All eventualities are being prepared for at the 80th Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race from a 9-times line honours winner going onto a record-breaking 10th line honours victory to a race record being broken for the 1st time since 2017 or the return of rough conditions to the 2nd most important thing after finishing, having your yacht win & of course, the race starting.
Scenario 1: XI Reaches X
For the 1st time since the COVID-19 pandemic, 9-times line honours winner, XI, a Reichel Pugh 30, returns to the Great Race South, aiming for a record-breaking 10th line honours victory. Asked at the race’s media launch how much XI‘s return poses a threat, the skipper of current & 2-time line honours winner, LawConnect, Christian Beck, said:
It’s much harder for us with them there because the problem we’ve got is Comanche is better than us in every way & the same type of boat as us so therefore, if it’s good for us, it’s great for them so what we’d hoped from the last couple of years is conditions that were sort of good for neither of us which means that we’re kind of slower but we’re more competitive than Comanche & that’s sort of happening a little bit with the really rough conditions the last couple of years.
Christian Beck, ‘LawConnect’ skipper
The trouble with, often when it’s, it’s slower, is that it’s good for Wild Oats (XI), right, so the odds of us being able to beat Comanche & Wild Oats (XI) are not very high, um & I think that, you know, like, I’d love to say it’s a better story but the reality is that those 2 teams & I think, obviously, Comanche lost to us twice there. They’re not going to be happy about that situation. The determination there is going to be pretty high. Wild Oats (XI) back with their modifications. They’re probably very good modifications. It’s a very challenging situation.
Christian Beck doesn’t sound confident in beating XI or 3-times line honours winner, Comanche, on line honours, despite beating XI in 2019 for 2nd place by 58 minutes & Comanche after that unforgettable finish in 2023, where he overtook them in the final hundred metres to win line honours by 51 seconds – the 2nd closest finish ever. Last year, Comanche, who are still the current line honours race record holder & could break it again, retired after damaging their mainsail. Regarding XI however, as Christian points out, the Silver Bullet is returning with “modifications”, including a new deeper keel fin and bulb, advanced upwind daggerboards & radical C-foils.
Photograph: Andrea Francolini/Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race
Despite his 3 victories (even if 1 was for runner-up) over his 2 competitors in previous editions, he was asked whether he considers LawConnect as an ‘underdog’ for the 3rd straight edition, in response he said:
(laughs) Well, I think it’s true. I mean, it’s not just me. If you look at the betting odds, no one ever gives us a chance of winning.
Christian Beck, ‘LawConnect’ skipper
As of 26 November, betting odds for the 80th edition of the Blue Water Classic were not available. Nevertheless, asked what it would mean to complete only the 3rd hat-trick Line Honours win, he said:
Oh, look, it’d be exceptional like we do feel lucky to win the 2 so, to win 3 would be incredible & I think it’s not impossible.
Christian Beck, ‘LawConnect’ skipper
As Christian Beck said, his yacht will again be more competitive against Comanche at least if rough conditions slowed them down. This leads to our next scenario…
Scenario 2: Rough Conditions Slows The Fleet
Katwinchar returns as, once again, the oldest yacht to enter the race ever. It was built in 1904 – 121 years ago & Michael Spies will co-skipper her once again, after retiring her in last year’s race after damaging her hull but this time, he will sail with a full crew instead of just double-handed. The yacht won the International Rating Certificate (IRC) Grand Veterans division in 2019, which returns this year for the 80th anniversary. Asked if a 10 metre (33-footer) yacht, of which Katwinchar is one, could do the “fairytale” of winning the IRC handicap overall trophy, the George Adams Tattersall Cup, he said:
Well I think (Doctor) Sam’s (Haynes), you know, pointed out, um, no boat has ever won Hobart without winning it’s division 1st so um, I’d like to think that we’re 1 of the better smaller boats here & if it’s a small boat race & they seem to be getting fewer and far & long and between, um – I think the last real small boat was Zeus back in about 81 – but if the planets align & it is a small boat race, well, I’d like to think that our name could come out the hat.
