'' about to win the
2011 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race The
Bass Strait, and the waters of the
Pacific Ocean immediately to its east are renowned for their high winds and difficult seas. Although the race mostly takes place in the
Tasman Sea, the shallowness of Bass Strait and the proximity to the race course means that the fleet is very much under the influence of the Strait as they transit from the mainland to
Flinders Island. Even though the race is held in the Australian summer,
southerly buster storms often make the Sydney–Hobart race cold, bumpy, and very challenging for the crew. It is typical for a considerable number of yachts to retire, often at
Eden on the New South Wales south coast, the last sheltered harbour before Flinders Island. The first Sydney to Hobart race was held in
1945. The race was initially planned to be a cruise by Peter Luke and some friends who had formed a club for those who enjoyed cruising as opposed to racing; however, when a visiting British Royal Navy Officer, Captain
John Illingworth, suggested it be made a race, the event was born. The inaugural race had nine starters, including the
Kathleen Gillett, captained by renowned marine artist
Jack Earl. John Illingworth's
Rani, built at
Speers Point was the winner, taking six days, 14 hours and 22 minutes. Race records for the fastest (elapsed) time dropped rapidly. However, it took 21 years for the 1975 record by
Kialoa from the United States to be broken by the German yacht
Morning Glory in 1996, and then only by a dramatic 29 minutes, as she tacked up the
River Derwent against the clock. In 1999 Denmark's
Nokia sailed the course in one day, 19 hours, 48 minutes and two seconds, a record which stood until 2005 when
Wild Oats XI won
line and handicap honours in 1 day 18 hr 40 min 10 sec. There have been some notable achievements by yachts over the years. Sydney yacht,
Morna, won the
second,
third and
fourth races (1946–1948) and then, under new owners Frank and John Livingston from
Victoria, took a further four titles as
Kurrewa IV in 1954, 1956, 1957 and 1960. Other yachts to win three or more titles are Astor (1961, 1963 and 1964) and
Bumblebee IV firstly in 1979 and then again in 1988 and 1990 as
Ragamuffin. When
Wild Oats XI won back-to-back titles in 2006, it was the first yacht to do so since
Astor in the 1960s.
Wild Oats XI claimed its third consecutive line honours title in the
2007 race, re-writing history by being only the second yacht after
Rani in the inaugural 1945 race to win line and handicap honours and break the race record in the same year (2005) and then only the second yacht after
Morna to win three line honours titles in a row. In
2008,
Wild Oats XI broke
Morna's long-standing record of three titles in a row, by completing a four-in-a-row, the first yacht to achieve that remarkable achievement. For the handicap race the highly respected Halvorsen brothers'
Freya won three titles back-to-back (the only yacht in history to do so) between 1963 and 1965. Although not consecutive,
Love & War equalled ''Freya's'' three titles by winning its third in 2006 to add to its 1974 and 1978 titles. In the 1994 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, the making waves foundation's crew were the first fully disabled team to compete in an ocean race and Australian Paralympic sitting volleyball player
Albert Lee was a part of this team. The
1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race was marred by tragedy when, during an exceptionally strong storm (which had similar strength winds to a lower-category
hurricane), five boats sank and six people died. Of the 115 boats that started, only 44 made it to Hobart. As a result, the crew eligibility rules were tightened, requiring a higher minimum age and experience. G. Bruce Knecht wrote a book about this race,
The Proving Ground. A coronial enquiry into the race was critical of both the race management at the time and the
Bureau of Meteorology. In 1999 the race record was broken by
Nokia, a water-ballasted
Volvo Ocean 60 (VO60) yacht. She sailed the course in 1 day, 19 hours, 48 minutes and 2 seconds.
