Are We Racing?
By Charlie Salter
SYDNEY HOBART 2021
The Sydney to Hobart over 628nm has been sailed annually since 1945. The race was Covid cancelled in 2020 and there is a real possibility of no race in 2021. While waiting for a decision, SWS speculates about State based “on water matters” and possible alternatives.
Boat preparation, race planning and crew training that precede the Sydney Hobart are important. Even if you are an experienced campaigner, the months leading up to December 26 are critical for fine tuning. With NSW and Victoria in lock-down through spring, competitive sailing has been almost impossible for local boats, let alone interstate and internationals. A boat may already be in Sydney but the owner and sailing master might live interstate or overseas. 2 weeks quarantine in a Covid hotel is hardly the best preparation.
From the 1978 Sydney Hobart Programme
WE’RE ON THE TELLY
The 75 year old race has a stature amongst sailors and the general public in Australia. For competitive offshore sailors it’s often compared to the 608Nm Fastnet race from Cowes to Plymouth that will celebrate its centenary in 2025. It also rivals two biennial races that started in 1906 – the 635Nm Newport to Bermuda, and the 2,225Nm TransPac from California to Diamond Head in Hawaii.
Sailing as a sport rarely gets TV coverage but the Sydney to Hobart “has-a-go and gets-a-go”. Commercial TV live broadcasts the lunchtime start on Boxing Day in Sydney Harbour, staying on air just long enough for the maxis to reach the turning mark at Sydney Heads. The cameras only switch on again 2-3 days later when the line honours winner is within sight of the Derwent finish. Unfortunately, in recent years Ch7 has focused only on the maxis and then mostly on the Ch7 sponsored WILD OATS. This distortion perpetuates a common whinge about ocean racing being an elite sport for big boats and big money.
While the maxis are very impressive on the telly, sailors follow the handicap competition and celebrate the winner. In the first 50 years, an off-the-shelf boat like a 34’ Sparkman & Stephens or a standard 35’ Arthur Robb Lion Class, sailed well with a bit of luck, could win the race.
SIANDRA an Arthur Robb 35’ Lion Class. Handicap winner 1958 and 1960
That’s difficult today. Boat selection and strategy are planned very precisely to reach Tasman Island about 48 hours in (lunchtime day two). They then turn north, hoping to catch the afternoon sea-breeze through Storm Bay and up the fickle Derwent and finish before the southerly dies out. On recent handicap results and weather patterns that boat looks like a TransPac52 or a Reichel Pugh 60something running downhill on a North Easterly to the turn.
Wooden boat sailors take great interest in the S2H Veterans and Corinthian divisions. Every year the fleet is enhanced by boats from last century. Entries for 2021 include past winners SOLVEIG (1954), LOVE & WAR (1974 & ‘78) and KIALOA II (Line honours 1971). Adding a Corinthian competition in 2014 (no professional crew on board) has also widened the field and age of the entries.
Botin 52 ICHI BAN with dinghy tiller helm. Handicap winner 2017 and 2019
CYCA UPDATE
With 70 entries already, the CYCA is posting interesting updates on the 2021 Sydney Hobart race. October is when (a now slightly tarnished) Golden Gladys intended to start lifting restrictions within NSW but rivalries and different Covid conditions are making it difficult to align State interests necessary for the S2H to proceed. Sounds like race management needs a heavy hitter like “Rugbah League’s” Peter V’landys. The CYCA website on 17th September states;
“We are in ongoing discussions with the NSW and Tasmanian State Governments to keep abreast of changes to policy. The CYCA is focusing on what is in our control. An extensive COVID-safe plan is already in place and being regularly adapted to comply with the latest COVID-19 restrictions”.
Given the Tasmanian border is currently closed to NSW residents, the Club is looking at options to modify the Rolex Sydney Hobart race course if it should it become necessary .... we are considering an alternative race if the border to Tasmania remains closed .... but our priority is to preserve the route ....”
More recent signals from the CYCA advise their best guess is that the NSW Government will open up community sport from early November, and that competitive sailing will be included. The Club does expect there will be conditions attached and that, at minimum, evidence of double vaccination will be required in order to access the clubhouse. The CYCA continues to expect the regatta will be sailed although recognise that crossing borders is still an unresolved issue.
The Club Commodore and CEO met with the Tasmania Premier and Health Minister last week. They reported that Tasmania wants to get to 90% double vaccination before opening their borders. The State expects to achieve that in late November or early December. Once the State is open, evidence of double vaccination and a negative test result in the past 72 hours will be required for entry. The club’s position continues to be that the Sydney Hobart will be sailed in 2021.
So there are several “known unknowns” with very high vaccination targets and unresolved border issues. Best case scenario is vaccination targets are met, borders and dockside access are managed with race bubbles or the like, giving one month to prepare for the race. This short preparation time brings risk management decisions for race directors and individual boat owners. Here is the vaccination status and projections by State at 27 September. Scroll down to the green map of Australia and hover over a region.
