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  S2H preview, Vendee Globe - Sailing news from North America & beyond
 | | Start - 2015 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race © Rolex / Studio Borlenghi / Gattini |
As Americans and Canadians rub the sleep and lingering Christmas from their eyes, our antipodean friends are engaged in Australia's biggest sailboat race of the year, namely the infamous Sydney to Hobart Race (S2H), which began in Sydney Harbor on Boxing Day (December 26). This year, 89 boats from ten different nations signed up for this classic, 630 nautical-mile open-ocean contest that takes the fleet down Oz's southeastern coastline, across Bass Straight and then up the River Derwent to Hobart. While this 35,000' overview sounds simple enough, anyone who has ever sailed this ocean race knows that weather always emerges as the race's most important actor.
While most sailors are familiar with the tragic 1998 S2H, when six sailors and five vessels were lost, plenty of other Hobarts have featured “a bit of a pounding”. Yet throughout these (less-than-sporadic) poundings, Aussie sailors-like all keen yachtsmen the world over-keep their eyes riveted on making their boats sail fast and on being competitive in all conditions.
 | | Matt Allen's turbo-charged TP52, Ichi Ban © David Brogan www.sailpix.com.au |
Take skipper Matt Allen (AUS), the owner of a Carkeek 60 and a TP52. Given the medium-term weather forecast, which called for conditions that would favor his “smaller” ride, Allen announced that he would be sailing to Tasmania aboard Ichi Ban in hopes that this year's conditions pull a repeat of the 2015 race, when Paul Clitheroe's Balance (another TP52) took top honors.
 | | Wild Oats Xi and Comanche go to battle in 2014 - Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race © Rolex/ Kurt Arrigo |
For the past two years, North American S2H interests were well-represented by Jim and Kristy Clark's Comanche, a 100-foot VPLP/Verdier-designed super maxi that's skippered by Ken Read and sailed by some of the most experienced offshore sailors on the planet. This year, however, the Clarks, Read and company are instead focusing their efforts on Clark's J-Class yacht, Hanuman, and will not be competing in the Sydney to Hobart, possibly leaving the all-conquering Wild Oats XI to try and set another S2H course record.
 | | Wild Oats XI, shows her downwind form in the Rolex Sydney Hobart race Carlo Borlenghi / Rolex |
Instead, the North American baton has (metaphorically) been passed to Joe Mele and his crew aboard Triple Lindy, Mele's Swan 44 Mark II. While this is Triple Lindy's first Hobart, the New York-based yacht is no stranger to offshore racing and has been a frequent flyer at North American events such as the Newport to Bermuda and the Marblehead to Halifax races, and Mele will be sailing with his dedicated crew that includes more than a few ringers.
“We're happy to be sailing an event where an entire nation is not only behind and enthralled by [it], but they are literally all present and on water following us out from the start,” reported an excited Mele prior to the starting guns sounding.
 | | Triple Lindy competing at the Rolex Swan Cup Caribbean © Rolex / Carlo Borlenghi |
Inside, don't miss a pre-Hobart interview with Mele-along with a heck of a lot of other great S2H race coverage-and stay tuned for a post-racing Q&A with the American skipper, once the fleet has reached Hobart.
Meanwhile, in other offshore-sailing news, the frontrunners in the singlehanded, non-stop-around-the-world Vendee Globe Race, Armel Le Cleac'h (FRA), sailing aboard Banque Populaire VIII and Alex Thomson (GBR), sailing aboard Hugo Boss, have both now rounded Cape Horn and are making tracks for the finishing line, which is still some 6,000 nautical miles in front of Banque Populaire VIII's bow.
 | | Hugo Boss at 20kts plus in the Southern Ocean match racing with Banque Populaire VIII © Alex Thomson / Hugo Boss / Vendée Globe |
While these two skippers have commanded the race's pole position virtually from its onset, Thomson suffered a foil-breaking collision with an unidentified floating object weeks ago that has hampered Hugo Boss' ability to realistically hang with Banque Populaire VIII, who now enjoys a lead of (ballpark) 600 nautical miles.
 | | Banque Populaire VIII - Armel Le Cleac'h - Vendee Globe 2016/17 © Team Banque Populaire |
Get the full Vendee Globe reports, inside this issue, and be sure to stay tuned to the website for the next several days as the Sydney Hobart drama unfurls. Enjoy!
May the four winds blow you safely home,
David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor
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