116 entries

Including seven supermaxis to contest this year's Rolex Sydney Hobart

116 boats are due to take part in this year's Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

Last year’s event attracted 113 entries and of those 100 made it to the start line on Boxing Day with 92 reaching the finish line off Hobart’s historic Battery Point having completed the gruelling Bass Strait crossing.

In 2004, 116 yachts sailed south for the 60th anniversary edition and prior to that 115 made it to the start line in 1998. It’s likely that this year’s fleet will finish up the second largest in more than a decade.

Expected to rendez-vous in Sydney Harbour at 1pm on Saturday 26 December for the traditional blast of cannon fire will be seven 100 and 98 foot heavyweights. They will line up for a title fight like never before - and there is plenty at stake. Apart from a single scare last year, Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI crew has largely had things all their own way in the 628 nautical mile premier blue water event since they took the treble of line honours, the overall win and set a new race record in 2005.

But as Wild Oats XI stirs for a record fifth charge at line honours, the sharks are circling. At least four other similar sized maxis are capable of stemming Oats’ amazing run says Neville Crichton, owner/skipper of Alfa Romeo who is riding high after his 143rd line honours win in New Zealand last week and one of those challenging.

“It’s going to be the most spectacular big boat race we’ve ever seen,” Crichton promises.

In a hard upwind slog his money will be on Mike Slade’s proven UK-based 100 footer ICAP Leopard, while in a running race he would back Wild Oats XI, Grant Wharington’s modified 98 footer Skandia Wild Thing and Sean Langman’s soon-to-be 100 footer LOYAL, and of course his own Reichel Pugh-designed 100 foot champion.

Joining the super sleek and modern will be many of the race faithfuls, including three-time overall winner Love & War, Simon Kurts’ 1973-launched S & S 47, and Mike Freebairn’s 1968-built S & S 49 Ray White Spirit of Koomooloo, a 22-time entrant.

Ian Kiernan’s 1958-built Tasman Seabird Sanyo Maris, which tonight is running first in the IRC handicap stakes of the Hempel Gosford to Lord Howe Island Yacht Race, will also add a touch of old world charm to the starter’s list.

“The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia is elated with the number of applications to enter this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart,” said Commodore Matt Allen today.

“The decision to extend the maximum length overall limit from 98 to 100 feet has generated strong interest worldwide with five 100 footers promising an intense battle when the focus of yachting worldwide turns to Sydney Harbour on the 26th of December.

“There are a significant number of high quality applications including the Rolex Fastnet line honours and overall winners, ICAP Leopard and Niklas Zennstrom’s Ran. They will join last year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart overall winner, Bob Steel’s TP52 Quest, and other past winners spanning several decades.

“With so many competitive grand prix yachts entered we are anticipating an exciting battle for the Tattersall’s Cup, but of course like Love & War’s win three years ago, the overall victor could come from one of the classic ranks.”

All Australian states plus the ACT are represented, with 12 international entries sailing for the UK, USA, New Zealand, Spain, New Caledonia and the Netherlands.

Applications for entry, which closed at 5pm today, will continue to be processed by the CYCA sailing office and if all the race entry criteria is met, owners will be invited to submit an entry form, due 4 December.

The Rolex Sydney Hobart will be preceded by the Rolex Trophy to be conducted on the waters off Sydney Heads. Racing for the one design classes, including Farr 40s and Sydney 38s, will take place over 11-13 December and the IRC and Performance Handicap boats between 17 and 20 December 2009.

Entries:

