Rolex Sydney Hobart- Hats Off Tasmania For The Huge Crowds

by Crosbie Lorimer on 29 Dec 2014 Ken Read, skipper of Jim Clark's super maxi Comanche, has been amazed at the level of interest shown by Australians in sailing and particularly in this race.

When he first arrived in Sydney with Comanche, Read was clearly very envious of the crowds that turn up for this event every year,

'You guys have no idea how good you’ve got it in Australia. We’d dream of having such crowds for a yacht race in the US' he said.

This year, it seems, the crowds have been even bigger than usual (as has the media interest), especially in Hobart.

A combination of the 70th anniversary, the much anticipated battle between the five super maxis and some superb weather here in Hobart on Line Honours Day has seen an impressive turn out of Tasmanians, as these images by Crosbie Lorimer of Wild Oats XI and Comanche arriving in Hobart yesterday clearly show.

But we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves; the French sailing public puts everyone else to shame. Their top yachtsmen are national heroes and their crowds at race starts make ours look like a family gathering!

In the week that led up to the start of the Route de Rhum race this year, the estimated numbers of people that visited the town of Saint Malo to see the boats (a town of 45,000), was 2 million!