‘Min River’ Wins Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race
The doublehanded team of skipper/owner Jiang Lin and co-skipper Alexis Loison aboard the JPK 10.30 Min River (NSW, Australia) have been crowned the 2025 Rolex Sydney Hobart Race overall winners. Min River crossed the finish line in 41st place on December 30 with a time of 03:23:38:26. Jiang Lin is the first female skipper, and Lin and Loisin the first doublehanded crew, to win the 628-mile race, with a corrected time of 04:01:56:09.
The result was announced following Min River’s successful protest against doublehanded crew Michel Quintin and Yann Rigal aboard the JPK 10.80 BNC – my::Net.
Lin and Loisin argued that BNC breached Australian Sailing Racing Rule of Sailing 55.3(a):
55.3 Sheeting Sails
No sail shall be sheeted over or through any device that exerts outward pressure on a sheet or clew of a sail at a point from which, with the boat upright, a vertical line would fall outside the hull or deck, except:
(a) a headsail clew may be connected (as defined in The Equipment Rules of Sailing) to a whisker pole, provided that a spinnaker is not set;
(b) any sail may be sheeted to or led above a boom that is regularly used for a sail and is permanently attached to the mast from which the head of the sail is set;
(c) a headsail may be sheeted to its own boom that requires no adjustment when tacking; and
(d) the boom of a sail may be sheeted to a bumkin.
Quintin and Rigal acknowledged their error, saying they had been unaware of the rule.
Each year, the fleet sets off from Sydney on the afternoon of December 26 (AEST) and finishes in Hobart, Tasmania, in front of Constitution Dock, off Hobart’s Battery Point. The time of their arrival is determined by the conditions, boats and crews. One thing is certain: The race is known as one of the hardest 600-mile ocean races in the world. This year was no different.
Richmond Yacht Club commodore Jim Quanci and club member Andy Schwenk raced aboard John Wilkerson’s Express 37 Perplexity (Port Madison Yacht Club, Bainbridge Island, Washington). Perplexity docked in Hobart around 1 a.m. on December 31 (AEST). When we heard from Jim later that morning, he commented on the difficult weather conditions leaving Sydney Harbour at the start of the race, followed by “champagne sailing” across Bass Strait (notorious for rough, high seas and challenging conditions), and back to harsh conditions heading down Tasmania’s east coast. But his enthusiasm at having completed the race was palpable. (Stay tuned for an in-depth race wrap with Jim Quanci and Andy Schwenk, coming soon.)
While we missed seeing the crew of Perplexity dock in Hobart, we did catch up with Jim Murray and Bill Colombo aboard the Pac 52 Callisto (eighth place in Line Honors, corrected time 04:09:41:44). We chatted with Jim and Bill on the docks after their arrival in Hobart on December 29.
We hope to share more stories from the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race in upcoming ‘Lectronic Latitudes.
Good Jibes #224: Eric Jones on America’s Tall Ship ‘Eagle’ and Cal Poly Maritime, With Host John Arndt
Welcome to Good Jibes, where we chat with the West Coast sailing community to hear their stories and tips on cruising, racing and just plain sailing. This week we chat with 36-year US Coast Guard veteran and Cal Poly Maritime Academy superintendent Eric Jones.
Eric has commanded three US Coast Guard cutters, including the three-masted training barque USCGC Eagle. Hear the behind-the-scenes stories of commanding Eagle, what it’s like in the tall-ship fraternity, crazy stories from sailing Eagle in storms, how Cal Poly Maritime Academy is combating seablindness, and the value of a maritime degree today and in the future.
More details here.
Here’s a sample of what you’ll hear in this episode:
- From Kansas deckhand to 35-year-old freshman
- Coast Guard Academy recruitment
- Teaching celestial navigation in the GPS era
- The tall-ship community and sister ships across continents
- Working fishing boats at Pillar Point Harbor
Learn more at Maritime.CalPoly.Edu.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast spots — follow and leave a 5-star review if you’re feeling the Good Jibes!
