Sydney Hobart – Big prize locked away – still heaps happening
by John Curnow, Editor, Sail-World AUS 28 Dec 2023 17:35 PST
Alive powering through the waves near Tasman Island - 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race © Rolex / Andrea Francolini
And so with the clubhouse favourite to get anointed officially later on for a marvellous job, which would be Alive BTW, it is time to turn our gaze elsewhere. Before we move on, well done Phillip Turner, Duncan Hine, Gavin Brady, Adrienne Cahalan et al. Great stuff. Deserved.
Shorthanded certainly had a massive shot in the arm during the COVID period, but it is by no means ‘new’, even of their category in the famous blue water classic is still a toddler. What impressed me so much this year were the number of international entrants in this intriguing class. This is awesome.
16 Two-Handed crews started racing and 12 are still out there. Two crews are from New Zealand, and one is all the way from Ireland, and they are all still in it. Notably, the well-credentialled Irish entrant, Cinnamon Girl, is in third place under IRC in their Division. Their Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300 is chartered from none other than Lee Condell of Performance Boating in Sydney, who did the race last year and kind of answers why he’s not out there this year, although I bet he wishes he was.
If you looked at the two-handed fleet in the 2023 Sydney Hobart, and took what you could from the varying forecasts, it would not have been too hard to determine that last year’s winner, Rupert Henry’s Lombard 34 Mistral, as the favourite. The yacht has been further optimised with a lighter, stiffer rig and various other tweaks, so is more competitive than ever. Henry and co-skipper Jack Boutell are known for their preparation, and have countless miles on the board, as well. The boat and crew make for a formidable package that is versatile across a range of conditions.
Condell added, “It was sad to see the highly modified, and well-prepared Young 11 Pacman forced to retire. They would have done well in the light and variable conditions experienced in the first part of the race, and then the heavy airs upwind stuff that awaited them later on. Min River, the JPK 10.40 was a little bit of an unknown, but they have put in a lot of practice on a very competitive boat, so will be likely to do very well under IRC, so it is no surprise that they are in fourth right now.”
“There are three each of the Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300’s and J/99s, who are all expected to experience conditions to their liking at different times, but would have to sail exceptionally well to beat the lighter boats in the fleet.” Note here that at the time of writing, one of the 3300s, Kraken, was actually leading under IRC. Rob Gough and John Saul know plenty about the race and sailing together, having blasted down in 2021 aboard their Class 40, Sidewinder, and then in 2022 on board the current 3300.
Two other yachts to watch out for are the Sydney 36CR, Philosopher, campaigned by the remarkable 80-year-old David Henry with Stephen Prince. There is also Dehler 30, Niksen, that sailed over here from New Zealand on her own bottom for the race, which is a highly creditable achievement in itself.
“The Sun Fast 3600, Mister Lucky, has more miles than any other yacht in the fleet and would also be expected to be in the hunt. The Hick 41, Avalanche, could well be a dark horse”, said Condell.
“Looking at the 3300s, Tumbleweed is packaged with an S2 (symmetrical kite), as is sistership Kraken, but the chartered, Cinnamon Girl, has large A sails and no water ballast, so the boats would be expected to revel in different conditions. A good judge of the pace of the three two-handed J/99s would be Jules Hall and Wendy Tuck with a youth crew on the sistership, and former two-handed overall winner, Disko Trooper.”
“There have been quite a few retirements, most notably Currawong, who deservedly experienced a huge welcoming when they finished last year, The J/99, Rum Rebellion, Pacman, and 3300 Tumbleweed. Knowing how much time, effort and money goes into a Hobart campaign, particularly for a two-handed campaign, we offer our commiserations!”
“Now three days in, what impresses me most is the depth in the fleet as positions are constantly changing. While Mistral is by far the most consistent leader under IRC, there are a group of boats giving it a really good go, including the Sun Fast 3300s Kraken, and Cinnamon Girl, as well as the J/99s Verite, and Blue Planet, Min River, Philosopher, and the little Dehler 30, Niksen, which is doing well on the track despite having rating penalties for things like water ballast.”
“There’s still a long way to go, and I’ve no doubt places will continue to change, so it is going to be fascinating to see how the race finishes for the two-handers, but at this stage Mistral leads Division Four overall, and Kraken Division Five. Interestingly the two two-handed J/99s are either side of the fully crewed Disco Trooper under IRC.”
“One thing that is certain is that all of these crews have had a race that’s been extremely demanding all the way, so they will no doubt be exhausted when they make it to the finish and every one of them deserve our praise and respect for their performance”, stated Condell.
The story of Ireland’s Cian McCarthy and Sam Hunt on Cinnamon Girl is quite remarkable. In alternate years they race the Fastnet and the Round Ireland events, and they are pretty successful at it, too. There are Clippers and Mini Transats in there too boot. Sam has done the Hobart before, and a Sydney Gold Coast race as well. They chartered Condell’s identical Sun Fast 3300, but brought along their own weather routing system, sails and bowsprit, which did not arrive exactly on time. Try 1600hrs on December 15! The 210kg pallet included the main and one massive asymmetric kite, which may play a role in the River Derwent yet. It has already proven its worth just South of Sydney, but naturally brings about a rating penalty with it.
In taking his own main off, which has sliders, Condell actually put the feeder for the Irish crew’s bolt rope main in the drink. Doh! He did secure the only spare available on this side of the world, so the audible sigh was plenty distinct… All their gear was packed on and the boat headed down from Pittwater to Sydney to meet the crew who arrived on the Sunday. On the Monday the sail checks, mast tune and safety audits were done, but Sam became ill after the long flight with a flu, and so went into isolation.”
McCarthy, Condell and Anssi Paatero, who is doing the delivery back, continued to prepare the boat, changing over the bowsprit, running rigging, re-leading strings everywhere, adding a tack point for the genoa staysail, and doing the audits and spot checks. A final job was to ensure the reefs were in and operating perfectly, along with the storm jib tack, and so. It was all concluded on Christmas Eve, BTW.
Nothing like a short runway and added stress to kick a tin along… So yes, every boat has stories, but to those who have travelled so far, be it Ireland, France, New Zealand, or the West Coast of the USA, thanks. You maketh the race so much more. We know it is not mades easy for you, so your perseverance is acknowledged.
Please enjoy your yachting, stay safe, and thanks for tuning into Sail-World.com