Spirit of Downunder joins Double-Handed entries in 2025 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race
by Jane Austin/ORCV Media 1 Oct 2025 17:12 AEST
27 December 2025
Spirit of Downunder © Steb Fisher
Spirit of Downunder has a strong pedigree in ocean racing which skipper Rick Whitehouse will be keen to take advantage of when he races his Cameron Delange designed and built 12 metre yacht across Bass Strait and down the West Coast of Tasmania in the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria's (ORCV) 2025 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race (M2H).
Whitehouse, a member of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria, bought the custom-built racing skiff from owner Laurie Ford in 2022 and will be sailing his first M2H, double-handed, alongside fellow Victorian, Marty Bennett.
Spirit of Downunder is already racing against the clock as the boat is readied for the Melbourne to Devonport 'Rudder Cup' qualifying race.
"The last time we sailed the boat was in the Melbourne to Devonport in 2023.
"It could be that I just end up doing the Melbourne to Hobart double-handed with Marty Bennett, as well as some other of the ORCV Coastal races.
"Marty and I did a few races together in 2023 before the boat stopped us doing anymore for a while, so after that, we decided to put in an electric motor and do a big upgrade of the electronics which has taken much longer than I thought it would," said Whitehouse.
While Whitehouse is keen to avoid too much of the spotlight this early in his campaign in case things don't come together, he is certainly enthusiastic about ocean racing since completing a circumnavigation in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race on the Chinese entry, Visit Sanya.
There's no doubt that the Clipper open ocean racing experience coupled with intense training the program provides in advanced sea safety, planning for changing weather conditions, tides and strong currents will benefit Whitehouse when he tackles the challenges that the West Coast and the Southern Ocean can present.
Spirit of Downunder is an instantly recognisable boat with its distinctive graphics which Whitehouse believes is a combination of Indigenous and Aztec artwork.
The boat, with its fractional rig, is a custom-built, full-size replica of an international one metre radio-controlled yacht designed by Gary Cameron in 1995. She was built in Mornington by Peter Delange and launched in 1997.
While the team's goals are simple at this stage, "make it to the start line, finish and have fun," Whitehouse is hoping for the perfect conditions to maximise the boat's design in this year's Westcoaster.
"The boat is designed to be very fast down wind and is perfect for this type of racing, although it's not as quick upwind for me yet, but we'll be looking for a moderately strong breeze from the north west of 15-20 knots in the race.
Whitehouse has chosen the double-handed option for his first Westcoaster to minimise the hassle of organising a big crew and for the sense of achievement you get from sailing short-handed.
"The advantage of double-handed sailing is that you don't have to find a full crew, you get to sail periods of the race on your own, and you only have one other person to get along with.
"It certainly got pretty crowded on the Clipper Race with 20 crew.
"Marty and I have the same attitude towards safety, and we have the same attitude to getting things done and sailing the boat.
"I tend to do most of the navigation planning, and even though we haven't sailed many times together, we are on the same page, with Marty really keen to do more short-handed sailing," said Whitehouse.
Other double-handed entries received so far include Foggy Dew, sailed by Robert Darcy and Janet Wilks from Sandringham Yacht Club and Alex-Team Macadie skippered by Jock Macadie from the Royal Brighton Yacht Club.
Tasmanian sailor Richard Grant co-skippered Magellan to victory with his daughter Megan in the double-handed division in last year's Westcoaster, and earlier this year finished second on AMS and third on PHS in the Melbourne to Osaka Race.
[Richard] Grant, from Bellerive Yacht Club is keen to see all of the double-handed entries do well in the race down the West Coast and offered some thoughts on things that they find helpful sailing two-up.
"Being familiar with your boat is so important, as is having clear reefing systems that can be handled by one person, to make things as quick and easy as possible and to avoid getting over-powered.
"What has worked for us in the past is to plan our race strategy before the start and set our waypoints conservatively so that we could safely sail the course without having to spend a lot of time at the chart table.
"Safety is always a priority, so we always make sure we do lots of training in our man-overboard recovery techniques and other emergency procedures.
"The ORCV and other sailors in the race offer lots of support to everyone competing which is one of the highlights of ORCV ocean races like the Westcoaster," said Grant.
And Grant's final thoughts about the race?
"Make sure you get as much sleep as possible when off watch, drink lots of water and juices, but most of all, make sure you have fun."
The M2H starts off Portsea at 1:30pm on Saturday the 27th of December 2025 with the race taking the fleet through Port Phillip Heads, across Bass Strait, down the West Coast of Tasmania, past Maatsuyker Island before heading east to Storm Bay to the finish at Battery Point in the River Derwent in Hobart.
The Westcoaster is part of the ORCV Offshore and Double Handed Championship and is open to monohull boats racing fully crewed or 4+autohelm or double handed, and multihull boats racing fully crewed or 4+autohelm.
Early bird entries close on Monday the 10th of November with final entries closing on Monday the 24th of November 2025.
Enter the 2025 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race here.