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Smooth Sailing at the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race
News
Smooth Sailing at the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race
On paper the course is intimidating — a 628-nautical-mile (or 1,163-kilometer) dash down the eastern coast of Australia, departing from the stunning natural beauty of Sydney Harbour, cheered on by crowds of well-wishers, before a challenging, and sometimes perilous race south through the Tasman Sea, and across the Bass Strait before rounding into Storm Bay, and up the Derwent River for the final dash into Hobart. It’s a race that tests the mettle of the boats and the will of the crew. Beyond that, the race is a complex dance. Weight is crucial. The less the boat carries, the faster it goes — so every pro and con of every kilogram brought on board are carefully considered. And while the race itself is over in a matter of days, the real race begins as soon as the previous one is run. Boats are modified and optimized. Crew are trained, weather and route are analyzed. Every element is carefully choreographed — down to the second — resulting in a ballet of wind, sail and sailor that is as beautiful as it is punishingly intricate.
Slingsby Says
One sailor with intimate experience of this grueling race is Tom Slingsby. He’s one of Australia’s most successful competitive sailors. He started his career in Laser dinghies, winning gold at the London Olympics in 2012. A few years later — in 2016 — he skippered his first Sydney Hobart Yacht Race win, in the Supermaxi Perpetual LOYAL. In 2021, he won the World Sailor of the Year Awards for the second time. We wanted to know how significant this was within the scope of his career. “If I am honest, neither of the Rolex World Sailor Awards means more than the other. They are 11 years apart, so it is quite nice to know that I’ve had a long, successful career. I won my first when I was 26 years old and my second when I was 37 years old, so maybe I am still improving in my old age.”