Michael Spies, ‘Katwinchar’ skipper
Photograph: Ashley Dart/Cruising Yacht Club Of Australia (CYCA)
Asked what conditions are needed for a “small boat race”, he said:
Well, we need a longer race. I mean, if Christian (Beck) & his will break the race record. It means that, uh, we are owed, they owe us a lot less time. It’s time on time. Um, we need the race to slow down in the middle for the fleet ahead of us at some stage & hopefully we can compress it & you know, I’ve got a theory that to win the Hobart you need 1 sked or a period of the race where you need to at least do as many miles, if not more miles, than the division ahead of you & if that happens, as happened with us in 2003, um, who knows, it might be a fairytale.
Michael Spies, ‘Katwinchar’ skipper
A sked is colloquial for ‘schedule’ referring to the schedule of short message service reports made by the competing yachts of their position, which during the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race is every 12 hours, once from 6:35am-7:35am & the other from 6:35pm-7:35pm. Micheal Spies won the George Adams Tattersall Cup as co-skipper on First National in 2003, though under the International Measurement System handicap. Last year, Katwinchar was in Division 5 of the IRC handicap category but having won a division in 2019, as you can see, Micheal is looking to history for him to win the IRC handicap for the 1st time & the George Adams Tattersall Cup for a 2nd time, which brings up to our 3rd scenario…
Scenario 3: Winning IRC Handicap
Celestial V70 is the current holder of the George Adams Tattersall Cup & therefore, the current winner of the IRC handicap category overall. It is once again being skippered by Doctor (Dr) Sam Haynes. Asked what “the formula for a successful campaign” is, Dr Sam replied:
Yeah, that’s, um, a question that’s, uh, is kind of easy to answer & hard to answer but we try to, you know, spend a lot of time on our preparation for all areas, um, particularly looking at, uh, crew and where they’re going to be positioned on the boat & selecting the crew & um & I’ve been lucky to have a very good crew for a long, for a long time now, um, but getting them into the positions where we can share the workload & everyone can perform at their best.
Um, we do scenario planning. Things like, uh, you know, extreme weather conditions & being able to manage those. Um, we do, uh, quite a lot of safety planning as well so, um, we do some dedicated sessions on that, um & just the general experience of racing the boat. Being able to, uh, get time on the water for the boat is extremely important, um & then, you know, down to the smaller details even down to what kind of food we have on board so that we can just make sure things that we can control we do control as well as possible, um & reduce the amount of unexpected, unexpected and unexpected events but we will end up with a, um, we will end up with, you know, things that will challenge us in every race as you do, um & um, those sort of things that you should but can’t control as well, you should be prepared as we can be for those unexpected events.
Dr Sam Haynes, ‘Celestial V70’ skipper
Photograph: Andrea Francolini/Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race
So to win the IRC handicap category requires getting your crew “into the positions where we can share the workload & everyone can perform at their best” & prepare and try to reduce unexpected events, which is advice Elizabeth Tucker, skipper of 1st Light, a Class 40 yacht, is taking to heart, bringing us to our penultimate scenario…
Scenario 4: Murphy’s Law
In 2027/28, Elizabeth Tucker is competing in the Global Solo Challenge but before taking up ocean racing, she was an accountant for start-ups. Asked whether there is a synergy between accounting & ocean racing, she said:
It’s really challenging to try & work with just the resources that you’ve got to deal with the problems that come up which could be anything that you just have to deal with the unexpected, um, & that’s quite similar to work.
Elizabeth Tucker, ‘1st Light‘ skipper
Asked whether this will also apply to her all-female crew, the only one in this year’s Great Race South, she said:
Um, yes so, I do like to do things a bit differently. I guess trying to sail around the world solo is kind of a bit different, um, but I decided to use the opportunity for my goals to create more sort of a pathway for women in sailing to learn every aspect of the boat, to step out of the normal limited crew role, role that people are often given so, um, every, um, crew member on the boat, I consider a co-skipper, so, they helm, they look at some of the navigation – We do have a dedicated, dedicated navigator – but they really do everything on the boat, more like the double-handed.
