2022 Race Recap
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Overall Winner Celestial approaching Tasman Island on its way to victory.
Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2022
A larger fleet of 109 boats met the starter for the 77th edition of the race, of which 20 were Two-Handed boats.
There were 9 retirements resulting from boat and gear damage sustained through some torrid conditions during parts of the race. You can read about the weather experienced by the fleet below.
Four 100-foot maxis battled for the prestigious John H Illingworth Challenge Cup for line honours, with Andoo Comaanche, skippered by John Winning Jr, ultimately prevailing in a race that suited its downwind and reaching performance. LawConnect finished less than 30 minutes later, with Black Jack 17 minutes further back. Read more and watch videos of the line honours finish here and here.
The TP52 Celestial, skippered by CYCA Vice Commodore Sam Haynes, was the overall winner in 2022, having been the bridesmaid in 2021. It finished with a corrected time difference of 15 minutes to second placed Gweilo, another TP52, skippered by Matt Donald and owned by Matt Donald and Chris Townsend. Read more.
The leading Two-Handed Division boat on IRC was the Lombard 34 Mistral, sailed by Rupert Henry and Greg O'Shea. Read more.
One of the stories of the race was the persistence of Kathy Veel and Bridget Canham on Currawong, finishing in last place on the water just before midnight on New Years Eve to a fantastic reception from the Hobart community and competitors from other boats. Read a report on their race here.
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 such as the Admiral's Cup). The 2022 Edition is here.
Race Documents
Amendment 1 to the Notice of Race
Protest No 1 - Maritimo v Organising Authority
Protest No 2 - Avalanche v Llama II
Protest No 3 - Request for redress by Race Committee on behalf of Enterprise Next Generation
Protests No 4 & 5 - Chutzpah v XS Moment BNMH and XS Moment BNMH v Chutzpah
Protest No 6 - Race Committee v Gunshot
Race Briefing and Weather Briefing
There is a compulsory race briefing 2 days before the race and a compulsory weather briefing on the morning of the start. Watch them here:
Weather
This race provided some of the best downwind conditions we have seen for a long time. From a few weeks out, the main models were threatening a sled ride and we weren’t disappointed.
There was a weak southerly change that passed through late at night on 24 December, which paved the way for a persistent left shift to a building strong North Easter.
Whilst the predominant models were very stable with the forecasted direction, there was a 13 knot split in the max gusts forecasted, ranging from 40 to 53 knots.
The upper atmosphere was quite stable for the initial portion of the race, and given the wind favoured a very large range of the fast yachts, oceanography and staying in the strongest current was likely to be the key to winning.
There were several corridors of strong southbound current, which really helped to keep the sea state manageable given the strong breeze.
Managing the current transitions was very important and the top TP52s all played the game very well.
A strong front was due to approach Tasmania on the afternoon of 28 December, so the key was to get to the corner before it arrived.
Unfortunately that was not an option for the smaller boats, with much of the fleet experiencing a very strong headbutt along the Tasmanian coast.
The River Derwent, as usual, provided some of the hardest sailing of the whole race, with 45kt gusts of cold air coming straight down Mt Wellington, and given the narrow width of the river, it meant there was little in the way of forewarning before those squalls hit.
Race reports
In recent years the navigator of the overall winner has been invited to write a report on their race, including detail on the weather they experienced. After each race, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's magazine Offshore contains reports and articles on the race. Read on to access them.
Autumn 2023 Offshore - see pages 6 to 53
Race report - James Dagge, Navigator, Overall winner, Celestial