Please select your home edition
Edition
Henri-Lloyd Dynamic Range

Ichi Ban wins Rolex Sydney Hobart for a second time

by Di Pearson, RSHYR media 30 Dec 2019 13:38 AEDT 30 December 2019
Ichi Ban crew with Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman, General Manager of Rolex Australia Patrick Boutellier, Ichi Ban owner Matt Allen, RYCT Commodore Tracy Matthews and CYCA Commodore Paul Billingham, with the Rolex timepiece and Tattersall Cup © Carlo Borlenghi / Rolex

The number one racing boat in Australia has been declared the overall winner of the Rolex Sydney Hobart for a second time, as this morning Matt Allen was advised his TP52, Ichi Ban, was to yet again have its name engraved on the Tattersall Cup.

Allen, a member of the Australian Olympic Committee and immediate past president of Australian Sailing, launched Ichi Ban in late December 2017. It has paid him back tenfold since. Some of the highlights include: 2017 - line and overall double in Newcastle Bass Island Race (its first race); won Rolex Sydney Hobart overall.

"To win again this year is just incredible," Allen remarked, after sailing his 30th Sydney Hobart.

"We've spent so many years putting this boat together with two aims - winning the Sydney Hobart and winning the Blue Water Pointscore (BWPS)," the yachtsman said when told he had won both the race and the BWPS from Matt Donald and Chris Townsend's Gweilo and Bob Steel and Craig Neil's Quest - in both events.

In 2018, Allen skippered Ichi Ban to wins in the Australian Yachting Championships (won all eight races); Brisbane to Gladstone, Flinders Islet and Newcastle Bass Island and Bird Island races, and the CYCA's Blue Water Pointscore. Ichi Ban was also named RORC Yacht of the Year.

In 2019, Ichi Ban's wins included Division 1 of the Australian Yachting Championships; Adelaide Port Lincoln Race (also taking line honours), the Brisbane Hamilton Island, Flinders Islet and Newcastle Bass Island races. These performances landed the TP52 in the finals of the 2019 World Sailing Boat of the Year.

"I helped in the design process," Allen said. "We put the right package together; the boat, crew and culture. We all just go and work and sail hard together; there are no egos on board. It's a fulfilment of the sailing capability of the crew and the whole project.

"In 2016, I invited Gordon Maguire (a highly respected yachtsman) to have coffee with me and told him I was putting a new boat together. He has been with me since.

"Gordon, Anthony Merrington, Robert Greenhalgh, Dick Parker, Will (Oxley), James Paterson, Dav (Davin Conigrave) - his third win in nine races; Tim Sellars, Sean (O'Rourke), Charles Kosecki, James Corrie, Matiu (Te Hau), Ashley (Deeks) and Jeremy (Rae). A really amazing group of guys; experienced and calm.

"All the campaigns have really stepped up this year; people have tried to emulate what we have done. There's no doubt about the competition in this race - in the 44 to 55 footers alone, it is incredible," Allen said. "You wouldn't find the competition we have in this race anywhere else in the world.

"We've had conditions to suit these boats the last few years in the Sydney Hobart. You go so fast in the north-easterlies; you go very fast. One year we'll get southerlies again though."

Allen has been blooded by some of legends in yachting. "I always remember my great sailing times with Lou Abrahams - he won two," says Allen who raced with the great Victorian yachtsman when he won in 1983.

"I took some time out on that first afternoon to think about Lou and Trygve (Halvorsen), and others that I sailed with that meant something to me," he said.

Reflecting on his and the crew's win, Allen said, "It was right to the bitter end. We came around Tasman with a great lead on the others and then Gweilo came back within 2 miles. It would have been on - we would have had to match race them.

"We had to watch Quest (2008 winner, then 2015 winner as Balance, and runner-up to Ichi Ban in 2017 by just 10 minutes) too, and wondered how it would work out."

Steel and Neil's Quest was leading the race down the Tasmanian Coast, but found a parking lot that killed their chances.

"Envy Scooters is my previous TP52, and she was always there, sailing with us too," said the yachtsman who thought the winners would come from the 60 footers down to as small as Daguet 3 (a Ker 46).

