‘Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race’ 2025 Entries To Open On 26th February As ‘Tales From The Rails’ Dinner Announced

Entries for the 2025 Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race have been announced to open on the 26th of February this year – 4 months earlier than usual due to a crowded global yachting calendar – while a Tales From The Rails dinner will be held at the Cruising Yacht Club Of Australia on the 20th of February.

The 2025 edition of the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race will also celebrate its 80th anniversary.

Tales From The Rails

On the 20th February at 7pm at the Cruising Yacht Club Of Australia (CYCA), will be the Tales From The Rails 3-hour 2-course dinner with drinks included. A panel of Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race 2024 sailors will be in attendance including:

  • George Adams Tattersall Cup winner, Celestial V70‘s sailing master, Jack Macartney,
  • Plum Crazy Trophy winner, Sean Langman, from Kismet,
  • Accomplished local navigator, Clare Costanzo, from Whisper &
  • Debut competitor, Emmanuella Noble, from Chancellor.

The dinner will be served alternately with the main meal either:

  • Barbeque beef short rib with hoisin glaze & shredded vegetable salad with sesame and wasabi dressing (dairy & gluten free)
  • Baked Ocean Trout with brown butter, capers & snow peas (gluten free)

& the dessert either:

  • Chocolate dome, caramel mousse, cocoa soil & freeze dried mandarin
  • Lemon meringue tart with cultured cream

Tickets for Tales From The Rails, which costs AUD$113.25 (CYCA member) or AUD$123.5 (non-member) can be purchased here.

CYCA Racing Calendar 2025/26

Meanwhile, the CYCA’s 2025/26 racing calendar has been confirmed:

The Trans-Tasman Yacht Race is a new race with a 3-day staggered start, organised in cooperation with the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, beginning in Sydney & finishing in Auckland, New Zealand, via the North Island’s North Cape. The Australian Maxi Championship will, as usual, conclude with the Big Boat Challenge while the Blue Water Pointscore 2025/2026 will feature:

  • Sydney-Gold Coast Yacht Race (Saturday the 26th-Wednesday 30th of July 2025)
  • Flinders Islet Race (Saturday the 20th-Sunday the 21st of September 2025)
  • Tollgate Islands Race (Saturday the 17th-Monday the 20th of October 2025)
  • Bird Island Race (Saturday the 15th-Sunday the 16th of November 2025)
  • Cabbage Tree Island Race (Saturday the 5th of December-Monday the 7th of December 2025 – also part of Australian Maxi Championship)
  • Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race (Friday the 26th of December 2025 to Saturday the 3rd of January 2026)

All these races begin on Sydney Harbour.

More Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race 2025 Entry Details

With a packed yachting calendar this year, not just here in Oceania but globally, the early opening date for entries in the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race will allow international entrants to plan their logistics & ensure their yachts are in Sydney in time for the start on the 26th of December, Boxing Day.

On the 26th of February, entries will open & the Notice Of Race will be published with entries being made online via TopYacht.

Entries will close at 5pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) on Friday the 24th of October with paperwork & payment due at 5pm AEDT on Wednesday the 26th of November.

Boats with a primary launch date between 1987 & 1st July 2010 need to confirm via an American Bureau Of Shipping (ABS) Certificate or letter from the designer and builder that the proposed design and current build is to the ABS Guide For Building & Classing Offshore Yachts. Boats with an age or series date after the 1st of July 2010 need a World Sailing Offshore Special Regulations Plan Approval Certificate.

If a boat has an Offshore Racing Congress International (ORCi) Stability Index of 115 degrees minimum, the ORCi Certificate has to apply to any modifications made in the past 5 years & needs to be signed by the owner confirming all measurements are correct.

Other

Also, the Hobart Village Bar will return in 2025 with it being run by Dark Lab with suppliers, Devil’s Corner & Brown Brothers Family Winemakers. Each afternoon there will be a Happy Hour for competitors.

The Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race 2025 – its 80th anniversary – begins at 1pm AEDT on the 26th of December, Boxing Day.