sailing in disappointment after his hopes of overall victory in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race were dashed by a protest.

Today, Haynes is back in Hobart and in the box seat to avenge the setback in this year’s race, with his TP52 Celestial currently holding first place overall.

Haynes, also the Vice Commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and the race organiser, was cautious about starting celebrating too early.

While well positioned, Haynes must still wait for the finish of other boats that could potentially beat Celestial and the outcome of a request for redress at 4 pm tomorrow for the GP42, Enterprise Next Generation, owned by Anthony Kirke. The West Australian boat stood by KOA yesterday when the latter lost her rudder. The verdict could impact the final standings.

Also fresh in Haynes' mind was how Celestial, the TP52 he bought before the 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart, was relegated to second after a protest against him last year.

"Last year at the finish, we knew we had the best corrected time," he recalled. "We just about had our hands on the Tattersall Cup…" But it wasn’t to be.

Haynes said: "I would have been quite happy to walk away from the sport at that stage, but I am still very involved with the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, where I am Vice Commodore. I have a lot of history with the Club and Rolex.

"I also talked to my crew about how they felt. We decided together that we were going to come back, try again."

Today, Haynes can at least sit in the hot seat on land at Hobart as other yachts continue their journeys.

Celestial sits in first place overall and with good prospects of winning the Tattersall Cup. In second to fourth places were three more TP52s – Gweilo (Matt Donald and Chris Townsend, also from the CYCA), Caro (entered under the New Zealand flag and skippered by Max Klink) and Warrior Won, owned by Christopher Sheehan from Rhode Island.

Gweilo skipper, Matt Donald, lamented not having enough lead on Celestial going into the 11 nautical miles run up the Derwent River.

"We probably didn’t have a big enough lead," Donald said. "We knew there would be a bit of a tacking duel [over] that last sort of 10 miles.

"We probably didn’t have the 15 to 20 minutes that we needed over them.

"We beat them over the line, we are happy about that; but they well deserve the win."

The German skipper of Caro, which was the first TP52 to cross the finish line, praised his crew and the competition between the TP52s and other mid-size boats.

"The crew fought hard all the way, as Celestial, Warrior Won and Gweilo did," Klink said.

"We had a great tussle, the four of us and a few 60-footers. The race has been great.

"We have been so close to Warrior Won and had two nights of epic racing. We could not ask for more. They (the conditions) were even better than expected."

Asked how his crew is today now they are back on land, Klink replied, with a laugh: "Look at them. They are very nice and good-looking people. They are happy. We are all happy.

"The goal was to come first of the 52s. We achieved that and that is all you can hope. Then it is a bit of luck and the rating."

NEWS UPDATE 1800hrs (AEDT) | Wednesday 28 December - The crew of Huntress, which lost its rudder earlier today, have chosen to make a controlled transfer at sea to a police launch, which was standing by.

The crew are transported to Lady Barron on Flinders Island, north of Tasmania. All crew are safe, albeit experiencing seasickness. In a separate update, a police launch vessel is also on its way to Sail Exchange, which broke its rudder earlier today.

Rupert Guinness/RSHYR Media

1000hrs (AEDT) | Wednesday 28 December - With Line Honours done and dusted, the focus of the 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race turns to contenders for the Tattersall Cup, awarded to the overall winner, and since the race began on Monday, four TP52s have lit up the top four places.

The TP52s have taken control of the race, with CYCA Vice Commodore Sam Haynes’ Celestial (NSW) constantly at the top of the standings, trying to keep all comers at bay.

Celestial has battled the US entry, Warrior Won, throughout the night, but Matt Donald/Chris Townsend’s Gweilo and the New Zealand entry, Caro, skippered by Max Klink have been knocking on the door this morning.

Quest (Craig Neil), Patrice (Tony Kirby), Smuggler (Sebastian Bohm) and Zen (Gordon Ketelbey) have all moved up to join the fray, filling fifth to eighth positions on the overall leaderboard. The race is on!

Tony Kirby recently bought his latest Patrice and is still learning to sail her, but is pleased with their race thus far.

He reported at 8.05am this morning: "We’re about 3 miles from Tasman Light with around 50 miles to go. The breeze is at 25-35 knots, the sea state is not too bad. We have a few TPs in front of us and a few behind. We’re looking forward to turning the corner into calmer conditions.

"It was very windy last night – all night. Interesting – gale force conditions are always interesting," he said with a nervous laugh.

"There’s a trough line due through around 2pm, but thankfully we should be finished by then. The wind will go around to the south/east and there’s a gale warning in place."

The forecast means those with 100-plus miles to go will have been dealt two hands – one of hard running, the other, hard beating into the wind in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s famous race.

The forecasted conditions favoured the TP52s from the outset and the race looks likely to go to one of them - but which one?

Waiting in the wings though are two smaller boats who are in a battle of their own, sea-sawing in ninth and 10th places respectively in the last 24 hours.

There is the credentialled UK entry, Sunrise, one of the successful JPK designs. This one is an 1180 model owned by Tom Kneen, winner of the 2021 Rolex Fastnet Race. Apart from his winning navigator, Tom Cheney, aboard is Australian Adrienne Cahalan, a decorated navigator doing her 30th Hobart.

Then there are perennial favourites, the crew of Bruce Taylor’s Victorian yacht, Chutzpah. The Caprice 40 was designed for downwind racing and like Sunrise, was hoping the race would be tailor-made for them (pardon the pun). Taylor is on his 41st Sydney Hobart, with son Drew, on his 29th – all done with his father.

Up there mixing it with the fully crewed boats is Mistral, the Lombard 34 being sailed two-handed by her owner, Rupert Henry, and Greg O’Shea. The experienced friends are giving the fleet a run for their money and were sitting in 10th place overall, between Chutzpah and Sunrise when we went to press.

Early this morning, Currawong, the second smallest boat in the fleet and a two-handed entry was sitting in Eden. The Currawong 30’s owner, Kathy Veel explained, "We were coming down the coast yesterday and we called into Eden because of tiredness – me in particular.

"We decided to take a rest after looking at the forecast 40 knots running into Bass Strait," the 70 year-old said. "We’ve (she and Bridget Canham) had our rest and we feel good. We’re just checking out the latest weather charts before deciding when to set off again."

In other news, Navy One, skippered by Tori Costello and Nick Greenhill, retired with a broken boom this morning. It leaves 101 at sea, with the four 100-footers finishing in the early hours of this morning.

Then came news of Carl Crafoord’s Sail Exchange retiring with a broken rudder and Lisa Callaghan’s Sydney 38, Mondo, out with a broken gooseneck.

Increasing winds are having an impact, the top four TP52s making boat speeds of 16-20 knots – a telling story. It is ‘hang on for a tough sleigh ride to Hobart’.

David Kellett reported from the Radio Relay Vessel, JBW, positioned off the bottom of Flinders Island, that winds were still hard from the north at 25-30 knots.

Di Pearson/RSHYR media