Sydney to Hobart yacht race 2024 wrap: biggest moments, tragedy, history, results, drama at sea
The 2024 Sydney to Hobart will be remembered for the tragic loss of two sailors but also a miracle rescue, tales of great seamanship, camaraderie, special triumphs and laughing dolphins.
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The 2024 Sydney to Hobart will remembered for the death of two sailors but also a miracle rescue, tales of great seamanship, special triumphs and laughing dolphins.
The tragic loss of Nick Smith and Roy Quaden during the race rocked the sailing community, with the pair honoured with a moving tribute dockside on December 31.
This year’s Sydney to Hobart will go down as one of the roughest and toughest – the most extraordinary in recent times – with veteran sailors shocked by the conditions and the blast across the straight by the winner Celestial 70.
It will also be remembered for the bravery and toughness of the two-handed division where nine of their 23 starters failed to make it to Hobart in the strong winds and steep seas during the opening two days,
There was also a curse for former winners, with three retiring soon after the start of the race and a miracle rescue of a sailor who went overboard in pitch darkness.
Sailing writer Amanda Lulham takes a look at the highs and extreme lows of the 79th edition of the race.
THE PREDICTION
“There’s a big chance everyone won’t make it to Hobart and it’s highly likely one of the 100s won’t get there,” LawConnect sailor Chris Nicholson told News Corp before the race start. “One of us might not make it with damage.”
He was right.
CHAMPIONS CURSE
Alive, the defending Sydney to Hobart champion, was the first retirement of the race just hours after the stat with engine troubles. The race record holder Master Lock Comanche was a big name retiree just after midnight, 11 hours after the race start on Sydney Harbour, with mainsail damage.
THE TRAGEDY
Roy Quaden, 55, was hit by the boom on Flying Fish Arctos around 11.50pm the first night at sea and died. Around 2am Nick Smith, 65, was flung across the yacht Bowline and hit his head on a winch. The news was relayed to a shocked fleet who are still reeling from the loss.
THE PRIME MINISTER
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to the sailors who died.
“We have sadly woken to tragedy in the Sydney to Hobart with the awful news two sailors have lost their lives,” he said. “Our thoughts are with the crews, their families and loved ones at this deeply sad time.”
SICKENING CONDITIONS
LawConnect skipper Christian Beck has revealed a tactic he used in the race that will never be repeated. His crew reckon it was a dodgy chicken schnitzel that made him so sick on the yacht that won line honours but Beck has owned up to it being self-inflicted.
“I’ve never been so sick on that boat before but normally what I do is eat all the (freeze dried) food which is terrible,’’ he said.
“But this year I decided not to eat much because it was so rough.
“I wanted to be in my bunk going through the heavy stuff and not needing the bathroom.
“But I don’t think that strategy worked. I was actually sickest when it was at its flattest.’’
His cure – a bit of quiet time and then a couple of dark and stormy’s – dark rum, ginger beer and lime.
OLD TIMER
There was drama for the oldest and one of the smallest yachts when Maritimo Katwinchar started to take on water and had to retire. The yacht, skippered by Michael Spies, was built in 1904, the oldest yacht ever to race in the Hobart as part of the two-handed division.
“We were taking on water as the cockpit drain came out,” Spies said.
“We couldn’t remove the cockpit floor. Everything was good and all of a sudden we saw a river of water and the bilge pump wasn’t keeping up.
“It was a hard call but safety first. We didn’t want to be manually pumping the bilge pump.”
FAMOUS SAILOR
Jessica Watson, who sailed around the world when a teenager, did her fourth Sydney to Hobart on Oroton Drumfire which had plenty of drama aboard. The yacht was almost forced to pull out but after eight hours with his head in the engine room, Phillip Neil managed to repair a generator that had exploded. This meant the yacht was able to charge batteries and continue racing.
FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD
She’s won world titles and raced round the world but never has international sailor Carolijn Brouwer had boat food like on Oroton Drumfire. Brouwer was particularly partial to the butterflied lamb roast dinner followed by a lunch of the “best Poke bowl I have ever had” complete with fresh salmon and carefully sliced avocado.
FAMILY MATTERS
Sam Haynes picked up his second overall win in the Sydney to Hobart on Celestial with his son Will aboard. Grant Wharington raced Wild Thing 100 to a third place over the line with his daughter Georgia sailing by his side.
MIRACLE MAN
Porco Rosso crew member Luke Watkins, thrown overboard during the race, was “on his last breath” after being pinned to the side of his boat underwater at about 3am on the first night at sea.
“We went down a rather large wave. The boat went into the trough, hit the back of the wave in front (which) completely washed the deck,” Watkins said of being washed overboard.
His quick thinking and well trained crew were able to recover him after around 40 minutes.
`SUPER LOO
The most expensive toilet in the Sydney to Hobart, the $17,500 loo on Saskia Groen-in’t-Woud’s Swan 38 Celeste, never made it to Tasmania. The two-handed 51-year-old beauty was forced to retire with running rugging damage.
