Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race – The toughest race since 2004

by Jim Gale/Bruce Montgomery, RSHYR media/Sail-World on 27 Dec 2015 After a decade of, by Rolex Sydney-Hobart standards, comparatively benign weather for the first day of the race, it has returned with a vengeance to its classic persona.

In 2013 and 2014 the fleet was hammered by strong winds off Tasman Island, after an easier ride in the first two days.

The mean southerly that made life hell for sailors off the NSW south coast last night is at last abating, but it has taken a huge toll on the fleet.

Before the southerly buster kicked in there were five boats out of the race, now there are 29, an attrition rate of 27 per cent and the race still has at least another two days to run.

That’s starting to get close to the really tough 2004 race when 58 of a fleet of 117 retired; 50 percent.

The latest casualties include Peter Harburg’s Queensland Volvo 70 Black Jack, which returned to Jervis Bay to transfer an injured crew member with a suspected fractured leg. The crew member s being transferred by ambulance to the nearby naval base for medical assistance.

2013 race winner Victoire has also retired after an injury to a crew member.

The retirees at 2130 last night were:

Ark323
Cougar II
Lupa of London
M3 - broken forestay
Dare Devil - rudder damage - returning to Sydney
CEX Dolce - broken mast
Wild Oats XI - mainsail damage
St Jude - rudder
Perpetual Loyal - rudder
KOA - steering
Pazzaz - mainsail
Pretty Fly III - broken forestay
Brindabella - sail
Takani - rudder
Patrice - mainsail
GYR WOT EVA
Dekadence - electronics Issues
Samurai Jack - sail damage
HASPA Hamburg - rig
Black Jack - returning to Jervis Bay
Victoire
KLC Bengal 7 - mainsail
Frantic - mainsail
Triton - mainsail
Hollywood Boulevard - hull
Great Xpectations
Landfall - hull
China Easyway - sail damage
Jaffa - starter motor

It’s been a tough race on the digital front as well. The race’s Yacht Tracker system was affected by a global outage of a major data centre, the victim of a “sustained distributed denial of service attack” on their systems. It was large enough that their entire London data centre was affected, the yacht race became a wounded innocent bystander.

Meanwhile, the race goes on and even the frontrunners have taken a pretty solid beating from this classic, wild Hobart. Comanche and Rambler are licking their wounds, each having suffered damage to their starboard daggerboards and, in Comanche’s case a rudder. The damage has slowed both boats but Comanche is currently 8 miles in front and looking at a Hobart finish late tomorrow.