1 day 18 hours 15 minutes

Three 100 footers are within sight of each other sailing east of St Helens on the Tasmanian coast this morning with little more than a mile in it in 80th edition of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s race.

SHK Scallywag 100 (owned by Seng Huang Lee and skippered by David Witt) has taken the race lead from LawConnect (Christian Beck) and Master Lock Comanche (Matt Allen and James Mayo), with all three very much in contention to claim the John H. Illingworth Challenge Cup.

Christian Beck reported from LawConnect this morning that the mainsail was badly torn. It happened when the main was reefed, “So there’s a big hole in it now,” Beck said.

“We have to keep going, we are sailing under full main in light air. We can all see each other. Scallywag is just in front of us.”

“It should be an interesting day,” Beck said. “We haven’t given up – the Derwent could do anything.”

The three were sailing in light air, six knots. “We are going through a breeze transmission at the moment,” LawConnect’s owner said.

“We are expecting a bit more light air and then heavier and then light again. You could see three boats on the Derwent this afternoon. This could be Scallywag’s race, because Comanche is not so good in the light air,” Beck forecast.

“Who knows - we could still be in it,” said Beck, who predicted a 4-4.30pm finish this afternoon – weather dependant of course.

So will it be race record holder Comanche, which retired with a torn main early in last year’s race and was beaten to the punch by LawConnect in a thriller on the Derwent in 2023 - 51 seconds separating them at the finish.

Or will it be SHK Scallywag, which despite many wins overseas, has never won this race, suffering her share of bad luck, including breaking her bowsprit in the 2018 and 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobarts?

Can LawConnect, with a hole in her main, take it on the Derwent again in light air to make it three line honours in succession?

Who knows and even a betting person, looking at the constantly changing conditions the three face, lay the odds?

Rolex Sydney Hobart fleet looks forward to easing conditions

47.5 hours after start

Already, 33 boats have been forced to withdraw from the 628-nautical-mile blue-water classic hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

Of the 128 starters, 95 yachts remain in the race, and more than half have yet to reach the halfway mark, about 314 nautical miles.

Today’s forecast from First Light and Smuggler crew members
Southerly conditions and an uncomfortable sea state during the first 36 hours of the race slowed down much of the fleet, particularly yachts under 50 feet, as they travel down Australia’s east coast.

Sailors can expect some relief as they enter Bass Strait, where conditions are currently less severe. Last night proved bumpy, with gusts at times exceeding 30 knots. The fleet will continue to face southerly winds before a predicted shift to the east later today, 28 December.

Sebastian Bohm, skipper/owner of JV TP52 Smuggler, described the change in wind strength and direction as a “second race start”. Leaderboards are likely to shift as yachts scatter across Bass Strait in search of a better breeze and favourable current.

Annie Stevenson, navigator on board Elizabeth Tucker’s Class40 First Light, outlined the conditions as they sailed past Merimbula on the NSW South Coast at 0830 hours this morning.

“Last night was pretty full on, the wind and gusts were pretty consistently in the 30s,” Stevenson said. “The conditions have just started easing, maybe an hour or two ago. It got down to around 18 knots of breeze but still confused seas.”

The battle of the 52s
Near the halfway point across Bass Strait, Bohm’s Smuggler is locked in a contest with IRC Division 2 leader, James Murray’s PAC 52 Callisto . Bohm was ecstatic to be able to hoist their second spinnaker of the race as the wind clocked to the east.

Reflecting on the conditions, Bohm said: “We knew this was going be a race of two races, basically the first horrendous part, and now the fun part.”

Retirements
Since yesterday evening’s race update, which confirmed the retirement of the Hick 40 Avalanche, a further 16 yachts have withdrawn, including two Double Handed entries. A full list of retirements appears at the bottom of the Line Honours standings.

 Wild Oats leads PHS Overall

The 2006 Overall winner, Farr 43 Wild Oats, leads on PHS Overall ahead of German entry Solaris 80RS Alithia in second and Philip Bell’s Olsen 40 She in third. This is good news for Wild Oats owners Gordon Smith and Stuart Byrne, who were forced to retire in 2024 after the yacht suffered rig damage. But anything can happen, with around 380 nautical miles to go until the River Derwent finish line.

Victorian entry makes waves
Damien King’s Frers 61 MRV (Margaret Rintoul V) from Sandringham Yacht Club, Victoria, could cause an upset on IRC Corinthian. The yacht, which has no paid professionals on board, leads on IRC Overall, IRC Corinthian and IRC Division 2. MRV won IRC Division 2 in the 2023 race.

The Overall winner of the 1998 Sydney Hobart, Ed Psaltis’ Sydney 36 Midnight Rambler is placed second to MRV on IRC Corinthian. The Double Handed New Caledonian entry, BNC – MY::NET / LEON is third. On board Midnight Rambler is Sydney Hobart veteran Tony Ellis, competing in his 55th race.

BNC – MY::NET / LEON dominates Double Handed Division
It may be their first Sydney Hobart as a Double Handed crew, but that has not stopped Frenchmen Michel Quintin and Yann Rigal on board BNC – MY::NET / LEON

from potentially taking podium places in multiple divisions. The JPK 10.80 leads on Double Handed IRC and Double Handed Line Honours. It is second to Midnight Rambler on IRC Division 5 and third on IRC Corinthian. The New Caledonian entry has a 19 nautical mile lead over the next placed Double Handed, Michael Bell and Adrian Harmsworth’s Jones 42 Minnie.

The BNC – MY::NET / LEON crew said: “Every moment is key. We will try to push hard until the finish. It’s hard to know what will be the key moment. It could be the transition to Hobart after Bass Strait or in Storm Bay.

“Long is the road ahead.”

Flip flop on Sydney 38 leaderboard
The Sydney 38 leaderboard has seen another change at the top. On the evening of 27 December, Kim Jaggar’s Cinquante moved ahead of Lisa Callaghan’s Mondo on IRC, but Mondo has since regained the lead. Thierry and Malo Leseigneur’s Eye Candy holds third place. Mondo and Cinquante have now entered Bass Strait, with the remaining three Sydney 38s set to follow.

Love & War maintains lead in Grand Veterans Division
Three-time Sydney Hobart Overall winner Love & War (S&S 47) leads the Grand Veterans Division for yachts launched before 1976.

After Unicoin (Farr 277) retired yesterday afternoon due to pulpit damage, John Wilkerson’s Express 37 Perplexity (USA) now holds the lead in the Veterans Division for yachts launched between 1976 and 1995.