FATHER AND SON
The most capped father and son combo are Chutzpah skipper Bruce Taylor and son Drew. Taylor Snr completed his 43rd race and Drew his 31st on the Victorian yacht.
The pair completed all of Drew’s races together.
“My whole team was brilliant, except me, I wasn’t well,” the 75-year-old skipper said after arriving.
“I’m older so it’s getting harder to move around the boat, it bucks a lot in the weather we had, and I can’t react as quickly as I used to.”
LUXURY RIDE
The crew on Bill Barry-Cotter’s Luxury Maritimo 100 had all the creature comforts, including marble ensuites and a special menu prepared by a chef. Their treats included tomato, basil and bocconcini with balsamic reduction to start, lasagne and salad with petit fours for dessert, smoked salmon bellinis, Christmas ham with scalloped potatoes and glazed carrots.
MAST MAGIC
An extraordinary repair by a 21-year-old on the high seas up a 10m swaying mast with a makeshift tool, which took three hours to fashion, saved the day for his Sydney to Hobart crew. The radical on-the-run repair by Charlie Goodfellow meant David Gotze and his crew on No Limit could finish the race.
SPECIAL TROPHY
Ocean Crusaders J-Bird crew Annika Thomson won the Jane Tate trophy for the first female skipper home. Thomson also won in 2022, when she and her husband and co-skipper Ian Thomson competed in the two-hander division and in 2023 with a full crew.
LAUGHING DOLPHIN
Phillip Kurts experienced something rather wonderful at sea on the classic timber yacht Love & War.
“We were changing a headsail when this huge pod of dolphins got involved … the crew could hear them hitting the hull and laughing,” he said after the race finish.
And the best part of the race ... the finish and being a skipper for the first time.
LINE HONOURS PODIUM
LawConnect Christian Beck NSW
FINISHED 0.001:13:35:1316.7
28 Dec 02:35:13 AM
2 Celestial V70 Sam Haynes NSW
FINISHED 0.001:16:10:2015.6
28 Dec 05:10:20 AM
3 Wild Thing 100 Grant Wharington & Adrian Seiffert QLD
FINISHED 0.001:16:37:3515.5
28 Dec 05:37:35 AM
OVERALL HONOURS IRC
1 Celestial V70 Sam Haynes NSW
2 LawConnect Christian Beck NSW
3 Wild Thing 100 Grant Wharington & Adrian Seiffert QLD
DOUBLE HANDED LINE HONOURS
1 Mistral (DH) Rupert Henry NSW
FINISHED 0.003:06:16:048.0
29 Dec 07:16:04 PM
2 Joker X2 (DH) Grant Chipperfield VIC
FINISHED 0.003:20:52:526.8
30 Dec 09:52:52 AM
3 Disko Trooper_Contender Sailcloth (DH) Jules Hall NSW
FINISHED 0.003:21:42:486.7
30 Dec 10:42:48 AM
DOUBLE HANDED IRC OVERALL
1 Mistral (DH) Rupert Henry NSW
2 Disko Trooper_Contender Sailcloth (DH)
3 Jules Hall NSW
PHS HANDICAP OVERALL
1 Just Farr Love Scott Lovell TAS
2 Oroton Drumfire Will Vicars NSW
3 Le Tiroflan Chris Taylor NSW
2024 RETIREMENTS
Alive: engine issues
Bacchanal: broken boom
Blue Planet (DH): loss of communications
Bowline: retired
Calibre 12: mainsail damage
Celeste (DH): running rigging damage
Centennial 7: mainsail damage
Ciao Bella: steering issues
Cyan Moon: battery issues
Flying Fish Arctos: retired
Georgia Express: electrical issues
Gizmo (DH): crew illness
Lord Jiminy (DH): crew injury
Maritimo Katwinchar (DH): hull damage
Master Lock Comanche: mainsail damage
Mayfair: broken equipment
Mondo: rigging damage
Philosopher: dismasted
Porco Rosso: retired
Poulpito: redress of 45 minutes granted by the International Jury for giving help to Flying Fish Arctos in accordance with RRS Fundamental Rule 1.1.
Pretty Woman: headstay foil damage
Quetzalcoatl: crew injury
Rum Rebellion (DH): equipment damage
Sailor Moon (DH): gps/autopilot issues
The Goat: crew injury
The Shepherd Centre: engine issues
Transcendence Rudy Project (DH): dismasted
URM Group: dismasted
Verite (DH): electrical issues
Wild Oats: rigging damage
Wings: redress of 90 minutes granted by the International Jury for giving help to Flying Fish Arctos in accordance with RRS Fundamental Rule 1.1.
Zeus: foil damage
Originally published as Sydney to Hobart yacht race 2024 wrap: biggest moments, tragedy, history, results, drama at sea
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