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Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race
COMING SOON
18 March, 2026
View Results

Home Race 2008 Recap

2008 Race Recap

Quest in Storm Bay on the way to the finish

TP52 Quest, owned by Bod Steel, Overall Winner in 2008.  Image: ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2008

In 2008, Wild Oats XI claimed a fourth line honours win, with Bob Steel's TP52 Quest declared the overall winner.  In a true act of generosity, Steel presented his sailing master, Mike Green, with his Rolex Yacht master timepiece at the official prizegiving of the 64th Rolex Sydney Hobart. 

Race Program

Prior to each race Cruising Yacht Club of Australia publishes a separate official race program (with details of competing boats, the results of past races and articles about the race and its participants and other important events).  The 2008 Edition is here.    

Weather

The weather for the 64th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race was dream downwind forecast for the 50ft range of yachts with the first four places on corrected time filled by the highest performing TP52's.  With the overall winner Quest skippered by Bob Steel finishing in 49 hours and only 4.5 hours behind the line honors' winner Wild Oats XI, this displayed how the fleet compressed at the end with the 50ft yachts always in the breeze.

The race started in a typical North East sea breeze building during the first day and the early evening as the thermal was retreating there was good pressure and south flowing current inshore of the long port leg that the eventual overall winner utilized all of the first night.

On the 27th December the fleet encountered a weak trough of low pressure that ran South East from Victoria whilst entering Bass Strait. Once this trough was crossed the mid sized fleet was again pushed by a building North West breeze from Bass Strait to Tasman Island as a strong front linked up weakly to the trough line.

Whilst the larger maxi yachts encountered Tasman Island during the early morning of the 28th December in light breeze ahead of the front the mid sized yachts rode the front all the second evening to day break.

The afternoon and evening of the 28th heralded lighter winds for the smaller yachts who encountered another lee trough off the Tasmanian coast which provided soft winds south of St Helens and north of Maria Island.  With a deep low forming south of Tasmania on the 29th December there was plenty of westerly gradient aloft and a strong South West breeze rounding Tasman Light for the smaller yachts to contend with on their way to the finish.

Race reports

After each race, Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's magazine Offshore contains photo galleries, reports and articles on the race.  Read on to access them.

February / March 2009 Offshore - see pages 24 to 44