Triumph and tragedies in the Sydney Hobart Race, Vendee Globe news, Mini Globe Race
by David Schmidt 31 Dec 2024 11:00 EST
December 31, 2024
Celestial V70 - Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - Tattersall Cup © Carlo Borlenghi / ROLEX
Looking back, 2024 has been year that can be metaphorically bookended by mighty Ultims and tiny Alma Globe 5.80s. This year of "an embarrassment of riches" began on Sunday, January 7 with the start of the Arkea Ultim Challenge, which saw Ultim-sized trimarans (read 105-footers) race singlehanded around the world, and it's ending with the December 28 start of the Mini Globe Race 2025, which is seeing a fleet of 19-foot Alma Globe 5.8s race singlehanded around the world.
In between, the sailing world got to enjoy the 2024 Paris Olympics, the 37th America's Cup, and the start (and most of the Southern Ocean section) of the ongoing Vendée Globe, plus a host of other high-level events.
This latter category includes the annual Sydney Hobart Race, which began on Boxing Day (Yankee translation: December 26) to great fanfare on the waters of Sydney Harbor, and took crews to Hobart, by way of Tasmania's often-fickle River Derwent.
Sadly, the 2024 edition was marked by tragedy, as two sailors died in separate incidents on the first night of the race.
Roy Quaden (55), from Western Australia, was racing aboard Flying Fish Arctos, a McIntyre 55, and Nick Smith (65), from South Australia, was racing aboard Bowline, a Beneteau First 44.7.
According to an official communication from the Cruising Club of Australia, which organizes the race, Quaden was hit in the head by the boom, while Smith was hit by the mainsheet and thrown into a winch.
"In the case of one of those boats, probably both, the winds were running between 30 and 38 knots, the seas would have been between two and three meters," said CYCA vice commodore David Jacobs, in a press conference. "They're challenging conditions. You only need to be hit broadside by a wave that will knock you across."
Tragedy was also narrowly averted in a third incident that same evening, when Luke Watkins, who was racing aboard Porco Rosso, a Cookson 50, fell overboard. Thankfully, Watkins was rescued thanks to his personal locator beacon.
"If you can imagine being overboard in reasonably challenging conditions in the daytime, try to imagine what it would be like at night," said Jacobs, describing Watkins' ordeal. "It would be absolutely terrifying."
While 104 boats started the 2024 edition of the storied Sydney Hobart Race, only 74 crossed the finishing line.
Christian Beck's LawConnect, a Juan Kouyoumdjian-designed 100-footer, took the line honors win with an elapsed time of 1 day, 13 hours, 35 minutes, and 13 seconds, and Dr. Sam Haynes's Celestial V70, a chartered Volvo Open 70, won the Tattersall Cup with a corrected time of 2 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes, and 38 seconds (and an elapsed time of just 1 day, 16 hours, 10 minutes, and 20 seconds).
Haynes, it should be noted, is the CYCA's commodore, and this is his second Tattersall Cup win in the last three editions of this bluewater classic.
"I always wanted to sail a Volvo 70, and I wanted to do the race as a commodore, so when the chance came up, I took it," said Haynes in an official race communication, noting that the boat was well-suited to the conditions. "It was a tough race, plenty of wind, plenty of waves."
"It is a dream," Haynes continued, noting that his 2024 win felt different than his 2022 Tattersall Cup victory. "The loss of life of two competitors - we are mindful of that - my thoughts are with the families."
Elsewhere in the fleet, Annika Thomson, co-skipper of Ocean Crusaders J-Bird, a TP52, was awarded the Jane Tate Memorial Trophy for the first female skipper across the finishing line for the third consecutive time. (Tate, it should be noted, was the first female to compete in the race, which she ticked in 1946.)
Thomson is the first skipper to have won this trophy three times.
"Jane Tate was an absolute legend," said Thomson in an official race communication. "In her time what she did was just heroic. I don't think she saw it that way. She just got on with the job. And that's what we do. We just get on with the job out there."
Sail-World congratulates everyone who competed in this year's Hobart, and we send our deepest condolences to the friends and families of Roy Quaden and Nick Smith.
Meanwhile, Santa Claus delivered gifts to many skippers competing in the singlehanded Vendée Globe Race, as numerous boats—led by skipper Yoann Richomme, sailing aboard Paprec Arkea (and as noted in last week's editorial)—rounded Cape Horn on or around Christmas.
Impressively, skipper Charlie Dalin, sailing alone aboard MACIF Sante Prevoyance, passed Cape Horn just 9 minutes and 30 seconds astern of his rival.
As of this writing (Monday morning, U.S. West Coast time), the two skippers had flip-flopped positions, with Dalin now leading the hunt by just 12 nautical miles.
That said, the two skippers have both sailed into light airs some 600 miles south and east of Rio de Janeiro.
"There is no such thing as strategy when you have no wind and are not going anywhere," said Richomme in an official race communication. "Honestly, we go where the wind takes us. There's no way to anticipate anything in terms of strategy. We take what we have and move forward as much as possible on the course. It's impossible to build a strategy.
"We're into long hours of torturing our brains probably losing our minds. Maybe one of us will be luckier than the other," Richomme continued. "It's hard to assess how we'll get out of this. Today, the gap between us seems minimal but it could prove crucial to succeeding in getting out of this situation. This story really isn't easy!"
All told, 11 of the 35 skippers who are still competing in this year's Vendée Globe have now rounded the bottom of South America, however this morning brought the news that skipper Yannick Bestaven, the skipper of Maître CoQ V and the winner of the 2020/2021 edition of the race, was forced to retire in Ushuaia, Argentina, due to damage to his steering system (plus a damaged daggerboard and a tattered headsail).
Jumping from mighty IMOCA 60s to tiny Alma Globe 5.80s, 12 brave skippers are new sailing their 19-footers singlehanded from Lagos, Portugal, to Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands.
Skipper Adam Waugh, sailing aboard Little Wren, is leading this charge, followed by skipper Renaud Stitelmann, who is sailing aboard Capucinette, and skipper Pilar Passanau, who is sailing aboard Peter Punk.
Sail-World sends our best wishes to all skippers who are competing in the Vendée Globe and the Mini Globe Race, and we extend our best wishes to all Sail-World readers for a happy, healthy, and successful 2025.
May the four winds blow you safely home.
David Schmidt
Sail-World.com North American Editor