Boat	Nat/state	Type	LOA
Alfa Romeo	NZ	Maxi	100
ICAP Leopard	UK	Maxi	100
Lahana	NSW	30m Maxi	100
Loyal	NZ	Maxi	100
Rapture	USA	Farr 100	100
Wild Oats XI	NSW	RP100	100
Skandia Wild Thing	VIC	IRC Maxi 98	98
Tokolosh	NSW		90
SS Brindabella	NSW	Jutson 79	79
Lion New Zealand	NZ	Whitbread Maxi	78
Ran 2	UK	JV 72	72
Ichi Ban	NSW	Jones 70	70
Adventure of Hornet	UK	Challenge	67
Challenger of Hornet	UK	Challenge	67
Discoverer of Hornet	UK	Challenge	67
Broomstick	NSW	Modified 66	66
Helsal III	TAS	Adams 20	65
Getaway-Sailing.com	NSW	Volvo 60	64
Merit	QLD	Volvo 60	64
Loki	NSW	Reichel Pugh 63	63
Helsal IV	TAS	Dynamique 62	62
Limit	WA	Reichel Pugh 62	62
Charisma	Spain	S & S 57	57
Living Doll	VIC	Farr 55	55
Yendys	NSW	Reichel Pugh 55	55
Flying Fish	NSW	Radford 16.4	54
Sailors With Disabilities	NSW	Lyons 54	54
Concordia	VIC	Nautor Swan 53	53
Calm	VIC	TP52	52
Cougar II	VIC	TP 52	52
Goldfinger	VIC	Farr 52	52
Quest	NSW	TP 52	52
Ragamuffin	NSW	TP52	52
Shortwave	NSW	IRC52	52
Secret Mens Business 3.5	SA	Reichel Pugh 51	51
Evolution Racing	NSW	Cookson 50	50
Holy Cow!	NSW	Beneteau Oceanis 50	50
Pretty Fly III	NSW	Cookson 50	50
Shogun	VIC	Cookson 50	50
Audi Centre Melbourne	VIC	Corby 49	49
Knee Deep	WA	Farr 49	49
Ray White Spirit of Koomooloo	QLD	S&S 49	49
Strewth	NSW	MKL 49	49
Suesea	WA	Marten 49	49
Imagination	NSW	First 47.7	47
Kioni	NSW	Beneteau First 47.7	47
Love & War	NSW	S & S 47	47
Ninety Seven	VIC	Farr 47	47
Shamrock	VIC	Reichel Pugh 47	47
St Jude	NSW	Sydney 47	47
Dekadence	TAS	DK46	46
Mahligai	NSW	Sydney 46	46
More Witchcraft	NSW	Dibley 46	46
Zora I	NSW	Salona 45	46
Balance	NSW	Beneteau 45	45
Charlie's Dream	QLD	Bluewater 450	45
Colortile	NSW	Sayer 45	45
Rush	VIC	Corel 45	45
Auch	TAS	Beneteau First 44.7	44
Bacardi	VIC	Peterson 44	44
EZ Street	NSW	Warwick 44	44
Mr Beaks Ribs	NSW	Beneteau First 44.7	44
Namadgi	ACT	Bavaria 44	44
SES Inch by Winch	NSW	Peterson 44	44
Another Fiasco	QLD	Jutson 43	43
Polaris of Belmont	NSW	Cole 43	43
Valheru	TAS	Elliott 43	43
ReIgnition	QLD	Sydney 42	42
B52	NSW	Murray 41	41
Patrice Six	NSW	X41	41
Pinta - M	Netherlands	S & S 41	41
41 SUD	New Caledonia	Archambault 40	40
AFR Midnight Rambler	NSW	Farr 40	40
Aurora	NSW	Farr 40 - One Off	40
Chancellor	NSW	Beneteau First 40.7	40
Chutzpah	VIC	IRC 40	40
Copernicus	NSW	Radford 12	40
Krakatoa II	NSW	Pogo 40	40
Nips N Tux	NSW	IMX 40	40
Paca	NSW	Beneteau First 40	40
Panacea	NSW	Beneeteau First 40.7	40
Papillon	NSW	Archambault 40	40
Pelagic Magic	NSW	Beneteau 40.7	40
Quetzalcoatl	NSW	Jones 40	40
She	NSW	Olsen 40	40
Two True	SA	First 40	40
Wahoo	NSW	Frers 40	40
Wasabi	NSW	Sayer 12 MOD	40
Wicked	VIC	First 40	40
Matangi	TAS	Frers 39	39
Perie Banou II	WA	S & S 39	39
She's The Culprit	TAS	Jones 39	39
Bear Necessity	NSW	C & C 115	38
Bet247	NSW	Sydney 38	38
Birds Off Boats	NSW	Sydney 38 Mod	38
Eleni	NSW	Sydney 38	38
Geomatic Joker	VIC	Jarken 38	38
Getaway Sailing 2	NSW	Sydney 38	38
J Steel Yeah Baby	NSW	Sydney 38	38
Menace	NSW	Phillips/Simpson 11.7	38
Mondo	QLD	Sydney 38	38
Next	NSW	Sydney 38	38
Ray White Castle Hill Tartan	NSW	Northshore 38	38
Shining Sea	SA	Sydney 38	38
Swish	NSW	Sydney 38	38
The Subzero Goat	NSW	Sydney 38	38
Livewire.org.au	NSW	Oceanis 37	37
Nautical Miles 4 Kidz Tow Truck	NSW	Ker 11.3	37
One For The Road	NSW	Northshore 37	37
Pippin	QLD	Farr 37	37
Salona	NSW	Salona 37	37
Sanyo Maris	NSW	Tasman Seabird	36
Young Nicholson	NZ	Young 11	36
Archie	TAS	Archambault 35	35
CHorse	NSW	Cavalier 350 SL	35
Zephyr	NSW	Farr 1020	33