Sydney to Hobart yacht race 2021: Scallywag wins Big Boat Challenge to claim favouritism, photos

In pictures: The major contenders for the Sydney to Hobart line and handicap wins went out to play on Sydney Harbour and it proved a wet and wild experience for some.

Scallywag sails to the finish of the 2021 SOLAS Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour. Pic: Mark Evans/Getty.

The major contender for the Sydney to Hobart came out to play in the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge and the action was fast and furious.

Scallywag and Whisper emerged as the big winners to confirm they are both among the favourites for the line and overall honours in the race south on Boxing Day.

Here are some of the best photos from the day.

Crewman aboard Scallywag which won the race on the harbour. David Gray/AFP.

Yachts racing during the 2021 SOLAS Big Boat Challenge. Pic: Mark Evans/Getty

Sydney supermaxi LawConnect was in the box seat to claim victory in their final hitout before the David Witt skippered Scallywag pulled off an impressive comeback which has delivered the Hong Kong entry early favouritism for the Sydney to Hobart.

The Sydney yacht URM during the racing on Sydney Harbour.

There was a minor issue with a ferry they had to dodge and a few furling issues aboard, but it was enough for LawConnect to concede the line honours win in the annual race which this year signals the end of both yachts racing preparation for the race to Hobart.

Missing from the racetrack was Black Jack, with the supermaxi’s crew in isolation after Covid case in the crew.

Crew lower the sails on the overall contender Whisper during the 2021 SOLAS Big Boat Challenge.

The Hong Kong yacht is skippered by Sydney sailor David Witt.

“We got caught up with a ferry we had to go behind and forced us onto the western side and we made a few errors and that was it really,’’ said LawConnect tactician, Olympian and round the world sailor Chris Nicholson.

“In short, we sailed the first half well and saved our worse for last.’’

Crew aboard the yachts Alive and URM competed in the Big Boat Challenge along with supermaxis. Pic: David Gray/AFP.

The experienced Lake Macquarie sailor said it was an important lesson for the boat.

“We all know it. The boat that males the least mistakes usually does the best,’’ Nicholson said.

The action in the annual Big Boat race.

Witt and his team, who had a few issues themselves early in the race with a line looped around their rudder, sailed a brilliant second half for a morale-boosting win.

It was only the third time Witt and his team have raced the 100-footer since the 2019 Sydney to Hobart due to Covid and the late cancellation of the race last year.

David Griffith and his team on the Whisper won the Big Boat race overall from Wild Oats X, which is not racing to Hobart, and Sean Langman’s 69-footer Moneypenny.

It was wet and wild at times in the annual harbour race.

SIZE MATTERS IN SYDNEY TO HOBART LINE HONOURS RACE

They are the same size, have equally skilled crews and have roughly the same experience. But Sydney skipper Christian Beck has had an extension put on his supermaxi to provide an edge over his rivals in the race for the Sydney to Hobart line honours.

Beck’s yacht Law Connect has been fitted with a new and much larger bowsprit he believes could be the longest in the world on a supermaxi.

The 28-foot (8.5m) appendage - just a touch shorter than the smallest yacht in the 2021 fleet - will significantly increase the former Sydney to Hobart line honours winner’s speed and power in the race south which starts on Boxing Day.

Sydney businessman Christian Beck’s supermaxi, which won the race in 2016 when named Loyal, preparing for last year’s race. Pic: Andrea Francolini

The elongated bowsprit means the yacht, which has previously raced under Beck as InfoTrack, can carry bigger spinnakers and it is hoped increase the boats speed in under 12 knots - previously its Achilles heel

“Size does matter and we have the biggest bowsprit in the world,’’ Lane Cove sailor Beck, a tech entrepreneur, said at the launch of the race which was cancelled for the first time in 2020 due to an outbreak of Covid-19 on Sydney’s northern beaches.

“It allows us to increase out sail area by 15 per cent and take more side load. It will improve our performance in most conditions.’’

The longer bowsprit means the crew has been able to lighten its load by taking off some of its sails and ultilising more versatile sails, further helping increase speed and power.

The yacht has had a name change, along with some major modifications, in the past year.

Beck carries NSW’s hopes of a line honours win on his boat deck with fellow supermaxi Black Jack, owned by Peter Harburg, hailing from Queensland and the David Witt skippered Scallywag from Hong Kong.

At the opposite end of the 2021 Sydney to Hobart fleet is the navy yacht Gun Runner is, at 30-foot, the smallest racing south.

Almost a month out from the race to Hobart, 106 yachts are preparing for the Boxing Day start, including nine former line or overall winners, the defending overall champion Ichi Ban owned by Sydney’s Matt Allen and a fleet of 20 two-handed yachts allowed to compete for the first time.

Matt Allen and his team on a midweek sail on Sydney Harbour in the lead-up to the race to Hobart.

Allen, David Griffith and his Whisper crew - including America’s Cup legend Grant Simmer - and the Tasmanian yacht Alive, which won in 2018, are among the early favourites for the overall honours in the 628 nautical mile race.

Veteran sailor Bruce Gould, who has won previous Sydney to Hobart’s and was in the deadly 1998 race, will fire the start cannon on December 26 to send the fleet on its way after every sailor in the race has passed a Covid test which must be done within 72 hours of the 1pm start.

Further Covid-19 safety procedures are to be confirmed with sailors likely required to do another test in Hobart.

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