Celestial declared provisional overall Sydney to Hobart winner; Denali captured sailing without a boom
Celestial has been named provisional winner of the Sydney to Hobart while vision has emerged of a yacht making her way to the finish without a boom. WATCH THE VIDEO.
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In the superstitious world of sailing the worst race to contest is always your 13th but Sam Haynes and crewmate Jack Young on the Sydney to Hobart winner Celestial 70 have had a different experience.
Over the years some sailors have refused to even acknowledge they were doing their 13th race, sitting on number 12 for two years until they could leap to their 14th.
Keep up to date with all the latest as the 2024 Sydney to Hobart continues.
But not Haynes and Young who were celebrating their 13th races south with one of the most impressive pieces of silverware in their hands, the Tattersall Cup.
Haynes and his crew were named provisional overall winners of the tragic 2024 Sydney to Hobart a day after arriving in Hobart behind the line honours winner LawConnect.
Haynes said the victory was bittersweet in light of the loss of two fellow sailors in a dramatic opening stanza of the infamous race.
“We want to be respectful of that loss and mindful,’’ he said of muted dockside celebrations.
“But I am very proud of this crew and their efforts.’’
Haynes said he has yet to decided if he will try and charter Celestial 7 next year or another yacht for the 80th race.
“It’s too early for me to talk abut that,’’ he said.
“I have a thing where I don’t talk about the next regatta when I’m still at one.’’
“Sending it” in “nuclear” conditions in Bass Strait helped deliver Haynes and his chartered yacht a second overall win in a rough and tough Sydney to Hobart.
Despite sail damage and having to slow the boat down in wild conditions, Haynes and his crew on a yacht designed to handle the rough stuff in round the world races managed to get Celestial to Hobart in one piece and in a winning position.
“It was absolutely nuclear out there (in Bass Strait). It was so rough, the sea state, so windy, we were just limiting the number of people on deck so we could just keep the boat lit up and give people some time down stairs,’’ he said on arrival
“We just sent it across Bass Strait. It was charging. But on deck there was so much water and spray and it was really hard work on the crew but they stood up for it. These guys are probably the most professional crew I have ever sailed with.’’
ROLLING COVERAGE
12.45PM SUNDAY: The Sam Haynes-skippered 70-footer Celestial will be named the provisional winner of the 79th Sydney to Hobart at 1pm today.
Celestial cannot be beaten for the top prize in racing by any boat still at sea in the tragedy-married race.
Haynes, upon arrival in Hobart on Saturday, said the victory was set in Bass Strait where the crew “sent” the powerful yacht at high speed.
10.37AM SUNDAY: In what could be a first for the Sydney to Hobart since the first night at sea, champagne conditions have been reported by the crew on Making Waves Kayle.
Skippered by John Whitfield, the yacht is racing down the coast of Tasmania in “champagne conditions”.
“It’s the first time I’ve enjoyed the race — and the crew are in good spirits,” he said.
“It’s been taxing.
“We’ve had the full gamut. We’ve also had engine problems with water getting in the sump – we’ve had to drain the engine twice. We’ve had plenty of water across the bow and plenty down below.”
He said a couple of his crew, which includes some sailors with disabilities. were “battered and bruised”.
“We are thinking about those who lost their lives,” Whitfield said.
10.30AM SUNDAY: Footage has emerged of the yacht Denali making her way to the finish of the Sydney to Hobart without a boom.
Denali is closing in on Hobart but her pace has been significantly slowed by the loss of the crucial piece of equipment.
At 10:30 am this morning, she was around 30 nautical miles from the finish line near Cape Raoul.
9.40AM SUNDAY: Geoffrey Hill’s Hong Kong yacht Antipodes was the first home on December 29, finishing at 6.33am on Sunday.
Ocean Crusaders J-Bird has now also crossed the finish line on the Derwent River.
This yacht is owned by Ian and Annika Thomson from Queensland and arrived at 9.16am
This means Annika will be awarded the Jane Tate trophy for the first female skipper into Hobart for the third consecutive year.
Tate was the first female to complete a Sydney to Hobart back in 1946.
7.40AM SUNDAY: The tailenders of the Sydney to Hobart fleet have finally entered Bass Strait after days of rugged sailing off the NSW coast.
Blues Moon and Salt Lines contacted race officials to say all is well on their boats and that they would be entering Bass Strait.
They are two of more than 60 yachts still at sea in the race which includes 14 double handed crews.
Just eight yachts have completed the 2024 Sydney to Hobart so far.
However, there have been 30 yachts forced to retire with assorted damage, drama or crew injury or illness.
WILD BASS STRAIT RIDE PUTS CELESTIAL IN BOX SEAT FOR OVERALL WIN
“Sending it” in “nuclear” conditions in Bass Strait will likely deliver a Sydney skipper on a chartered yacht his second overall win in a rough and tough Sydney to Hobart.
Celestial 7 crossed the finish line around three hours after Christian Beck’s 100-footer LawConnect on Saturday morning to be the boat to beat in the race for the coveted overall honours in a Sydney to Hobart marred by the death of two competitors.
Despite damaging two crucial sails and having to throttle back his racer, Sam Haynes and his crew on a yacht designed to handle the rough stuff in round the world races managed to get Celestial to Hobart in one piece and in a top position to claim the major race honours.
“I know we are a long way ahead and there’s a good chance of the overall,’’ Sam Haynes said on his arrival in Hobart early Saturday ahead of the 100 footer Wild Thing.
“We’ve looked at the speeds they’ll have to do and feel like it’s going to be hard to get knocked off but you just don’t know.
“We had really good conditions for this race and the crew were the right guys. An epic crew.”
Haynes said the potential victory was set up in Bass Strait in fast reaching conditions which had the crew racing on the edge.
“Our best gains were in Bass Strait when we started to reach across there. That’s where we managed to start to get real distance (on rivals),’’ he said.
“But it was absolutely nuclear out there. It was so rough, the sea state, so windy, we were just limiting the number of people on deck so we could just keep the boat lit up and give people some time down stairs.
“We just sent it across Bass Strait. It was charging. But on deck there was so much water and spray and it was really hard work on the crew but they stood up for it. These guys are probably the most professional crew I have ever sailed with.
“But just getting across here was really, really hard.’’
Haynes, who experienced wild seas and 40 plus knots of wind during the race, said he believed Celestial could do well when he saw the pre-race forecast.
“They say that Volvo 70s aren’t exactly a Hobart boat, but it was a Volvo 70 type forecast, so I was so glad to be on it,’’ he said.
5.26PM SATURDAY: WHISPER, NO LIMIT ARRIVE IN HOBART
Just after 5pm there were only five yachts home in the drama packed Sydney to Hobart yacht race.
David Griffith and his team on Whisper and Victorian skipper David Gotze on No Limit sailed down the Derwent River together at the end of the 628 nautical mile race.
Whisperer arrived almost 10 hours after third place getter Wild Thing 100 with just seven yachts expected to be home in Hobart before midnight.
Caro from New Zealand and Smuggler from Sydney are the two yachts expected to arrive next.
There will be a rush of yachts in the early morning in what has been a tough race for all and in particular the mid to smaller sized yachts.
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