THE FICKLE HOBART

THE 75TH ROLEX SYDNEY HOBART RACE WAS A MENTALLY TAXING AFFAIR FOR ALL COMPETITORS IN THIS ANNIVERSARY YEAR OF THE OFFSHORE CLASSIC, REPORTS CROSBIE LORIMER

- CROSBIE LORIMER

Had any of the crew of the nine yachts that finished the inaugural Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in 1945 been able to comment on the race’s 75th edition, the phrase ‘walk in the park’ would probably have featured, such was the contrast in weather, and time spent at sea, between the first and most recent editions of this ocean racing classic.

The 628-mile ‘Hobart’, as it’s commonly abbreviated, is renowned for its challenging phases and varied moods. The first priority for any competitor is just getting safely out of Sydney Harbour, awash with an armada of spectator craft. Then comes the navigator’s first dilemma heading south: inshore for breeze or offshore for current?

If all is well you enter the fearsome Bass Strait in good order. You’ll need to; seasoned circumnavigators describe its seas as the worst in the world on a bad day. It’s boat-breaking stuff if you’re unlucky, as many were in the tragic 1998 storm.

Then somewhere down the line you’ll be running out of breeze, maybe on the Tasmanian east coast? But it’ll be back soon enough, just pray that a big southerly doesn’t catch you trying to round Tasman Island, as the seas will be immense and the rounding interminable. Into and across the usually aptly named Storm Bay – although quiet as mouse for most in 2019 – the course takes you finally past the Iron Pot at the entrance to Derwent River.

With only 11 miles to go, you’re nearly there; except you’re not if you’ve arrived early evening for a classic Derwent ‘closedown’. Many a race has been lost here within a sniff of the race’s famous ‘QLD’ (quiet little drink) at Hobart’s Customs House Hotel.