The countdown is on for the start of the 52nd Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race and it’s anyone’s guess who will lift the prestigious Heemskerk Perpetual Trophy with a fleet of seasoned sailors, newcomers and double-handers all in the mix for handicap honours.
This year’s 20-boat fleet includes seven entries sailing the 435 nautical mile race to Hobart short-handed, with five using the challenging and tactical race as a qualifier for the Melbourne to Osaka Cup (M2O) which starts in March next year.
Maverick, the Jeanneau Sunfast 3600, has a reputation for excellent performance in all conditions and in the hands of the enormously experienced and previous double-handed division winners of Rod Smallman and Alex Toomey, will be a boat to watch and an outside chance of a handicap win.
Quest, skippered by self-described “geriatric sailors” Peter Tardrew and Rod Gunther, are also prepping for the M2O, but this duo certainly knows what it takes to achieve a podium position with a second place in the recent Melbourne to King Island race evidence of the skills and expertise onboard.
After a couple of frustrating years, Rob Date’s Carkeek 43, Scarlet Runner, has hit a purple patch and is all set for a solid crack at line honours and a handicap win in this year’s race, fondly referred to as the Westcoaster.
Commissioned specifically for the 50th anniversary of the Melbourne to Hobart, the Sandringham Yacht Club entry has been back to the shop for some tweaks to improve performance and following a win in this year’s Ocean Racing Club of Victoria’s (ORCV) Winter Series, Date will be driving this black-hulled beauty hard for the win.
Standing between Scarlet Runner and a handicap victory could be the highly fancied boat, Cadibarra, skippered by ORCV Vice Commodore, Paul Roberts. Roberts took out line honours and the handicap win in 2016 on his previous boat, Cadibarra 8, and with Scarlet Runner giving the Sydney 41 time on handicap, Roberts will be pushing his experienced crew hard to get the best out of the boat in the race to Hobart.
Kioni, skippered by Dennis Ward from the Royal Melbourne Yacht club, is a newcomer to the Melbourne to Hobart fleet with Ward sailing the Beneteau 47.7. Ward sees this year’s race as a fast delivery to Hobart before the team spends some time cruising in Tasmania.
“We have a relatively inexperienced crew, so I see ocean racing as a way to gain experience, practice seamanship in controlled conditions and, with the support of the ORCV, getting us through our safety processes,” said Ward.
“We are hoping for 20 knots on the nose all the way to race our best race,” said Ward.
Peccadillo is the leading multihull entered in this year’s race with skipper Charles Meredith back to beat his own line honours race record of 2 days, 18 hours, 4 minutes and 1 second, which was set in 2023, despite incurring a time penalty.
Joining Peccadillo on the start line will be Rushour, the Drew 15 skippered by Drew Carruthers from the Multihull Yacht Club of Queensland, and Resolute II, skippered by Kenneth Gibson from the Greenwich Flying Squadron in New South Wales.
Resolute II, a family-focused cruising catamaran with a history of trans-Atlantic cruising and circumnavigations rather than racing through the Southern Ocean, will be sailing a cautious race.
“We aren’t used to Southern Ocean sailing and sailing down south like Charles [Meredith], so we will be conservative and know our limitations,” said Gibson.
Gibson and Carruthers have reserved the ‘right’ to peel off and go East if the conditions on the West Coast aren’t to their liking in their first race.
The skippers are united in their support for a multihull division in this challenging but stunningly beautiful ocean race, an option not offered in the other big race to Hobart.
The 2024 Melbourne to Hobart has drawn entries from four states with Tasmania well-represented within the fleet.
Colin Bailey is skippering the modified Adams 11.9, Force Eleven, in what will be the first race down the West Coast for the experienced Tasmanian skipper.
Bailey, from the Bellerive Yacht Club (BYC), and his crew are keen to tick this race off their bucket lists and are looking forward to the challenges of the Westcoaster.
“We are all pretty excited about the race. We have gone over the boat from one end to the other, servicing it and replacing gear where we needed to.
“We are looking forward to the challenge of sailing down the West Coast, particularly the self-sufficiency that you need to have when you can’t just pull easily into a place when things get tough like you can when sailing down the East Coast,” said Bailey.
Father and daughter combination, Megan and Richard Grant will be sailing Magellan in the double-handed division in their preparation for the M2O race.
Magellan, a Knoop 39 yacht was the last of the 70+ boats built by designer Wally Knoop and was bought by the Grant family, also BYC members, back in 2013.
Megan has sailed several offshore races with her father as skipper and is thrilled to be competing in this year’s race as preparation for the M2O.
The BYC affiliations continue in this race with club member and Tasmanian marine scientist Lillian Stewart co-skipper on White Spirit, a Beneteau First 50, with ORCV Commodore, Cyrus Allen.
Stewart and Allen are sailing this year’s race as a qualifier for the M2O with Stewart a former crew member on Magellan.
Stewart is enthusiastic about the upcoming race and thrives on the challenge and adrenaline of offshore racing.
“Double-handed sailing differs from fully crewed sailing as just two crew take on the roles which are typically spread across eight or ten people – it’s a vibrant and growing discipline that combines strategy, physical endurance and seamless teamwork.
“For the most part you are essentially solo sailing as you play tag team with your co-skipper, and you try and maximise every single minute of rest that you can get when you are off watch.
“The challenges are certainly intense balancing sleep schedules and managing the boat’s performance but it’s also what makes it so rich and rewarding.
“White Spirit is certainly a handful at times, and she really thrives in those heavier conditions.
“I really enjoy battling through the rough of it, including the physical aspect and the strength and capability that goes with it,” said Stewart.
Stewart recently accepted the Australian Sailing National Sustainability Award as the leader of the ORCV team dedicated to sustainability, delivering various campaigns and educating others on the impact of sailing on marine life and the environment.
The 2024 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race, organised by the ORCV with the cooperation of the Derwent Sailing Squadron, is a race of four parts starting with the race across Bass Strait, the tactical choices about the route around King Island, rounding Maatsuyker Island and running across the bottom of Tasmania and then tackling the often fickle winds of the River Derwent.
The fleet is competing for the Heemskerk Trophy for first place on corrected time in the measurement handicap with the greatest number of entrants, which is AMS again in 2024.
The race starts off Portsea Pier at 10am on Friday 27 December 2024.
The 2008 race record is held by TP52 Shortwave, skippered by Matthew Short, in a time of 1 day, 17 hours, 28 minutes and 59 seconds.
Follow the 2024 race via Blue Water Tracks at: https://race.bluewatertracks.com/2024-melbourne-hobart-westcoaster
Jane Austin/ORCV media
Website www.orcv.org.au
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