‘Parade Of Sail’ To Recognise ‘Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race’ Founding Fathers As Protest Against ‘Bacardi’ Dismissed

Parade Of Sail

In recognition of the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race‘s founding fathers, a 1-hour Parade Of Sail will be held at 10:30am Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) on the 26th December, Boxing Day.

Held every 10th edition since 2004, the Parade Of Sail will feature classic yachts of previous editions of the Great Race South all decorated in flags, beginning in Rose Bay before heading north past Steele Point then north-east to Sow & Pigs Reefs where they will turn northwest to finish in Obelisk Bay.

At Rose Bay, the Sail Training Ship (STS) Young Endeavour, in its final year as flagship of the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race, will start the Parade Of Sail before shortly after, heading to the rear of the Parade all the rest of the way to Obelisk Bay.

STS Young Endeavour is a Royal Australian Navy tall ship that trains young Australians to sail.

In addition to STS Young Endeavour, the Parade Of Sail will feature 17 yachts:

• Margaret Rintoul (Line honours winner, 1950 & 1951, race record holder, 1951-1957)
• Fidelis (Line honours winner, 1966, biggest winning margin ever – 17.45083 hours)
• Solveig (Line honours winner, 1953), helmed by Bob Allan
• Josephine (2nd on line honours, 1953)
• Defiance (3rd on line honours, 1946)
• Anitra V (Handicap winner, 1957)
• Sagacious V (International Offshore Rule handicap winner, 1990)
• Caprice of Huon (2nd on handicap, 1972)
• Bacardi (2nd on International Rating Certificate handicap, 2008)
• Vittoria (9-times entrant, 1970-1978)
• Lolita (7-times entrant, 1957-1972)
• Maris (7-times entrant, 1960-2008)
• Duet (6-times entrant, 1969-1975)
• Valhalla (6-times entrant, 1965-1997)
• Zara (entered in 2021)
• Delinquent
• Nirvana 1

Protest Against Bacardi Dismissed

As stated above, Bacardi is participating in the Parade Of Sail before starting its record 32nd Blue Water Classic. It’s best result in the International Rating Certificate handicap category of the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race was 2nd place in 2008.

A protest against Bacardi by the Technical Committee has been dismissed by the International Jury as there has been no breach by Bacardi of either the Notice Of Race (NOR) or the International Rating Certificate (IRC) rules at the time of Bacardi‘s IRC Rule inspection on 15 December.

The protest, received by the Race Committee on 16 December at 5:30pm, alleged that Bacardi‘s IRC specified “1 Aft Rigging (sets)” while upon inspection had 2 sets of aft rigging (a backstay & a set of checkstays).

The IRC rule defines Aft Rigging to be “the total number of stays and/or sets of stays connected to the mast above the boom… providing aft support and/or control”

Bacardi’s Person In Charge (PIC) failed to interpret the IRC rule correctly, relying in good faith on an old definition that only counted checkstays & didn’t include backstays, inadvertently understanding that “1 Aft Rigging (sets)”’ was correct. In response to receiving the protest, Bacardi‘s PIC applied to Australian Sailing for a new IRC to rectify the error, which was issued to the yacht. IRC Rule 8.2.2 states the issuing of any new IRC automatically invalidates the old one.

The International Jury found that:

• Bacardi had a current, endorsed IRC Certificate valid in Australia submitted before 7pm on 12 December 2025 (NOR 3.3(a)(i) & IRC Rule 8.2)
• No individual in relation to Bacardi intentionally supplied false information (IRC Rule 13.4)

Therefore, no NOR or IRC rules were breached.

NOR 4.1 states when a rating protest results in a change to a yacht’s IRC, the Race Committee will accept such a change after 7pm on 12 December. Therefore, Bacardi can still race.

80th Edition Tote Bags

80th edition tote bags are now on sale as part of the event merchandise, which can be bought for AUD$25 here, along with the already available clothing. It comes as international shipping for all Helly Henson merchandise has returned. Programs can also be bought from here.

Fleet Update

3 yachts have pulled out including Windrose in the last 48 hours reducing the overall fleet for the 80th edition of the Great Race South to 129 yachts, which is still the largest fleet since 2019, when the 75th edition was held.

Withdrawn yachts, including 1 double-handed entry, are from the following places:

• New South Wales (2)
• Tasmania (1)

Other News

In other news, seagoing commercial shipping will be suspended in Sydney Harbour from 8am to 4pm on Boxing Day for the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race.

The Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race 2025’s Parade Of Sail will begin at 10:30am Australian Eastern Daylight Time on the 26th of December, Boxing Day, lasting an hour before the main race – its 80th edition – starts at 1pm AEDT.