Sydney to Hobart: Gold Coast’s Maritimo 11 heading home after yacht race’s cancellation due to NSW COVID-19 outbreak

The Gold Coast’s only entry in the famed Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race will head home after NSW’s COVID-19 outbreak caused it to be cancelled for the first time in 76 years.

THE Gold Coast’s only entry in the famed Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race will head home after NSW’s COVID-19 outbreak caused it to be cancelled for the first time in 76 years.

Maritimo 11 – formerly known as Swiftsure 2 – was on Sunday making its way to Newcastle before it sets sail for the Coast in coming days.

Maritimo 11 departing Sanctuary Cove Marina in late November ahead of Sydney to Hobart qualifying series races.

The 16.5m vessel and a flotilla of 18 Maritimo vessels were farewelled by Mayor Tom Tate late last month.

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Maritimo founder Bill Barry-Cotter said he was disappointed in the cancellation of the race, but backed the decision.

“It is very disappointing, but we can totally understand the decision made by race organisers, Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, given the number of crew who were in lock down in the northern beaches region and also Tasmania’s border restrictions on arrivals from NSW,” he said.

Maritimo 11 has been forced to return home.

Maritimo 11 skipper Michael Spies, a veteran of 43 Sydney to Hobarts, revealed the yacht could be entered in events out of Southport Yacht Club in 2021.

The vessel arrived on the Coast from San Francisco on June 1 and a team of Maritimo craftspeople essentially worked around the clock to prepare the boat for the prestigious race.

Mr Barry-Cotter said the Maritimo 11 crew would line up again next year, virus permitting, to battle it out in the Sydney to Hobart, one of the toughest ocean races in the world.

Originally published as Sydney to Hobart: Gold Coast’s Maritimo 11 heading home after yacht race’s cancellation due to NSW COVID-19 outbreak