Forecast strong southerly breezes and big sea conditions in the Rolex Sydney-Hobart fleet have seen the 88-boat fleet reduced by a quarter after the first day of racingPhoto: Andrea Francolini\/RolexThe Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race got off to a spectacular start on Boxing Day, 26 December, 2021, but tough conditions have seen the fleet greatly reduced after a day of racing.
\nThe start of the annual 628-mile offshore race to Tasmania is a huge event in Australia, and after the cancellation of last year\u2019s race Sydney turned out in force to watch the spectacular start.
\nPhoto: Andrea Francolini\/Rolex
\nAll eyes were on the three 100ft Maxi yachts which are expected to contest the 2021 line honours trophy.
\nThe David Witt-skippered\u00a0SHK Scallywag 100\u00a0had a disastrous beginning after headsail gear failure saw them forced to douse the sail, then race bare-headed until the crew could hoist a storm jib.
\nFormer Volvo Ocean Race skipper Witt is competing in his 25th Sydney Hobart and had taken the lead shortly after the start. Scallywag led the two other 100-footers, Christian Beck\u2019s LawConnect\u00a0and Peter Harburg\u2019s\u00a0Black Jack,\u00a0skippered by Mark Bradford, around the first two marks until a problem with their J2 tack fitting saw Scallywag forced to drop their headsail and hand away their advantage as the crew wrestled to solve the problems on the foredeck.
\nThe Scallywag crew work to solve a headsail failure shortly after the 2021 Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race start. Photo: Andrea Francolini\/Rolex
\nAfter the first day of racing it was Black Jack, the Reichel\/Pugh-designed ex-Alfa Romeo (and line honours winner in 2009) that led the fleet.
\nSydney-Hobart retirements
\nRace organisers had made pre-start PCR tests for competitors mandatory, which saw a handful of yachts drop out after crew tested positive, with 88 yachts starting the race. However, after less than 24 hours of racing that fleet was further reduced by a quarter, as a brutal sea state and southerly winds gusting 30-knots saw further gear failures across the fleet.
\nAmongst the first retirements was the Reichel\/Pugh 69\u00a0Moneypenny, owned and skippered by Sean Langman. Moneypenny was forced to return to Sydney due to a broken forestay.
\nLangman explained: \u201cWe were doing quite a bit of short tacking and there was a bit of current and the seas were up. Let\u2019s say it was pretty fruity.\u201d
\nPhoto: Andrea Francolini\/Rolex
\nAlready a total of 22 yachts have announced their retirement.\u00a0They include the Reichel-Pugh 66\u00a0Alive, and the TP52 Denali,\u00a0both of which cited hull damage. Other reasons including further broken forestays caused by the tough upwind conditions, several yachts suffering severe mainsail damage, a broken window, engine failure and one crew injury.
\nImpressively 14 of the 17 double-handed entries, permitted for the first time in the 76 years of the event, are still racing.
\nCurrently in 2nd place for line honours is Christian Beck\u2019s\u00a0LawConnect. Speaking to race organisers from on board, Ty Oxley reported:\u00a0\u201cLast night wasn\u2019t too bad, the breeze got up a bit and it was pretty wet for a while. We managed to get through.
\n\u201cThe biggest thing on these boats is slowing it\u00a0down, so we slowed the boat down and managed our way through what we needed to get done and came out the other side.\u201d
\nFollow the race tracker and news updates at http:\/\/rolexsydneyhobart.com\/
\nThe post Brutal first night conditions sees a quarter of Rolex Sydney-Hobart fleet retire appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Forecast strong southerly breezes and big sea conditions in the Rolex Sydney-Hobart fleet have seen the 88-boat fleet reduced by a quarter after the first day of racingPhoto: Andrea Francolini\/RolexThe Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race got off to a spectacular start on … <\/p>\n