Rolex Sydney Hobart - Storm drama in Bass Strait

by Lisa Ratcliff on 27 Dec 2010 Rolex Sydney Hobart - Storm force conditions are taking their toll on the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race fleet with five retirements in less than an hour this afternoon as the fleet battles 40 to 50 knot winds off the New South Wales south coast.

At 3.25pm Ludde Ingvall’s 90-foot high profile entry YuuZoo, a former line honours winner, retired from the race, advising the race committee they had a torn headsail. They also tweeted from the boat that they had structural and rigging problems.


Nick Athineos’ modified 66-footer Dodo (The Stick) is heading to Eden, their ETA 7pm this evening, to drop off an injured crew member. They have not retired from racing and will assess the situation once they reach the coastal port.

Steven Proud’s Sydney 38 Swish was the first to retire within the drama-filled hour, at 3.15 pm this afternoon, reporting that their radio wasn’t working and they were withdrawing from the 628-nautical mile ocean classic which is living up to its fearsome reputation, after having dished out a number of light and straightforward races in the past few years.

At 3.43pm Tony Donnellan’s Victorian Reichel Pugh 47 Shamrock advised they were retiring with rudder bearing damage and heading to Sydney, giving an ETA of 8am Tuesday.

At 3.52pm Andrew Wenham’s Volvo 60 Southern Excellence retired from racing, citing rig failure.

At 3.55pm the Sailors with DisAbilities crew on the TP52 Wot Eva reported that diesel issues have brought their assault on Australia’s best-known blue water event to a sudden halt.

Since then Brindabella, which claimed line honours in 1999, was forced to pull out with a torn mainsail and Alchemy III returning to Sydney with boom damage.

This afternoon’s gale force headwinds have churned the waters, tossing the boats around like a bucking bronco trying to throw its rider.

Rolex photographer Carlo Borlenghi flew over the fleet at lunchtime today and reported seeing yachts with triple-reefed mains, some with storm headsails or racing bare-headed (no sails). He said that in a decade of covering the race he’d never seen seas like those today.

The total number of retirements is now nine with Dodo heading to Eden but still classed as racing. Jazz Player retired yesterday.

The forecast for tonight is for winds west to south-westerly 25 to 35 knots and locally reaching 40 knots in the east then moderating to 20 to 25 knots overnight, with squalls and associated showers. Seas are expected to abate overnight, down from 3 to 4 metres to 2 to 3 metres later in the evening.