Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race 2020: iconic event cancelled for first time in 76 year history

The 2020 Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race has been officially cancelled. LATEST >>

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UPDATE: THE 76th Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race has been cancelled.

Just after 9pm on Saturday night, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia announced the famous race would not go ahead for 2020.

CYCA Commodore Noel Cornish said “We are bitterly disappointed to cancel the race this year especially considering the plans and preparations we had put in place to have a COVID Safe race.”

“We were so well prepared to run the race and we’re only six days from the start. This is the first time in 76 years that the race will not be conducted.”

Mr Cornish said the primary consideration for the Club continued to be the safety of competitors, members and staff along with the health and welfare of the people of NSW and Tasmania.

EARLIER: TASMANIAN crews on the verge of withdrawing from this year’s Sydney-Hobart yacht race after the COVID-19 scare in Sydney – one of them has crew members from the developing Northern Beaches hotspot.

As the outbreak numbers climb, so does the concern among Tasmanian crews and Duncan Hine, skipper of 2018 Sydney-Hobart handicap winner Alive, will decide on Saturday whether or not to withdraw his pocket-maxi from the race.

Alive

“We are considering our options,” Hine said.

“We have a favourable weather window open to us this weekend to go and get the boat and take it to Launceston, so we will have to make a decision by then.

“It would be extremely disappointing if we had to pull out.

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2018

“It has been six months’ worth of preparation and effort to get this close, so it is very inconvenient and would be very disappointing.

“But sometimes you’ve got to look for good things out of bad situations.”

If Alive was withdrawn from the Sydney-Hobart, Hine will take Alive to Beauty Point for the Launceston-Hobart race starting on December 27.

Tension is also building for Hobart sailor Greg Prescott, skipper of hot-shot racer 2Unlimited, who says Tuesday is the latest he can wait until he pulls the pin.

“The outbreak in the Northern Beaches is a concern and if it escalates I’ll grab the boat from Sydney and take it to Launceston,” Prescott said.

“We’ve had all of our safety requirements ticked off so we would be fine to do the Launceston-Hobart, but we will make our decision when things are lot clearer.”

Tasmanian skipper Greg Prescott of yacht 2Unlimited is on the verge of pulling out of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race over COVID concerns. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

There was speculation that if the race was cancelled, it might start on Australia Day.

Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania boss Richard Bevan is watching closely.

“It’s certainly very scary what’s happening with the outbreaks in Sydney, and some of them are very close to the yacht club areas,” he said.

“It would the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s call about the race going ahead, and that comes down to what conditions are in Sydney that would allow the race to start and what the requirements are for sailors arriving in Hobart.

“There’s not much point starting a race if none of the sailors are allowed to step off the boat when they get here.”

Bevan said the only thing that will stop the Sydney-Hobart was a closed border but Premier Peter Gutwein was not even close to shutting Tasmania to NSW.

“It’s up to race organisers to determine whether or not the race takes place, bearing in mind it will depend largely on where the sailors from NSW come from,” he said.

“They need to determine whether they will have a fleet of a suitable size, and those matters will be worked through and we will update when we have a clearer picture on that.”