The energy and enthusiasm for offshore yacht racing has never been more evident with a large fleet entered in the 2024 Melbourne to Devonport Yacht Race, also known as the Rudder Cup.
Close to 40 boats will be on the start line of this historic 195 nautical mile yacht race across Bass Strait from Melbourne to Devonport, which is conducted by the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria (ORCV) and the Mersey Yacht Club (MYC) on the north west coast of Tasmania.
The Rudder Cup Perpetual Trophy is awarded to the measurement handicap winner of the race. The race is also part of the ORCV Offshore Championship and is open to yachts fully crewed, 4-plus autohelm, and double-handed.
The race will start from the historic maritime village of Queenscliff, Victoria at 2pm on Friday 1 November with the fleet heading to a finish line at the mouth of the Mersey River in Devonport.
Race organisers expect plenty of spectators along the shoreline and on the waters of Port Phillip Bay as Melburnians take advantage of the Melbourne Cup long weekend, and if the weather gods deliver a northerly spring breeze for the start, they can expect a spectacular kaleidoscope of colourful kites as the fleet sets off for the Apple Isle.
While the 2024 yachts may look a little different to Thistle, the yawl-rigged yacht that won the first Rudder Cup held in 1907, what hasn’t changed is the collaboration, courage, sea safety and spirit that together form part of the very soul of ocean racing.
The Rudder Cup originated from a collaboration between a ‘leading spirit in the American yachting world’, Thomas Fleming Day, editor and publisher of the maritime magazine, Rudder, and his friend Commodore T A Dickson of the Geelong Yacht Club (GYC).
Day, a leading American yachtsman with a penchant for cruising and offshore sailing, and an apparent dislike of professional club-based yacht racing, held a deep conviction that amateur sailors were equally capable of safely handling and navigating smaller boats over long distances.
In 1906, Day founded (and won) the first New York to Bermuda Race, with three boats under 40 feet contesting the 636 nautical mile race, and with a 20-year-old female sailing on the smallest boat, The Gauntlet.
Buoyed by the success of the Bermuda Race, Day took his efforts further afield to Victoria, and with the support of Dickson, the GYC, local sailors and the Tamar Yacht Club, the Rudder Cup was born.
Day sponsored the race, and generously donated the magnificent and expensive Rudder Cup, (valued at 60 guineas at the time), for the inaugural race to be sailed from Victoria to northern Tasmania.
The 1907 race was open to cruising-sailing boats under 60-feet of any rig, from any organised yacht club in the Commonwealth.
Four boats lined up on the start line for the first race from Queenscliff to Low Head in Tasmania.
The 48-foot yawl, Thistle, skippered by Edgar Newlands, won the race in a time of one day, 11 hours and 30 minutes.
In an interesting twist, Edgar Newlands’ wife, who was on the winning crew alongside his daughter, hid the Rudder Cup trophy for over 60 years to discourage others from attempting the voyage across Bass Strait, but her efforts were in vain, and despite a gap of a few years between events, the race continues today.
Fast forward to 2024 and the Rudder Cup serves as a qualifying or lead-up event for other ocean races including the Melbourne to Hobart ‘Westcoaster’ Yacht Race and Rolex Sydney to Hobart.
Terry Travers, Commodore of the MYC, has confidence in the skills and experience of the fleet as they prepare for the 2024 race.
“Bass Strait can be a daunting stretch of water but what’s so helpful is that the ORCV run educational courses that enable sailors to be well prepared to take on challenges such as the Rudder Cup.
“We are thrilled to partner with the ORCV to enable this race to occur annually,” said Travers.
This year’s fleet will be chasing the longstanding race record set by Prowler (Joe Westerlo) in 1998 of 19 hours, 32 minutes and 56 seconds, however the long-range forecast is currently predicting a race length of closer to 30 hours.
The ORCV has made a major contribution to the development and growth of double-handed sailing in Australia which is reflected in the 2024 entry list with six teams sailing the event double-handed and using the race as a lead-up event for the 2025 Melbourne Osaka Cup (Double Handed Yacht Race), a race between the sister cities.
ORCV Commodore and skipper of entrant White Spirit, Cyrus Allen, is sailing the race double handed with Lillian Stewart and is also entered in the Melbourne to Hobart and the 2025 Osaka Race.
“The Melbourne to Devonport is the perfect example of ORCV’s success in fostering amateur sailors to successfully race across Bass Strait and around Tasmania.
“Our safety and skills development programs, run throughout the year, equip experienced and newer sailors alike with the capabilities to race over longer distances, and we’re seeing a rapid increase in double-handed sailing, with mixed crews and people of all ages,” said Allen.
Safety at sea is a major focus of the ORCV and promoting a boat-safe culture a priority of the club. The ORCV regularly hosts safety and sea survival courses, keel and full boat inspections, and makes available a vast array of sea safety resources and training opportunities on the water and online for sailors.
The 2024 Rudder Cup has a special place in the hearts and minds of Australian ocean sailors.
One would like to think that pioneering yachtsman Thomas Fleming Day would also be impressed with the evolution of sailing and the successes of small boats exploring new horizons through deep sea sailing today.
Words: Jane Austin/ORCV Media
Website www.orcv.org.au
Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/OceanRacingClub
About ORCV: A leading authority on ocean sailing, racing and training in Australia, the Club was formed so that ocean races in Victorian waters could be efficiently developed and run by an organisation focusing specifically on the needs of ocean racers.