You Won’t Be a Stick in the Mud at Vallejo Yacht Club
Racing Ahead Into 2026
Literally Sailing into the New Year
The new year won’t be more than a few hours old when these races welcome 2026:
- The San Francisco Vanguard 15 fleet will sail a New Year’s Day Regatta out of Alameda Community Sailing Center, on the Bay side of the island.
- The Master Mariners New Year’s Day Regatta will start east of Treasure Island and race/cruise to Point San Pablo YC in Richmond for a Chili Cook-off.
- Coyote Point YC’s Brrrr Rabbit kicks off that club’s 2026 regatta series on the South Bay.
- The New Year’s Day Race is a favorite tradition in San Diego. It’s free!
Sadly, the Bay Area forecast calls for rain this Thursday (and a few other days this week). San Diego’s forecast calls for thunderstorms on the First. So we’re guessing that precipitation will put a damper on (or at least dampen) the sailing.
More Midwinters Jump Aboard
Many Northern California midwinter series began in November, and a few more got underway in December. But even more wait for the new year to hit the starting line. Compiling January’s monthly Calendar, we’ve added the following to the list:
- Oakland Yacht Club will ring in the new year with the Sunday Brunch, starting on January 4. Register on Jibeset.
- Coyote Point YC’s Winter Sails will begin on Sunday, January 11, and run twice a month through the end of March. The club is based out of a marina in a Bayside county park in San Mateo.
- The Corinthian Midwinters will occupy two weekends, January 17-18 and February 21-22. The club in downtown Tiburon is going with a Valhalla on the Bay theme in 2026. They promise “great courses, tricky winds, and some splendid parties. We’ll have a band after each Saturday of racing, a Dark ‘n Stormy drink special, and a racer’s buffet. We’ll help you get rafted up in the harbor so you can enjoy free dockside beer and pizza immediately after the racing.” They offer PHRF and one-design classes, for spinnaker and non-spinnaker entries. “Heck, we might even run a multihull division if you want.” See https://race.cyc.org/mids26. How will the winter currents affect the races? Kame Richards will speak at CYC on Thursday evening, January 15, at 7 p.m. about “The Unique Tidal Currents that Define the SF Bay.”
Three Bridges, One Big Puzzle to Solve
New Year’s Day races will launch us into January, and the Three Bridge Fiasco will close out the month on Saturday the 31st. The biggest keelboat race west of the Mississippi allows only singlehanders and doublehanders in a wide range of boats. The slowest will start first; the rest will pursue them around the Bay, rounding marks at three bridges. The puzzle pieces include which direction to start, which mark to round first, and how to tackle the midday ebb current. Accept the challenge and sign up on Jibeset.
About Your Northern California PHRF Certificate
The Yacht Racing Association advises that PHRF renewals submitted by January 2 will be processed by January 16, assuming a straightforward renewal that does not need to go to the committee to be reviewed, or a new boat that has been previously rated and is in its stock configuration. Renew on Jibeset. For significant changes or a fresh application, go here. The next scheduled PHRF committee meeting will be on Monday, January 26. To be included in that meeting, submit your application by January 22.
Migrating South
The 2026 California Dreamin’ match racing series will kick off in San Diego on January 24-25. San Diego YC will host this first of four stops.
South of the border, our amigos at Vallarta YC in Riviera Nayarit will run the Vallarta Cup on January 10-11 and 17-18.
The 2026 Sailing Calendar came out alongside the January issue of Latitude 38; the New Year’s break is a great time to plan your sailing schedule for the year ahead. Happy New Year, readers!
