Sydney to Hobart yacht race: Potential for alternate bluewater race in New Year

The Sydney to Hobart yacht race has been cancelled for the first time in 76 years. But there’s some interesting scuttlebutt about what could happen in the New Year.

Crowds gather near Hornby Lighthouse on South Head at the start of the 2019 race to Hobart.

Race officials are looking at running an alternate bluewater classic in NSW waters for skippers and crews who have missed out on racing the Sydney to Hobart, the famous Boxing Day ocean race cancelled for the first time in 76 years on the weekend.

Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Commodore Noel Cornish confirmed his club was keen to put on a race in the New Year for sailors who had their Sydney to Hobart plans quashed by the growing COVID-19 cluster on the northern beaches and consequent border restrictions.

The start of the Sydney to Hobart traditionally attracts hundreds of thousands to the foreshore to watch.

Cornish, who said he was “hollow and disappointed’’ the race had been cancelled, said any alternate race would only be run if it was deemed to be safe and satisfied and complied with all NSW government health requirements.

“As a sailing club we are enthusiastic to try and run as many sailing races as we can,’’ Cornish said.

“If it’s possible to have an alternate race in the New Year for crews we’d be enthusiastic.

“We will look at putting a race on, depending on government guidelines, we’d like to put a bluewater race on and a race with some sort of overnight component.’’

Cornish also confirmed race officials had looked at postponing the 76th edition of the Sydney to Hobart by two days, running a race which started and finished in Sydney and also delaying the start to Australia Day.

InfoTrack heading out to sea at the start of the last race.

“We though about how we could do something like a Sydney to Sydney race or some other location in NSW waters but the concern was we have been asked by the NSW Government to minimise travel and not to be moving around to stop the transmission,’’ he said.

“There were concerns if we bought in crew from the Greater Sydney area and ran a race with people in close contact, who then go back to their yacht clubs, it would not be in keeping with the guidelines from the NSW Government.

People gather at Middle Head on Boxing Day last year to watch the start of the race.

A proposal to race from Sydney to Hobart and then have crews turn around without touching land was also a discussion point in the lead-up to Saturday decision to cancel the event.

“We discussed a race that might have the fleet go to Hobart and turn around, a race to the Iron Pot (at the start of the Derwent River around 11nm from the normal finish line),’’ he said.

“We floated this idea many months ago but if something were to go wrong in these waters people would need to come out and assist with a rescue, an airlift or removal of crew and that could be exposing Tasmanians.’’

A fleet of 74 yachts were scheduled to have started the 629 nautical mile race to Hobart at 1pm on Boxing Day.

The race was put in jeopardy on Friday when Tasmania banned travellers from the northern beaches where around 150 sailors residing along with numerous yachts.