This is the former Ichi Ban/Southern Excellence, being sailed in the race by Polish yachtsman, Przemyslaw Tarnacki and a mostly Polish crew. Tarnacki skippered a Polish crew on Weddell, to 76^th overall in 2017.

He is a multiple world and Polish sailing champion and four-time winner of the Sopot Match Race World Cup. The boat was built for the 2005-2006 VOR, and owned by Matt Allen and Grant Wharington, who skippered her. She did every Sydney Hobart from 2006 to 2014; the first seven as Ichi Ban, the next two as Southern Excellence.

She was second across the line in her first Hobart in 2006, then third over the line in 2007 and 2008. Ting Lee, the Chinese owner of Noahs Yacht Club, bought and upgraded Noahs II with a new mast and rigging and raced her to Hobart in 2018.