Sydney Hobart – Double is not nothing
by John Curnow, Sail-World.com AUS Editor 29 Dec 00:03 GMT
Andy Offord's Borderline chasing the competition in the Club Marine Ocean Pointscore - Botany Bay Race © CYCA | Ashley Dart
The Double Handers are duking it out to see if they can get the Overall Win under IRC – the famed Tattersall Cup (officially The George Adams Tattersall Cup). There are 12 still racing under IRC in this division. Min River had it early, and now Borderline (Jeanneau SunFast 3300) gets a moment in the sunshine. You could ask, who’s next?
They are a tight knit group, with a lot of information sharing, and always a helping hand where they can, even/especially if the particular soul is not racing at the time.
So, after three intense nights, and the days that go with them, the thought is to get home before taking on yet another night at sea. As the wind has clocked further around to the North, a Symmetric A5 and twin rudders with a wide tail is THE ticket. Mistral would excel here, but she is retired. Sorry to Rupert Henry and Pablo Santurde, and we hope Rupert’s ribs heal well and quickly.
What to take?
One who knows what a trip to Hobart for two is like, is Lee Condell, who has a wealth of shorthanded knowledge and experience. Let’s tap into that.
Early on, the thought was that whilst the seaway would be large and nasty, the squirt would be 25, and get to just over 30 in the puffs. It has been witnessed yesterday morning that it made 38, which creates challenges, and now downhill looks to offer 25 plus as the day moves on.
“The discussion ahead of the race was whether you might get away with a reefed headsail or whether you would have to go to a number four. It is sort of borderline if it was puffing 30, but clearly, if it was significantly more than that, they wouldn't have had any choice, and maybe even smaller. A headsail change, as opposed to reefing up the headsail, and two-handed headsail change into three, four metre seas is not pleasant at the best of time, let alone a very difficult job,” said Condell.
“The story of the Double Handers has to be BNC from New Caledonia, who have been pretty dominant from the start. They did a good exit, and so for the first time Mistral had some really, really significant competition. Unfortunately, that has not come to pass, but it takes nothing away from BNC’s efforts with a 12nm lead the proof.”
“I didn't see a poll on the deck of BNC, so I'm pretty sure they've got A-Sails unless they have the poll down below. Onto that pocket you have talked about, and both Min River and Toucan have gone far West to stay in that pocket, and they're looking pretty good. However, Min River has Symmetrics and Toucan has A-Sails. Alexis Loison, who is sailing with Jiang Lin is rather good, to say the least. He knows a thing or two about pushing small double-handed yachts downhill under a Symmetric kite. There is plenty of footage around to attest to that.”
Remember here that you have just had the bejesus kicked out of you for days, and now you get a blow under a Bag, and have to hand steer. No rest for wicked, right? This is phenomenal territory for human endeavour, isn't it? More comfortable conditions perhaps, but the pressure is really on. Title fight, and all… And you have had no real food, you’re a tad exhausted, been frozen like a popsicle, and bounced from here to there and back again in some very weird pinball machine with flippers wagging rapidly and bells going off the whole time.
Make it close
It has been tight, with maybe eight of them inside a 10nm band, and none of them that far from anyone, as such. This includes the likes of Min River, Toucan, The Gaffer, Verite, Borderline, Hip-Nautic, Pacman, and of course, BNC. Min River is rated to carry her 300l of water ballast, and have done well with that, where as Toucan elected not to go with that, so to be there after two days on the schnozz is terrific.
Crux needs a mention, not just because their time a few years back as Double Handed was almost identical to that of a fully crewed S&S 34 that raced that year. Carlos Aydos and Peter Grayson are anything but out of contention. The S&S will only do hull speed and go deep under her kite pole, whereas say a SunFast 3300 can get to 26 knots, but for everyone, it is about your average, not just the blinders. Condell says of Crux, “Dark Horse.”
Also important to point out that if it does end up blowing harder than expected, then the poled out heady is a super-viable option, and one they regularly use via whisker pole, especially if there is no chicken chute available. Just on that, as of writing, the SE corner of Tassie had 15-25 on offer. More than enough…
“For the lead boats, there's every chance they'll be in the River Derwent before a shutdown. At the end of the day, a 40-footer is a lot to work with double-handed. Everything is just that much harder in terms of changing gears. It is a shame two of them had to retire, as it would have been good to watch them interact with Minnie.”
Andy Offord and Ian Hoddle are on Borderline. Hoddle owns his own SunFast 3300 in the UK, where to fleet in the RORC races is very impressive. Hoddle has also raced in the Figaro. They have not let a small trip out to sea where they lost time affect them, and have regained it back, and then some since. Never say die!
“The discussion before the start was how far you went out to gain some East Australia Current advantage before getting smashed with the sea state. When the J/99, Disko Trooper, won the division in 2021, there was a similar start into the Southerly. They actually backed off, slowed the boat up, but stayed reasonably wide to get the flow South. Then when it got started getting too rough through the night, they came back in to get out of the sea state.”
“By purposefully slowing the boat down, it stopped it from either damaging them or the boat. A lot of people that first night that year ended up getting injured by falling across the boat and falling on winches or headbutting the boom, just because they were overpowered. There was a lesson to be learned there.”
“Double Handers are very conscious of safety and the fact that that there’s limited help when things go wrong. It is all in the preparation,” added Condell. Many sailors in this space talk about going early on changes, and maybe going one and half gears or even two gears, simply because it takes so long to get it all sorted, like 20 to 30 minutes. “Being a bit conservative nearly always pays off,” added Condell.
Probably more than ever it is both game on, and time to crack on. What is tiredness after all, but a state of mind. (Except when everything hurts, and the mind is foggy at best…)
Thanks for tuning into Sail-World.com
Earlier 2025 Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race Editorials:
Moment in the sun?
They will! Huey playing nicely
Will they? Won't they?
New leader as SHK Scallywag comes to the fore
War of attrition as the plateau arrives
Surprised it took this long
I should be so...
Death Valley or Plateau of Pain
Ocean Graders' Delight in the Sydney Hobart Race
New and improved Swiss Army Knife (now with steroids)
Like watching a big front build
Who let the dogs out?
And so, it begins…