"We didn't go upwind enough to open the door for the smaller boats. The closer we got to the finish, we thought the smaller boats would get shutdown. We were confident that if it came down to the TPs, we were in the box seat."

In the end, TP52s claimed the top three places overall, with Ichi Ban first, Gweilo second and Quest third.

"We knew we had to beat Quest by over an hour to win," Allen said of the yacht that has twice won the race and was looking good to win until they found a parking lot in Storm Bay," Allen said.

"It was fast conditions on Friday night. They (Quest) had the pedal down and so did we.

We were always looking at Gweilo and my old boat, Envy Scooters (Barry Cuneo), too. They were always up to different things.

"We had our game plan. We didn't alter it for them, but you always keep an eye on them. Once or twice we almost changed it, but decided against it.

"Ichi Ban is two years old now, so we know a lot more about it than we did in the beginning. There were a couple of things that we were still making up as we went along when we won in 2017.

"The boat is great. It's a good all round boat and doesn't really have a weakness. You never know what conditions you are going to get, but we are confident that we can push her hard and we do push her hard. It's a great, fun boat to sail."

Ichi Ban will next head to the Australian Yachting Championships, to be hosted by the Rolex Sydney Hobart finishing partner Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, starting in three days' time.

"We'll go there to try and defend the title we won last year. It will be predominantly the same crew as the Hobart minus a couple. Three days of sailing in some of the trickiest waters in Australia..."

To follow the race and for all information, please go to: rolexsydneyhobart.com.

Related Articles

New Caledonian duo set sights on RSHYR
Two French sailors based in New Caledonia will take on the 2025 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race When Yann Rigal and Michel Quintin began sailing Double Handed in 2020, Rigal had his doubts. "When Michel called me and said, 'Are you in?' I was like, 'Wow, that's crazy but yes, let's go'," Rigal laughed. Posted on 11 Jun
Teams poised to settle unfinished business
80th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race preparations are well underway While the start of the 80th anniversary Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is still some time away, preparations are already well under way at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA). Posted on 14 Mar
80th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race entries open
A fleet of over 120 yachts expected to compete in the milestone event The 80th anniversary of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is expected to attract huge interest from sailors from Australia and around the globe, all eager to participate in the milestone event. Posted on 12 Mar
80th Rolex Sydney Hobart entries to open soon
Promising to be a spectacular edition of the race The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) is thrilled to announce that entries for the milestone 80th edition of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race will open in the coming weeks. Posted on 14 Feb
RSHYR 2024 | 50 feet and below start videos
Start videos from the third and fourth lines Start videos from the third and fourth lines Posted on 8 Jan
RSHYR 2024 | Maxi and mini maxi start videos
Start videos from up in the chopper on Boxing Day, where the airspace is as busy as the Harbour Start videos from up in the chopper on Boxing Day for the annual Sydney Hobart race, where the airspace can get nearly as congested as Sydney Harbour itself... Posted on 7 Jan
2024 RSHYR: Fika wins PHS Double Handed
Annette and Sophie crossed the RSHYR finish line late last evening on Fika Mother and daughter, Annette Hesselmans and Sophie Snijders, crossed the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race finish line late last evening on Fika, the only one of the three female double handed crews to finish the tough 628 nautical mile race. Posted on 1 Jan
2024 RSHYR - Resilience in adversity
Competing crews confronted myriad challenges and a range of weather conditions The official prize-giving for the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race offered a poignant conclusion to an edition marked by tragedy and defined by resilience. Posted on 31 Dec 2024
RSHYR - Mountaineering skills come to the rescue
A crew member with mountaineering skills came to the rescue of Tasmanian boat A crew member with mountaineering skills came to the rescue of Tasmanian boat Tilting at Windmills as it approached the finish line of the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race on Monday. Posted on 31 Dec 2024
2024 RSHYR: No more dehydrated food
Kings Pier overflowed with spectators on Monday Kings Pier overflowed with spectators on Monday, all vying to get a prime view of the latest finishers in the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and among the arrivals was Double Handed entry Disko Trooper_Contender Sailcloth. Posted on 31 Dec 2024
Excess CatamaransRolly Tasker Sails 2023 FOOTERRS Sailing 2021 - FOOTER