Despite a pandemic and recession, sailors sign on in big numbers for the 2020 Sydney-Hobart

A bumper fleet has signed on for the 76th Sydney to Hobart yacht race but crews must pass the Covid test before they set sail for Tassie

A FLEET of 103 boats has signed on for the 76th Sydney to Hobart yacht race this year and a champion Tasmanian racer says the battle at sea will be as ferocious as ever.

To make it happen, all crews will take a coronavirus test before they are cleared to sail, are likely to be temperature tested when they arrive in Hobart, and an exclusion zone is being considered to hold the public a “safe” distance from where the yachts dock at Kings Pier.

If sailors pass their health checks in Hobart, they will be free to follow tradition by visiting the city’s waterfront bars for a celebratory beer or rum, and indulge in another race tradition, a Tassie scallop pie.

The Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania’s new Commodore Richard Bevan said it was all systems go for the 2020 race, which will be one of the biggest events held anywhere in Australia after the unprecedented pandemic lockdown.

Yachts leave Sydney Harbour during the start of the 2019 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in Sydney. Picture: Brett Costello

Entries closed last night, with 100 yacht owners confirming their intention to race, including six Tasmanian entries and almost certainly no international yachts or overseas crew members for Australian boats.

A Zoom meeting between Bevan, RYCT and the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Sydney this week confirmed the race, which started in 1945, still had the green light.

“The word from the CYCA, whose ultimate decision it is, is that planning for the race continues with increasing optimism,” Bevan said.

Commodore Richard Bevan at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania. Update on the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is expected soon. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

“There won’t be an announcement that the race is on, because the race effectively is on.

“There would only be an announcement if the race was off and that is looking less and less likely.

“A month ago things were looking more grim than they are today, so it is looking increasingly positive with the opening of borders.

“There is a fair bit of detail to be worked through as to how things are managed by the CYC at the start, and by us at this end.”

Hobart skipper Greg Prescott, who entered his yacht 2Unlimited, said it would be business as usual once the starter’s gun fired at 1pm on Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day.

“We understand there will be some protocols to follow in Sydney and Hobart but the battle on the water will be exactly the same,” Prescott said.

“It will only be a bit different at the CYC and when we get to the finish.

“Hobart’s waterfront would be terrible if we didn’t have the yachts there.

“With the Sydney-Hobart and Launceston-Hobart races going ahead, we’re going to have 150 yachts there, so hopefully things won’t look too much different.”