Hobart, Australia (December 28, 2024) – With line honors in the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race decided, attention now turns to contenders for the Tattersall Cup, awarded to the Overall winner of the race under IRC handicap.
Sam Haynes, Commodore of race organizer, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, sailed his charter, Celestial V70, to second over the line. The team finished at 0510hrs, after 1 day, 16 hours, 10 minutes and 20 seconds of racing and is looking solid to win his second Sydney Hobart, having taken the mantle in 2022 with his TP52 Celestial, which also finished second overall in 2021.
Commodore Haynes has proved time and again his worth as a skipper who possesses a good eye for the right boat and crew. And as it turns out, his chartered boat, a Volvo Open 70, was just the right vessel for the conditions the race has delivered this year. And it is by far the best result for the yacht that has just done its fifth Sydney Hobart.
“I think Bass Strait was the hardest part,” noted Haynes. “That was where we went through that transition. It built and built. The sea state was wild. Big seas running, I’d say probably 40 plus knots.
“There was a lot of spray, and the boat was charging. So, everyone had to work extremely hard. That was the hardest part, but there were plenty of hard parts.
“We had to throttle back, but it’s hard to slow this boat down. That’s one of the problems. We had a J4 (spinnaker) up and the plan was to get it down and change to a storm sail, but then the J4 got broken.
“We ended up with storm sail for a lot longer, which worked out fine. So those sorts of things came and went. We pushed the boat pretty hard though, but tried to keep it at a safe speed, under control.
“They say that Volvo 70s aren’t exactly a Hobart boat, but it was a Volvo 70 type forecast, so I was so glad to be on it. It was much more comfortable than my TP52 would have been as well.”
Haynes has looked at the speeds needed to top their handicap time and believes it’s going to be hard to get knocked off (for Overall).”
Having sold his TP52, Haynes had put away his offshore gear and was going to do Cape 31 and J70 events.
“But this boat became available for me to charter, and I was interested. And then I thought I’d like to start the race as a commodore of the Club. We hadn’t had a sailing commodore for a little bit and I thought it’d be a good time to do it.
“I love the race, it’s quite special. One of those things we always sort of think, ‘Okay, I’m glad I’ve won it. I’m glad I’ve got back to life.’ And then here I am again, having another shot at it.”
So, would he do it again?
“No, never. Not until next time. (Laughs). It’s a hard no, but maybe…”
Details – Entries – Tracker – Facebook
The 2024 Sydney Hobart Race extends 628-nautical miles from Sydney Harbour to Hobart, the state capital of Tasmania. The start on December 26 takes place in the heart of the Australian summer, with 105 yachts set to take on the 79th edition.
Source: RSHYR
