Sydney to Hobart yacht race retirements list grows amid harrowing conditions

The retirement list has grown to 18 with more than half the fleet to arrive on the fourth day of the race but others preparing to be at sea for New Year’s Eve. Full list of retirements.

The retirement list for one of the hardest Sydney ton Hobart yacht races in recent times now stands at 18.

The oldest skipper in the race, David Henry, 80, has become the 18th retirement of the Sydney to Hobart.

Just hours after his son, Rupert Henry, won the two-handed division, father David was out of the race.

David Henry and crew mate Stephen Prince were sidelined late on Saturday with rigging damage.

The pair are in Fortescue Bay waiting out the weather.

They will then motor to Hobart.

Alive during the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race. Picture: AFP PHOTO/ROLEX/KURT ARRIGO.

SATURDAY: At 9.15pm on Saturday 60 yachts had completed the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, leaving 25 still at sea and some racing against the clock to be home by New Year’s Eve.

Some of the arrivals included the only Australian skipper to win a Clipper around the world race in Wendy Tuck on Disco Trooper, the well-known Victorian yacht Chutzpah and two handed boats Showdown, Kraken and Min River.

Jessica Watson, who sailed around the world as a teenager, was still at sea with a group of mates on the little 34 footer Azzurro but due in on Sunday.

There is still potential for five yachts to be celebrating New Year’s Eve at sea, something that has not happened in recent memory in the Sydney to Hobart.

Helsal 3 retired on Saturday morning with damage and a crewman with broken ribs.

However there are a number of yachts who are seeking cover to access damage and whether they will race on.

Gunshot was reported to be at Lady Barron waiting out the weather.

Allegro was diverting to Port Arthur to access damage.

FRIDAY: The Sydney to Hobart yacht race has seen three further retirements as the harrowing conditions at sea continue to take their toll on the fleet.

Just 11 are safely docked in Hobart at 5pm Friday with 76 still at sea.

Yacht arrivals on Friday were David Gotze’s No Limit, Whisper, Smuggler, Caro and former Sydney to Hobart overall winner Celestial.

The slow arrival means it the Tasmanian yacht Alive should be confirmed as the overall winner on Saturday.

The retired yachts on Friday are Salt Lines with sail damage, She with mainsail damage and Gunshot, also with sail damage. Allegresse, which was reported to have retired on Thursday, is still racing.

On Friday night (AEDT) Gunshot was forced to call for police assistance as she made her to Cape Barren. The yacht needed assistance as she could only sail at one knot of boat speed due to the conditions.

A tow vessel from Tasmania police met rendezvous with the Yacht, which is now being towed to its destination, with all crew safe and well.

EARLIER, The little yacht Bacardi has become a casualty of the testing conditions in the Sydney to Hobart, forced to retire with rigging damage on Thursday afternoon.

The seasoned campaigner is now on her way back to Eden as the 12th retirement of the race.

This is only the second time in 29 assaults on the race Bacardi has been unable to finish, with a dismasting back in 2010 her only other retirement.

EARLIER Scallywag skipper David Witt said bowman Ben Piggott was just a step away from “a really serious injury” when the bow sprit on the 100-footer broke into pieces as the yacht raced down on the NSW coast on a stormy opening night at sea.

Witt and his crew were forced to retire from the race due to the damage and then motor their way back in a southerly for around 10 hours before arriving in Sydney early on Wednesday.

“Ben had his foot on the pole when it broke. Another step and he could have been seriously injured. We were lucky,’’ Witt said.

In a “spooky’' coincidence, Witt was on a yacht where the bow sprit exploded into pieces back in 2018, also ending his Sydney to Hobart campaign.

“Can you believe that. Almost the exact time, the exact place and the exact same conditions,'’ he said.

“That’s spooky.’’

Supermaxi Scallywag loses a bowsprit off the coast of NSW. Picture: Scallywag

Witt said he and his crew were devastated they had to retire and it is unlikely Scallywag will have another shot at racing and claiming line honours in the Sydney to Hobart as she is now being shipped to Europe for a three year racing campaign.

“We are gutted,’’ Witt said. “This was looking to be a good race for us.

“I’ve never heard the boat so silent after it happened. Everyone is devastated.’’

One of the first retirements from the Sydney to Hobart has spoken about a drama at sea which saw his little yacht knocked flat on its side and him being flung in the water in a man overboard incident.

Shane Connelly from Rum Rebellion and crewmate Graeme Dunlop were hit by a “micro burst of wind’’ which laid the boat flat on the water between Cronulla and Wollongong five hours after the race start.

Connelly, who had unclipped briefly to move up the boat after seeing a ferocious storm behind, found himself about 2m from the boat but was able to swim back to it.

“We are both well and the main thing is our systems and drills all worked well,’’ said Connelly, who had bruising on his arm and a suspected concussion.

Scallywag at the start of the race.

Some of the strictest safety rules in world sailing were introduced into the Sydney to Hobart in the wake of the deadly 1998 race which claimed six lives.

Just 14 hours after the race started the retirement list had hit nine and is expected to continue to grow.

The last yachts out of the race were Tumbleweed with seasickness and fatigue, Luna Blue with equipment damage and Millenium Falcon with crew seasickness, reducing the fleet to 92 from the starting fleet of 103.

The little yacht Currawong, another two-hander which finished last year’s race just before New Year's Eve, was another casualty of the conditions

Michael Spies and his crew on Maritimo are now one of the unluckiest in the race.

Last year he and his team had to miss the race after damaging their boat on the delivery to Sydney.

This year she was forced out with rigging issues.

“The fitting on the deck for the forestay shredded, which ripped the No. 4 headsail and the mainsail. We tried to work a million ways around it, but we would have been sailing at 50 per cent. We are shattered,’’ said crewmen Peter Jones.

“The weather was shocking overnight. We had as much lightning as I’ve ever seen.

The sou-west front came through, we saw high 20s to early 30s (knots) and had solid rain for three hours.”