Elizabeth Tucker, ‘1st Light’ skipper
Photograph: Ashley Dart/CYCA
Asked how an all-female crew changes the dynamics on 1st Light, she replied:
Um, I’m not sure if it’s the all-female but it might be that we’re all approaching it with a shared purpose, so we just want to learn as much as possible, um, not take ourselves too seriously but, um, definitely we’re, we’re in it to compete & we’re in it to get there, um & I think that creates a really nice atmosphere. Um, everybody’s very collaboratively & um, has a voice & so that’s what makes it different, I think, to quite a lot of crews that, um, are perhaps a bit more competitively & are more refined in their – Yeah, they’ve got their pros on board that know exactly what they’re doing whereas we’re all working it out together.
Elizabeth Tucker, ‘1st Light‘ skipper
1 crew, already facing a challenge with limited resources, is the crew of Aragon, a Marten 72 yacht, who are already facing an English-Dutch language barrier & only 1 crew member who is bilingual in both languages. Just like 1st Light & all other yachts, they will have a dedicated navigator, who for them will be Adrienne Cahalan, the most decorated female competitor in the race’s history with 32 race starts, the most by a woman, the most line-honours victories by a women, 6 & the most handicap overall victories, 3. She also co-authored the review into last edition’s tragic events. Her, the rest of Aragon‘s crew & just about everyone else, whether you are a competing crew member or not, are all preparing for 1 eventuality: the race start.
Photograph: Ashley Dart/CYCA
Scenario 5: The Race Starts
For the race start, Aragon recently got refitted with a longer keel, heavier bulb & new standing rigging as well as a range of new sails. Talking about the crew of Aragon & the lead-up to this year’s Blue Water Classic, Adrienne Cahalan said:
It’s a Dutch crew so, uh, there is a sprinkling of, um, Australians on board & uhm, 1 of whom, is a Dutch that crosses the barrier for us, um, Carolijn Brouwer, who actually I sailed my 25th Hobart with so it’ll be great to sail with her again & she herself is, uh, an accomplished Olympian, uh, a raft sailor, not a yacht sailor, um & they, um, actually, I sailed against them in the Transpac this year from LA to Hawaii so it will be nice to be onboard with them & it’s a, it’s a cruiser-racer so, uh, it hopefully won’t, uh, have a little bit more comfort than I’ve had the last couple of years.
Adrienne Cahalan, ‘Aragon’ navigator
The race start is the 1st eventuality everyone is preparing for & with 98% chance it will happen (it got cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), we now look forward to 1pm, Friday the 26th of December 2025, Boxing Day.
Fleet Update
9 yachts have pulled out since November 18 reducing the overall fleet for the 80th edition of the Great Race South to 132 yachts, which is still the largest fleet since 1994, when the 50th edition was held.
Withdrawn yachts, including 2 double-handed entries, are from the following places:
- New South Wales (7)
- Tasmania (1)
- New Zealand (1)
Out of the 132 yachts still competing, 28 are debutants of which 9 are not from Australia.
Starting Cannon Firer
It was also revealed that the person firing the starting cannon this year is Scott McAllister, who was a crew member onboard Rampage when it won the handicap trophy, the George Adams Tattersall Cup, in 1975.
Other News
In other news, Comanche won line honours in the Bird Island Race with URM leading the Bass & Flinders Series of the Blue Water Pointscore series after 4 races with 3 points.
This whole announcement was from the media launch of the 2025 Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race, which was held on November 26.
The 2025 Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race will begin at 1pm on Friday the 26th of December (Boxing Day) from Sydney Harbour. The Sydney Race Village, outside the CYCA, opens on Monday the 1st of December & closes around 10pm on the night of Boxing Day. The Classic Yacht Regatta will be held on Sydney Harbour between 1:55pm on Friday the 12th of December to 3pm on Sunday the 14th of December. The Hobart Race Village, at Constitution Dock, opens at 12pm on Saturday the 27th of December & closes on the night of the 1st of January 2026. The main race can finish as early as 10:15pm on Friday the 27th of December with the last yacht finishing as last as the 6th of January 2026.
Sydney Spectaculars 
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