Sea, Sail & Surf news
Rolex Sydney Hobart
84 yachts over 94 finished the 69th edition in Hobart
lundi 6 janvier 2014 –
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Fourth day dramas
The sharp change in weather conditions over night took its toll, with five yachts retiring, including the British yacht Henri Lloyd, which was east of Cape Barren Island when it lost its rudder bearing, and Wedgetail dismasted off of Tasman Island.
Despite a forecast that was spot on as to timing, many were surprised by the speed of the southwesterly front. Conditions off the Tasmanian east coast proved treacherous for many in the fleet – though not terribly unusual for the Rolex Sydney Hobart – most notably at Tasman Island, where the rhumbline course required the fleet to harden up and face the brunt of the building southwesterly wind and massive seas.
The yacht Kerumba found a steady 40 – 45 knots off Tasman, with a peak of 57 knots. Navigator Rob Buchanan described a sea state that was manageable : big south Atlantic swells, four to five meters high. He recalled, “We had waves break over us a couple of times, but it wasn’t inordinately rough. We were probably slightly over pressed, a number four jib and a main with two reefs ; we took the view that we needed the power in the troughs to get through it.”
Darryl Hodgkinson’s Victoire had the pedal down on their wild ride south, and when the Cookson 50 crossed the finish line at 8am AEDT, it took the overall handicap lead. The Sydney based skipper would credit tactician and strategist, Sean Kirkjian – veteran of 17 races - and said “He’s a wizard who’s just playing ‘ocean chess’ all the time.” But Victoire would had to wait overnight to see if any competitors could reach Hobart in time to unseat them.
Fifth day respite
Overnight the weather conditions moderated slightly to 20 - 25 knots. For Roger Hickman’s Wild Rose, any chance of upsetting Victoire as overall handicap leader was not to be. The 37-time race veteran later recalled, “If we could have gone in a straight line at six knots we could have gotten there. But the wind was howling…it was a really a tough, and rough, race.”
By mid-morning the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia confirmed Victoire as the official Overall Winner of the 69th edition of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. At a dockside presentation, Hodgkinson was presented with the Tattersall’s Cup and a Rolex timepiece. Hodgkinson bought the boat as a birthday present to himself with a two-year plan to win the Rolex Sydney Hobart – which he fast tracked, succeeding on his first try with the new boat.
The ebullient skipper recalled Victoire’s tough race, “When we got that heavy northeasterly, there were moments when we had to believe in ourselves and our yacht. We knew this boat had won before, so we let it run. We were only going to win if we pressed really hard…we couldn’t let our foot off the pedal. There were some moments when the foot was right down and it was like ‘oh, this is a ride’. We were thrilled !”
Sixth day all in
On 31 December, the final yachts trickled in with last yacht Namadgi, arriving just before 11pm AEDT. As they motored to their berth, they were cheered by tens of thousands of New Year’s Eve revelers lining the shore – just in time for Hobart’s brilliant fireworks display. From a total of 94 race starters, 84 yachts finished the race, and despite some of the most challenging conditions in recent years, only ten yachts retired, a testament to the depth of experience and skill of the 2013 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race fleet.
Interest is building in advance of the 2014 Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, which will be the 70th edition. Already maxis Wild Oats XI and Perpetual Loyal are among the competitors that have confirmed they intend to be on the start line, which will be sure to attract the most competitive sailors and yachts from all corners of the world.
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