Rolex Sydney Hobart: Happy ending for USA's Bacchanal

Bacchanal (USA) - Finish - Rolex Sydney Hobart Race - December 29, 2025 © Salty Dingo

American yachtsman Ron Epstein was thrilled to finally finish the Rolex Sydney Hobart this morning at 6.07.59am, the relief and joy palpable after he was forced to retire 18 and a half hours into last year’s race after Bacchanal’s boom broke.

The 80th race has turned things around and provided a happy ending for the likeable a man who is not afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve.

Bacchanal is sitting at the top of Division 4 standings – and a divisional win is all important to competitors.

“There was a bit of an emotional moment when we crossed the finish line - and all the guys laughed at me. There might have been some mist there,” Epstein admitted when asked if there had been tears this morning when Bacchanal crossed the finish line at Castray Esplanade in Hobart.

And the tears are understandable. Epstein’s JPK 11.80 was built in Nowra on the NSW South Coast, launched in October with the 2024 Sydney Hobart in her sights. Epstein arrived from California at regular intervals to check on her progress. He spent the last months living in NSW to make sure all was OK with Bacchanal, named after Bacchus – the Roman god of wine, hedonism and joy.

But it was not to be, and this year the crew arrived with ‘Unfinished Business’ written on their shirts: “Well, we don’t have it anywhere else now. It’s only on the shirts. We did our first Hobart a year ago, two months after we put the boat in the water on October 25.

“You can only do so much in getting a boat ready. It turned out we had a problem with the manufacturing of the boom and it showed itself between the northerly and the southerly,” he said of their retirement. “It was super disappointing.”

Epstein’s original goal was to build a boat “that I would love to sail in my native California”. “But it just happened that the boat was done a bit early, so we decided to do the Hobart. It was this life goal and to suddenly not have it (not finishing the race) was really tough,” he said.

Of the three big ocean races in the world, Epstein said the 628 nautical mile Rolex Sydney Hobart, organised by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, “is the one I’ve watched for decades and wanted to participate in”.

Renowned for its toughness, Epstein said: “It’s perfectly reasonable to do something that pushes you, stretches you in this way. And to do it with a group of guys you’ve been through the wars with is something to get emotional about.

“A lot of these guys sailed with me last year – and they took me aside and said, ‘Maybe we should leave it for another year’. The truth is, we started seriously talking about it (the race) again. It’s not something the average American sailor gets to do, because it’s quite the race.”

The next 24 hours, Epstein said, “Is to hang out with these guys (his crew), I mean, it’s the end of it. Over a year-long race plan. Tomorrow I’ll head back to Sydney because my wife and I always wanted to do New Year there.”

As to coming back for another Sydney Hobart, Epstein said: “Who knows, it will take some thinking, because this wasn’t the path I started on, but we’ve done well and with a great group of guys. We built a boat that seems to love ocean racing at a level we never expected, so that’s something to think about.”