Rolex Sydney Hobart has flying start with Master Lock Comanche in lead
by Steve Dettre/RSHYR media 26 Dec 2024 16:27 AEDT
26 December 2024
2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race © Carlo Borlenghi / ROLEX
LawConnect led the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race fleet through Sydney Heads before drama struck when her furling line momentarily refused to play ball.
As the fleet headed south in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's (CYCA) annual race, Master Lock Comanche took advantage of the mishap and had overtaken their rivals and were 3.8 nautical miles ahead of LawConnect at 1438hrs.
CYCA Commodore, Sam Haynes, sailing the VOR 70, Celestial, was also doing well, along with Grant Wharington/Adrian Seiffert's Wild Thing 100, also looking good.
Defending champion, Tasmania's Alive, was in third place, 6.5nm behind the leader.
The fleet of 104 spent the time before the 1300 start dramatically manoeuvring for positions along the four start lines, watched by a huge flotilla of spectator craft and Sydneysiders crammed along the harbour foreshore.
Like a group of sharks patrolling a shoal of fish, the maxis were cruising through the harbour, waiting for the final minutes to get the best start positions.
While the majority of the fleet took a western line down Sydney Harbour, it was noticeable that URM Group took an easterly track.
URM Group's navigator Alice Parker said from the boat that at the start they were in a tight position "with a bunch of boats coming at us on starboard".
"We had Wild Thing below us so it was a tight squeeze," she said.
"We just tried to keep clear, but we were the leeward boat, so we had to give way... it was a matter of playing it safe, so we did the turns to avoid the possibility of a penalty," she said.
Whisper was spotted flying a protest flag.
Whisper's owner and CYCA Director, David Griffith, said the flag was in relation to URM Group.
"We had a protest flag in relation to URM, but we saw URM did her penalty turns, so we dropped the protest flag," Griffith said.
Griffith said they had to gybe as a big ship got in Whisper's way, but had managed to make up lost ground and were now doing well.
"We are hurtling along at 18 to 22 knots and caught back up to where we were before the incident," he said.
The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and its organiser, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, have been supported by Rolex since 2002, and are cornerstones of its longstanding relationship with the sport.
You can track the fleet at www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/tracker