Huey will make the real decision— Sydney to Hobart race

by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 25 Dec 2015 Unless you live in Australia or have experienced a DownUnder Boxing Day celebration, it’s hard to fully fathom the national and international importance of this classic, 628 nautical-mile race. As it’s official name implies, “the Hobart” starts in beautiful Sydney Harbor and takes the fleet to Hobart, Tasmania, by way of Bass Straight, a place where the ocean floor spikes from offshore depths to just 60 meters.

Couple this geological comeuppance with the strong, Southern Ocean winds that funnel (and accelerate, thanks to the Venturi effect) between Tasmania and mainland Oz, and the seas on Bass Straight can become downright fearsome. Still, they do not stop sailors from partaking in this classic bluewater event.

The Hobart starts on Boxing Day (December 26) each year and fills Sydney Harbor with sails, spectators and myriad boats of all shapes, sizes and displacements. Thousands and thousands of spectators turn out ashore, and the local television stations cover the line-honors chase, while the local bookies accept bets on the race’s outcome.

While the Hobart is not as big of a sporting event as, say, the Melbourne Cup, it’s important to remember that only 33 jockeys compete in this celebrated horse chase, while there are some 1,000 people sailing to Hobart this year alone.

Moreover, it’s universally understood that the Hobart is an extreme sport, albeit one that is regularly contested by families and veterans of many races to Tasmania. For example, Tony Cable is sailing his record-setting 50th Hobart Race this year aboard Damien Parkes’ Judel/Vrolijk 52, Duende, while Roger Hickman, the winner of last years Tattersalls Cup for handicap, is now just 61 and racing in his 39th Hobart Race.

The mainstream Australian media tends to focus rabidly on the line-honors winners, as does the average bloke on the street, and a huge amount of national pride rests on being the first crew to arrive in Hobart. Still, for most sailors (read: non-Grand Prix), the Tattersalls Cup is the real prize. However, the ultimate trophy remains the elusive “treble”: line honors, overall victory and the handicap win-a feat that Wild Oats XI pulled off in 2005 and 2012.

Wild Oats XI will be back on the racecourse this year after some substantial surgery that was designed to move her max beam measurement forward (read: new bow and stern sections were built) while also adding volume to her bow sections. Her brain trust believes these changes will make her competitive against the fleet and her arch line-honors rival, Jim and Kristy Clark’s Comanche (USA), the world’s newest super maxi monohull, which “Oats” beat to Hobart in 2014.

This year will see a proud fleet of internationally flagged boats on the starting line, including the two best maxis in the USA-Comanche and George David’s Rambler 88-as well as two Chinese entrants (the first time that Chinese teams have entered this storied race) and the Clipper Round the World Race fleet, not to mention dedicated entrants from all other corners of the globe where serious sailboat racing takes place.

So what is it that makes this race is so classic, and why does it make it onto so many sailors’ bucket lists? First off, conquering Bass Straight is a serious achievement for any sailor, but during the Hobart it’s even more impressive as there is no cherry picking weather windows when competing for international honors. Instead, boats simply go when the guns are fired, which creates the second reason that the Hobart is so special.

While each year’s weather conditions obviously vary, the Hobart is famous for delivering a “restart” off of Tasman Light, as the wind machine tends to switch off each evening, essentially preventing passage up the Derwent River to the Race’s finishing line. Plenty of racers have arrived at Tasman Light leading the hunt for the TattersallsCup, only to see their fortunes usurped thanks to a meteorological restart that can renew hope for the stragglers, as the previous frontrunners to rip out their hair.

As one multi-year Hobart veteran said, “You try and win your division, and you pray that your division arrives at Tasman Light at the right time!” Here, the “Huey” factor comes into play, as a favorable “ruling” by Huey the Wind God is typically the only way to escape the Tasman Light restart.

Add all of these factors up, and the Hobart presents itself as the most important sailboat race in the Southern Hemisphere, as well as one of the only international races that cruising sailors pay attention to, thanks to its high seamanship demands.

Racing starts on Boxing Day, and Sail-World.com is the world’s best source of breaking news from this world-famous event, so be sure to keep your web browser aimed at the website once the guns in Sydney Harbor start sounding.

May the four winds blow you safely home,