STATE MARINE BOUNDARIES
(Add a pinch of salt)
What may not be understood in all the political shenanigans is that each Australian state and the Northern Territory have both land and sea borders. These extend 200Nm to the Exclusive Economic Boundary. SWS are not maritime lawyers but can speculate about operations of the boundaries. At the moment, under travel permit rules, you cannot enter Victoria or Tasmania from NSW by land or air. You must be granted an exemption which is given only in very limited circumstances. We assume the same applies to State maritime borders?
With borders still being a block, could there be maritime loopholes that allow the 2021 Sydney Hobart to proceed under obligations in the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). We certainly invite our maritime lawyers and sailing solicitors to enlighten us.
From discussion in the 2001 Commonwealth Border Protection Bill, changes to Australian maritime laws in last 20 years have been about border protection against drugs and people smuggling. Within the Territorial Sea (12NM from the coast), these laws allow Australian officers to board, search and arrest. The Sydney Hobart requires boats to cross State maritime boundaries. If NSW and Tasmania align racing protocols, there are still Victorian waters to traverse. UNCLOS has some exemptions that might be claimed for poli-safe sailing.
Boats and sailors are entitled to have “innocent passage”. By accepted definition, passage is innocent if “no act is done which threatens the coastal state”. However, “passage is not innocent if a ship carries persons or goods dangerous to the coastal state”. While the race starts and finishes in a Coal-ition controlled state, perhaps the COVID-19 risk may fail us here. If you sail within 12Nm of the Victorian coast, Dan Andrews or his new $360k a year Border Tsar, might flag boats down at Gabo Island.
What about distress at sea? UNLCOS permits stopping and anchoring within territorial sea where that is 'rendered necessary by force majeure or distress' or 'for the purpose of rendering assistance to persons in danger or distress'. Can a race boat in distress retire to Mallacoota in Victoria?
What about claiming refugee status when crossing the finish line at Battery Point? “Australia is obliged not to expel or return persons who have a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion to a place in which their life or freedom would be threatened on account of these reasons”. Not sure if sailing falls under fear of persecution but certainly could be applied to each of these reasons. Race = Sydney Hobart. Religion = Sailing. Nationality = Sailing. Social Group = Sailing etc. Unfortunately, refugee status might not apply to Australian boats and crews but could see an international yacht slip through a legal challenge to grab the silverware. The recent PRC crackdown on conspicuous capitalism and democracy makes the 100’ maxi SHK Scallywag from Hong Kong the only possible claimant here.
SCALLYWAG in 2019. Photo North Sails
MODIFIED COURSE or ALTERNATIVE RACE
Apart from the problem of interstate and international boats and crews getting into Sydney, a different race presents room for speculation. What might a “modified course” or “alternative race” look like that compares to the 628Nm Sydney Hobart?
What about a 534Nm Sydney Melbourne (Queenscliff) race. The problem here is timing the arrival at the Rip on a slack tide. The boats that arrive on the flood would have a massive advantage over those that arrive on the ebb. The race would need to finish outside Port Phillip Heads perhaps at Point Lonsdale Lighthouse, to make it fair.
In the old days Victorian yachts entering the Sydney Hobart would use the Queenscliff to Sydney race as a shake-down. Sydney is more east than north of Melbourne. In 1956 there were 8 starters with Arthur Warner’s 52ft yawl WINSTON CHURCHILL taking line and handicap honours. In 1960 the fleet of four had a gale on the tail virtually the whole way with the big yawl doing it again in record time.
The southern coast of Victoria can be treacherous sailing. In April 1959 beating into the muttonbird gales from Port Welshpool to Melbourne, WINSTON CHURCHILL was damaged by a freak wave. The mizen lifted and holed the keel. Taking water, Warner managed to beach in the surf off Wonthaggi and the crew of 6 swam ashore. Warner was State Transport Minister and a marked man in the district at the time. Sadly this famous Melbourne boat and three crew were lost in the 1998 Sydney Hobart.
WINSTON CHURCHILL off Wonthaggi April 1959. Photo The Age
Sydney Hobart Programme 1962
World One Ton Cup Courses 1972
Another option that avoids dealing with Dastardly Dan might be a southerly turning mark inside NSW at Eden or at Disaster Bay near Green Cape Lighthouse. The top mark could be Cabbage Tree Island off Port Stephens before returning to Sydney.
The alternative courses sound interesting but it’s not Hobart. SWS suspects that unless the traditional course can be sailed, the enthusiasm to race will wane. The spectacle of a Sydney start, a Derwent finish and the fleet at Constitution Dock under Mt Wellington is something very special. Let’s hope the the CYCA can get it done for ‘21.
Over to our SWS ocean racers for suggestions about alternative courses .