Sydney to Hobart 2021: Supermaxi suffers damage, sailors in hospital, high injury in savage race

An Australian Olympian and round the world sailor has revealed how sea water poured into one of the supermaxis racing for line honours in the Sydney to Hobart.

LawConnect finished second over the lien despite major issues in the race. race. sails out of the heads during the 2021 Sydney to Hobart race start on Sydney

Olympian and round the world skipper Chris Nicholson has been caught up in a few dramas in his time at sea.

From being shipwrecked on a remote island to being forced to abandon ship while racing in Europe, this Lake Macquarie sailor and Athens 2004 Olympian has seen it all at sea but still returns.

In this year’s Sydney to Hobart - a race not even one eighth the length of some he has done - there was still no escaping drama for the father-of-two who won multiple world

championships in his 49er skiff and 505 dinghy before turning his hand to ocean racing more than a decade ago.

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race CYCA © Salty Dingo 2021 CG

Racing aboard Christian Beck’s supermaxi LawConnect, which finished second over the line to Peter Harburg’s Black Jack on Wednesday in the 76th Sydney to Hobart, Nicholson gave an insight into just how tough things were aboard the supermaxi which led the Sydney to Hobart for much of the 628 nautical mile race.

“We had issues with our water ballast tank and a bit of a flood on-board,’’ said the former electrician and coal miner who just hours after arriving jumped back aboard the yacht for its delivery back to Sydney.

“A lot of water came out and it knocked out our on-board computer for weather and routing which never got rectified.

“We had probably a ton of water below. Ankle deep or more in the nav (navigation) station.

“But the safety of the boat was not a problem. We had electric pumps and I think it took about 15 minutes or so to pump it out.

“One of the rubber fittings blew and it started to leak. It just poured in.’’’

Nicholson said their was a lot if “bucket work’’ aboard but this was sin reference to widespread seasickness.

“I was a bit green there myself,’’ he said.

As the supermaxi sailors hit the dock on Wednesday the inside stories of the race were revealed, including potentially race-ending on-board dramas aboard Scallywag.

“The crew did an amazing job. We probably don’t deserve to have a 100-footer arrive here in the condition the boat ended up in after the first night,’’ he said in reference to not having instruments, damage to a fitting on the deck and other issues which affected their speed and sail options.

“It’s a credit to the team they got here, that we got here, and that we were still in the race just before Tasman Light.

“On the other side, it’s really disappointing. We’ve been trying to win in this race for a long time.

Black Jack beat LawConnect and Scallywag for the line honours win.

DECEMBER 28: Supermaxi skipper David Witt has revealed he and his Scallywag crew have been sailing “blind’, without electronic instrumentation that helps with boat speed and sail selection and also with gear damage that has caused them major grief at sea.

Witt led the Sydney to Hobart fleet up the harbour and out Sydney Heads at the start of the 2021 race before equipment damage within the first hour saw the team overtaken by rivals LawConnect and Black Jack.

On Tuesday afternoon Witt told News Corp from his yacht that there have been “many more issues’’ since the initial drama.

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Scallywag made a quick getaway before her first drama.

“From breakages to the motor, to electrical and no instruments,’’ he said.

“But the crew are dealing well. They never give up.’’

Remarkably, Witt was still on course to finish the race in Hobart despite his setbacks.

“Sailed with no instruments, never fast and very difficult at night,’’ he said.

This would have seen the crew using torches to light up the tell tails (wind indicators) on the sail in the dark and the helmsman sailing by feel.

“What happened after the start with the J2 tack fitting has happened another two times just as we regained lost miles,’’ he said.

The J2 fitting is where the headsail is connected to the deck. When broken it severely impacts the speed of the boat.

With is competing in his 25th Sydney to Hobart and hoping for a line honours win. But his litany of damage may well have doused this dream.

Scallywag preparing for the start on Boxing Day.

DEC 28: Some are battered, others bruised and sailors from two different boats were side-by-side in hospital beds after a torrid first 24 hours in the 2021 Sydney to Hobart put more than a third of the fleet in the blood bin.

“The dock is filling up pretty quickly,’’ said Gweilo crewmen Andrew Cribb as the boat injury toll continued to mount with 34 retired by 7pm.

