West Coast Sailors Race in the 80th Sydney Hobart Yacht Race
Christmas Day in the United States will be Boxing Day in Australia, and therefore the start of the 80th installment of the historic Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. One hundred forty-two entrants are signed up for the 628-mile race, with the start scheduled for 6:00 p.m. PST on Christmas Day.
Three boats will be competing under the American flag, two of them California-based boats (the other will be sailing under the NYYC burgee). Two boats sailing under the New Zealand flag will feature at least some West Coast crew. Here are the Californian competitors (or at least boats with Californian ties) for the 80th Sydney Hobart Yacht Race:
Bacchanal
Bacchanal, owned by Roy Epstein and sailing under the Corinthian Yacht Club (CYC) burgee, will be making her second appearance in the Sydney Hobart. Epstein’s boat was forced to retire from last year’s edition of the race due to a broken boom.
“Brand-new last December, this JPK 11.80, Bacchanal, is named after Bacchus — the Roman god of wine, hedonism and joy,” the official Sydney Hobart website says of the boat. “Bacchanal retired after her boom broke in last year’s race, but in the lead-up, Epstein and crew produced some promising results, including third in the 2024 Cabbage Tree Island Race.”
Palm Beach XI (formerly Wild Oats XI)
Mark Richards, skipper of nine line-honors victories in Wild Oats XI, is now the owner of the boat, and has renamed it. The boat has two “triple wins” (line honors, race record, and overall win) in her history. California’s Stan Honey will be one of the co-navigators on board the boat, along with Alice Tarnawski.
“Palm Beach XI is the legendary Wild Oats XI that has been extensively upgraded to be a partial foiler by her longtime skipper Mark Richards, aka Ricko,” Honey tells Latitude. “The upgrade has been extensive, with new keel, new daggerboards, new C-foils, new PLC and new instruments. The crew is made up of a terrific group of friends that I’ve sailed with in the past. It’s an honor to be involved and fascinating given the innovative technical approach being pioneered by Ricko and Palm Beach.”
The official race website adds to this, stating that, “She is renamed for the company Ricko founded in 1995 and is undergoing major modifications, led by Richards, including a new deeper keel fin and bulb, advanced upwind daggerboards and radical C-foils. This will be an interesting race for Line Honours.”
Callisto
James Murray’s Pac 52 Callisto boasts an impressive offshore racing record, and will include Bay Area sailor Bill Colombo among her crew.
“A proven performer, Callisto won Overall Honours in the 2021 California Offshore Race Week and secured third place in Division 3 of the 2021 Transpacific Race,” the Sydney Hobart website says of the boat. “Callisto has competed in two editions of the Caribbean 600, finishing second and third in IRC Zero. The team won divisional Line Honours and its class in the 2023 Newport Bermuda Race and notably, claimed victory in that season’s Pineapple Cup from Miami to Jamaica. Its sistership, Warrior Won, has already demonstrated strong potential in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race on a similar platform, when it finished fourth overall in 2022.”
Perplexity
An Express 37 owned by John Wilkerson and sailing under the burgee of Port Madison Yacht Club (PMYC) in Washington, Perplexity is a newcomer to the Sydney Hobart. Though new to the Sydney Hobart, the boat is no stranger to offshore racing.
“She has done three Singlehanded Transpacific Yacht Races, one Pacific Cup and three Canadian Swiftsures,” the Sydney Hobart website says of the boat. “Wilkerson sailed her solo from Port Madison, Seattle, for the Rolex Sydney Hobart, doing a [Singlehanded Transpacific Race] along the way. The crew, three each from San Francisco and Seattle, plus one from Idaho, are thrilled to compete in the Rolex Sydney Hobart, Wilkerson says. Among them is Jim Quanci, whom Wilkerson normally competes against — and they are very competitive — both have wins on the board.”