‘Tis the Season for Circumnavigations
As we head for New Year’s Day, we call attention to four circumnavigations that will be underway at the start of the New Year. There are two Jules Verne fastest-around-the-world record attempts currently underway. The 11 remaining boats in the McIntyre Mini Globe Race just left Cape Town for the last leg across the Atlantic to Antigua to finish their almost 400-day circumnavigation, and if they brave the local weather here tomorrow, some sailors will join the annual “Around the Island” event, circumnavigating Alameda.
The Famous Project left the starting line between the Créac’h lighthouse (Ouessant) in France and Cape Lizard (UK) for the Jules Verne Trophy on November 29. The Jules Verne Trophy was started in the early ’90s to create an opportunity for boats to set the fastest elapsed time around the world, with no rules or restrictions. The goal was to beat the mythical “around the world in 80 days” mark, and in the first attempt, Bruno Peyron and crew beat it by just about 18 hours, getting around in 79 days 6 hours 15 minutes 56 seconds. The Famous Project is the first record attempt by an all-female crew. Learn more here and follow them on their tracker here. They have been blasting around the planet for 32 days.
You can follow Thomas Coville and his speedster, Sodebo, on their tracker here. They are currently ahead of the IDEC’s 2017 record-setting reference time of 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds. They left the starting line on December 15, so they are just 16 days into their oceanic blitzkrieg.
Another circumnavigation currently underway is the McIntyre Mini Globe Race, which started with 14 homebuilt plywood boats on February 23 in Antigua. Though at a much slower pace, they have been racing around the world ever since, crossing from the Atlantic to the Pacific via the Panama Canal. There are 11 rugged boats and competitors remaining in the race. They’ve sailed 21,000 miles so far to make it to Cape Town, South Africa, and left on December 28 for the last 6,000-mile sail back to Antigua. West Coast sailor Josh Kali is part of the fleet and is currently running in 11th place. You can follow the fleet here.
All Alameda yacht clubs are participating. There are no live trackers following the Around the Island event; you have to be live and in person to participate! You can visit them as follows:
– Aeolian YC, 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. — serving their famous gin fizzes and breakfast burritos
– Alameda YC, 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. — serving chili and cornbread with drink specials
– Encinal YC — TBD
– Island Yacht Club — 12 p.m.–4 p.m.
– Oakland YC, 12 p.m.–4:00 p.m. — serving clam chowder bread bowls and bloody Marys
– Ballena Bay — TBD
There are lots of sailors starting the year sailing in circles around the planet, or around the island. How will you start the year?
Friday King Tides Arrive With Stormy Weather
Friday, January 2, and Saturday, January 3, 2026, will have the last king tides of this winter, and they’re set to coincide with some significant rainfall and southerly winds on Friday. The periodic king tides give municipalities an opportunity to prepare for the impact of local sea level rise. The California Coastal Commission is putting out the call once again for citizens to photograph their local shoreline and use their websites to share it with waterfront planning commissions. You can find out the exact time of high tide in your area here.
The Sausalito and Mill Valley shorelines were deep underwater during the first seasonal king tides earlier this month. Luckily, the weather was calm. When combined with storms, the added southerly winds and rain can cause an additional rise, wreaking havoc along the shoreline and breaking docks, dock lines and other waterfront infrastructure.
Given the weather forecast, it may not be a day for socializing, but there are community events planned on Friday in Watsonville and on Saturday in Shelter Cove (Humboldt County), Navarro Beach, American Canyon, San Rafael, San Francisco, Alameda, Oakland, Hayward, Watsonville, San Diego, and Imperial Beach. You can find these events here.
If you’re posting on social media, they ask you use the hashtag #KingTides.
King tides have nothing to do with sea level rise or climate change, but the California Coastal Commission says it allows us to experience a little of what higher sea level will be like. King tides are the highest predicted tides caused by the combined gravitational pull of the Earth, moon and sun, resulting in high tides about a foot or two higher than average.
Now is a good time to make sure your dock lines are secure and your boat is prepared for all winter storms, and to be aware that king tides may only add to the stress on the system and access to your boat!