With just 30 days to go before the start of the 80th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, anticipation lifted sharply at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Darling Point headquarters where this year’s fleet of 133 boats was officially revealed — a meaningful rise from the 104 starters in 2024 and a strong signal of the race’s ongoing global appeal.
Among the skippers speaking at the launch, two-time defending Line Honours champion Christian Beck once again leaned into his trademark psychological strategy. Despite leading LawConnect to victory in the past two editions, Beck declared himself the underdog heading into 2025, largely due to the renewed presence of Master Lock Comanche alongside other 100-foot rivals including SHK Scallywag 100, Wild Thing 100, Palm Beach XI (formerly Wild Oats), and the cruiser-style Maritimo 100. Beck spoke candidly about the challenge ahead, saying Comanche is “better than us in every way,” adding that if conditions suit LawConnect, they suit Comanche even more. For Beck, the ideal scenario is weather that gives neither team a clear advantage — an acknowledgment that the odds, on paper at least, do not sit squarely in his favour.
Returning to defend his Overall win is CYCA Commodore Dr Sam Haynes with Celestial V70. With victories in both 2023 and 2022 — and a runner-up finish the year before — Haynes emphasised that success in this race is always the result of preparation rather than luck. He described the process as deceptively simple but endlessly intricate: choosing and positioning the right crew, planning for extreme weather scenarios, coordinating safety requirements, and even managing something as basic as onboard food. While the variables of the race are notoriously unpredictable, Haynes stressed that eliminating avoidable surprises remains the foundation of any strong campaign.
One of the most compelling stories in this year’s fleet comes from First Light, a Class 40 owned and skippered by Elizabeth Tucker. After buying the boat in Spain and sailing it double-handed to Australia, she has assembled an all-female crew with a deliberate shift away from traditional role structures. Tucker views each sailor not as a subordinate but as a co-skipper, empowering the team to helm, navigate and manage systems collectively — a philosophy shaped by her own pursuit of solo, long-distance objectives and her desire to broaden opportunities for women in offshore racing.
Adding contrast to the fleet’s cutting-edge maxis is Maritimo Katwinchar, the 121-year-old, 33-foot yacht skippered by ocean racing veteran Michael Spies. The wooden classic, sailed to Australia from England in 1951, remains both the oldest and one of the smallest boats in the race. Spies, who has previously claimed both Line Honours and an Overall win in different years, believes that under the right conditions even a yacht of Katwinchar’s size can rise to the top. “If the planets align and it is a small boat race,” he said, “I’d like to think our name could come out of the hat.”
As Boxing Day draws near, narratives across the fleet — from frontrunner maxis and defending champions to all-female innovators and century-old challengers — are converging into a particularly compelling edition of the storied ocean classic. If early commentary is any indication, the 80th Rolex Sydney Hobart is shaping up to be a race defined not only by speed and skill but by character, confidence, and contrasting ambitions on every length of the water.