Brindabella reached Hobart just under one hour later (1 day, 20 hours, 46 minutes, 33 seconds) and
Wild Thing was a close third (1 day, 21 hours, 13 minutes, 37 seconds). The previous Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race record had been set by
Morning Glory (2 days, 14 hours, 7 minutes, 10 seconds) in 1996. , 25 December 2004 In 2004 only 59 yachts completed the course of the 116 who set out from Sydney. Storms hit the race. The super maxi
Skandia capsized after losing her keel. In 2005,
Wild Oats XI became the first boat since
Rani to win the "treble", taking Line Honours, winning the Corrected Handicap (IRC), and breaking the course record. (1d 18h 40 m 10s, over 1hr off of ''Nokia's'' record.) In 1982
Condor of Burmuda won the Sydney to Hobart (1981) which was the closest ever finish, winning by just seven seconds against
Apollo III during a gruelling match race up the River Derwent. In 2006, 78 boats started the race, including entrants from the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, New Zealand, every Australian state and the
Australian Capital Territory. The race started on schedule at 13:00
Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time.
Wild Oats XI, owned by
Bob Oatley and skippered by
Mark Richards, crossed the finish line at 21:52 on 28 December 2006 to take line honours with an elapsed time of 2 days, 8 hours, 52 minutes and 33 seconds. leaving John Gordon from the
Horizon crew. By the November 2007 race entry deadline, 90 yachts had nominated for entry including four 90-foot maxis, three of them wanting to prevent
Wild Oats XI creating history and winning three line honours titles in a row. A little over a week prior to the race, New Zealand maxi
Maximus withdrew after cracking its keel. Three-time and 2006 handicap winner, Love & War, was not one of the applications for entry and may have raced her last Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in 2006.
Wild Oats XI went on to create history by winning its third consecutive line honours title and becoming only the second yacht to do so. The 2009 fleet comprised 99 starters. In the 2008 race,
Wild Oats XI had equalled
Morna/
Kurrewa IVs record of three consecutive line honours victories, which
Morna achieved in 1946, 1947 and 1948, and was attempting to pass the record in its own right in 2009. In the event however,
Neville Crichton's New Zealand entry
Alpha Romeo II passed
Wild Oats XI early on and never relinquished her lead, finishing in an elapsed time of 2 days, 9 hours, 2 minutes and 10 seconds.
Wild Oats XI came in second and United Kingdom-based
ICAP Leopard came in third. Sailors who have achieved outstanding commitment to the race are represented most of all by John Bennetto (dec), Lou Abrahams and Tony Cable who, after the 2007 race, had each sailed 44 races. Skippers Frank and John Livingston won four line honours titles while Claude Plowman,
Peter Warner, S.A "Huey" Long, Jim Kilroy and Bob Bell have each won three. Trygve and Magnus Halvorsen have won four handicap honours titles while a number of skippers have won two handicap titles.
Rolex has been the naming rights sponsor of the race since 2002, and since then the race has been known as the
Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Traditionally, crews of yachts celebrate on New Year's Eve at
Constitution Dock in Hobart, with the Customs House Hotel a favourite venue for Sydney–Hobart yachtsmen. The 2020 race was cancelled due to an outbreak of
COVID-19 in Sydney's north. The Cruising Yacht Club said it was "unrealistic" to proceed with the race after the Tasmanian government declared Greater Sydney a "medium-risk" zone, requiring all participants to quarantine for 14 days on arrival in Tasmania. It was the first time the race was not conducted in its 76-year history. 2020 saw the introduction of a two-handed division (only two crew members permitted) with its own trophy, the Two-Handed IRC Trophy. Due to the race being cancelled in 2020, the first two-handed entrants competed in the 2021 race. The death of two sailors in separate incidents during the 2024 race (the first deaths since 1998) has led some to argue for a review of the race's safety protocols.
Min River won the 2025 race on corrected time. It was the first two-handed yacht to win, and the first winning yacht to have a woman skipper, Chinese-Australian owner Jiang Lin (it also had a male skipper, Frenchman Alexis Loison.) {{panorama =="Holy Grail"==