Rosebud Wins Rolex Sydney Hobart

With the last of the 79 entries having finished or dropped out of the 605-mile Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Roger Sturgeon’s new Farr STP65 Rosebud was declared the corrected time winner.  As such, he joins Ted Turner, who won the event in ’72 with American Eagle, and Jim Kilroy, who won it with Kialoa III in ’77, as the only Americans to have won this most prestigious middle distance ocean race.

Although Sturgeon now calls Lauderdale home, he’s been a lifelong Northern Californian who has raced a series of Rosebuds, starting at 27 feet, in local waters. A self-described "computer scientist before the term was even coined" also made all his money in Northern California. Northern Californians Jack Halterman and Malcom Park are two key members of the Rosebud crew.

A really nice guy with a trademark bushy white beard, Sturgeon was ecstatic with his victory, which is just the beginning of what will be a world tour with Rosebud, the first of the STP65s. Sturgeon enjoyed great international success with his TP52 of the same name, but has told Latitude he’s much happier with the more stable and powerful 65.