“We’ve got plenty of company.’’

The most serious crew injury was to No Limit sailor Duncan MacLeod who was taken to hospital by ambulance when the Victorian yacht arrived back in Sydney in the early hours of Monday morning.

David Allen, sailing master on No Limit, inspecting the bunks after a crew member was thrown out and injured. Pic: Justin Lloyd.

A top fixing on a bunk gave way and it hinged down, catapulted him out the first night in rough conditions.

He was heading for surgery to repair the damage which is understood to include five separate breaks.

“He was airborne across the whole boat,’’ said crewmate and former round the world campaigner Ian ‘Barney’ Walker.

“One of the bunk systems failed. We came off a big wave. He was on the top bunk and the little pads that glue the rope system fell off.

“He flew across the boat to leeward into a bulkhead.

“It wasn’t pretty.’’

The crew of Patrice Six at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia after pulling out of the race. Pic: Justin Lloyd.

Next to him at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney’s eastern suburbs was Zen skipper Gordon Ketelbey, nursing a fractured arm.

Ketelbey was flung to the floor when down below putting on warm clothing and his life jacket.

“I’m getting too old for sailing in a Sydney to Hobart, these 52-footers are too vicious,’’ said the Mosman sailor, 66.

“I had two hands on the jacket and downstairs you don’t see waves coming. We hit one, the boat stopped and I kept going.’’

Cribb, a veteran of the race, said things could have been far worse than they were on Gweilo, a well-campaigned 52-footer, which had a failure the first night.

“These things happen. We’re having a beer and a bacon and egg roll and consoling ourselves,’’ he said.

“We had a hydraulic failure of our forestay. The hose broke and we lost fluid. We were lucky to keep the rig (mast) up but the guys acted quickly.

“It went over everything. It was like an ice rink down below.’’

While nowhere as bad as some races in the past, the constant pounding into headwinds almost right from the start of the race was bound to take a high toll on both people and boats.

The Sydney yacht Dinali, skippered by Damien Parkes, was one of numerous boats to suffer hull damage the first night.

“All is well,’’ he said.

“Boat came off an unseen backless wave and cracked the hull.

“Limping home under power slowly.’’

The crew of Patrice Six were back on land far earlier than expected by in good company.

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DECEMBER 26: Even veteran skipper Grant Wharington admits it’s a little weird - being excited about a race with similar weather to the one which saw his crew send out a mayday and abandon ship in a major drama at sea in 2004.

But the forecast for the 2021 Sydney to Hobart has Wharington thrilled about being back on the ocean as skipper of the 80-footer Stefan Racing.

Yachts on their way to Hobart after the start of the race.

With many sailors already bruised and a little battered from racing into headwinds almost from the 1pm start of the Sydney to Hobart on Sunday, Wharington was relishing the “bump and grind”.

“It’s a nice baptism of fire for the young guys doing the race,’’ said Wharington, whose son Ollie is doing his first Sydney to Hobart this year.

“This is a pretty unusual forecast and it will be a stamina thing.

Wharington’s old yacht Skandia floats upside down back in 2004. Pic: Ian Mainsbridge

“You have to make sure everyone eats and drinks and don’t be superheroes the first 24 hours.

“People are going to be out for three nights on this forecast. You don’t want to break things. And its nasty enough to break things.’’

Back in 2004, Wharington and his team on the supermaxi Skandia were forced into life rafts when the keel fell off the yacht and it capsized in the Tasman Sea in huge seas.

All crew managed to escape unscathed and the yacht was later salvaged

“This is probably the most similar weather since then,’’ he said.

Grant Wharington (L) has also sailed with David Witt, the skipper Scallywag.

After months of planning - and replanning due to Covid issues - the 76th Sydney to Hobart started with a burst of colour with 88 yachts making it to the start line.

This year Wharington has already overcome one hurdle, managing to avoid a major issue with his crew not having their Covid test results back before the race start by sending them to the airport.

“We had people there at 10pm (on Christmas night) and 6am (on Boxing Day),’’ he said.

Originally published as Sydney to Hobart 2021: Supermaxi suffers damage, sailors in hospital, high injury in savage race