Sydney to Hobart yacht race: Grace Levings rescued from Huntress now back on Maritimo

She’s counting down the days to the start of her second Sydney to Hobart but this sailor is still hoping it’s a little less dramatic than her first which ended with a dramatic rescue at sea.

Grace Levings is about to race to Hobart for the second time. Picture: Andrea Francolini

Grace Levings’ big goal for her second attempt on the Sydney to Hobart is to arrive in Tasmania on a yacht and not on a police launch.

She’d also like to be able to tell the story of her race to mates and rivals, not find it emblazoned in headlines across the country.

Levings’ first race south was a little too memorable for her liking - and particularly for a race debut.

The Australian trauma nurse, who is sailing in the same Maritimo crew as husband Matt this year, was aboard the ill-fated Huntress in the 2022 race when disaster struck the second day at sea.

“We got through into Bass Strait and hit a sunfish, lost the rudder and tried everything to steer but were unsuccessful and we ended up being rescued,” Levings said.

Grace Levings is competing in her second race to Hobart.

Levings said the drama started around 7am when she was below deck and the yacht came to a sudden halt after colliding with the sunfish.

“We had lots of sail up and rounded up into the wind … we lost all steerage.

“Our navigator was thrown from one side of the boat to the other.

Tasmanian skipper Victoria Logan and the crew of her Sydney-Hobart yacht Huntress rescued by Tasmania Police.

Huntress washed up on Cape Barren Island on January 4 after being adrift at sea for several days. Picture: Aboriginal Land Council Tasmania.

“We later saw the rudder floating away. We were in 35 knots and really wavey 4-5m seas at the time.

“Initially it was quite scary because we were wondering if there was big hole or if it had just sheered off.”

The next 12 hours were both exhausting and nauseated as the crew rolled around on the disabled yacht in big seas waiting to be rescued.

“There was a lot of sea sickness,” said Levings, from the Gold Coast.

Huntress skipper Victoria Logan and her seven crewmates were around 80 nautical miles east of Flinders Island when the drama started.

Grace Levings, rights, with Huntress crewmates. Picture: Karelle Logan.

Grace Levings before the race.

After the crew had abandoned ship when picked dup by a police launch the yacht was left to drift, and later washed up on the remote Tasmanian island Cape Baron, in Bass Street, with a broken mast

A year on the 26-year-old Levings is looking for a less eventful trip, sailing with her husband and seeing the stunning Tasmanian coast in daylight from the deck of a yacht.

She’s the only sailor from last year’s drama to find a ride this year but said she and her old crewmates reman close.

Levings has been sailing for eight years with and against her husband and is excited to be racing south on a TP 52, a class of yacht few women are racing.

“It’s good to go show girls can sail a TP 52,’’ said the Maritimo trimmer.

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