J/99 Teams Silver in rough & tumble Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

The 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Race Start © ROLEX | Andrea Francolini

Over the past 78 years, the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race has become an icon of Australia's summer sport, ranking in public interest with such national events as the Melbourne Cup, the Australian Open tennis, and the Boxing Day cricket test. No regular annual yachting event in the world attracts such huge media coverage as the three starting lines on Sydney Harbour.

The 628.0 nm course is often described as the most gruelling long ocean race in the world, a challenge to everyone who takes part. From the spectacular start in Sydney Harbour, the fleet sails out into the Tasman Sea, down the south-east coast of mainland Australia, across Bass Strait (which divides the mainland from the island State of Tasmania), then down the east coast of Tasmania. At Tasman Island, the fleet turns right into Storm Bay for the final sail up the Derwent River to the historic port city of Hobart.

People who sail the race often say the first and last days are the most exciting. The race starts on Sydney Harbour and attracts hundreds of spectator craft and hundreds of thousands of people lining the shore as helicopters buzz above the fleet, filming for TV around the world.

The final day at sea is exciting with crews fighting to beat their rivals, but also looking forward to the traditional Hobart welcome. Plus, looking forward to having a refreshing drink to relax and celebrate their experience.

Between the first and last days, the fleet sails past some of the most beautiful landscapes and seascapes found anywhere in the world. The New South Wales coast is a mixture of sparkling beaches, coastal townships, and small fishing villages. Nevertheless, for most of the race south, the yachts can be anywhere between the coastline and 40 miles offshore.

During the race, many boats are within sight of each other and crews listen closely to the information from the twice-daily radio position schedules ("skeds" as they are called). In more recent years, crews have been able to pinpoint the entire fleet's whereabouts and follow each boat's progress against their own using onboard computers and the YB yacht tracker on the official race website.

Bass Strait (nicknamed the "paddock") has a dangerous personality. It can be dead calm or spectacularly dangerous. The water is relatively shallow, there's a south-easterly flowing 2-3 kts current, and the winds can be strong out of the south-south-west. These countermanding elements of wind against current often create a steep and difficult breaking sea for yachts.

The third leg after the "paddock"- down the east coast of Tasmania takes the fleet past coastal holiday resorts and fishing ports with towering mountains in the background. Approaching Tasman Island, the coastline comprises massive cliffs known as the famous "Organ Pipes" spectacular rock formations, sometimes shrouded in fog.

The winds are often fickle and can vary in strength and direction within a few miles of the island. Sailing becomes very tactical.

After turning right at Tasman Island, sailors often think the race is nearly completed. But, at this point, there are still 40 miles of often hard very difficult sailing to go. Yachts can be left behind in the maze of currents and wind frustrations.

Even when they round the Iron Pot, a tiny island that was once a whaling station, there is still a further 11 miles up the broad reaches of the Derwent River to the finish line off Hobart's historic Battery Point, with Mount Wellington towering over the city.

Hundreds of people crowd the shores of Sullivans Cove to cheer the yachts and their crews while volunteers from the finishing club, the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, meet the weary crews with open arms and famous Tasmanian hospitality, and escort them to their berth in the Kings Pier marina.

It's an event that Tasmanians love to host in the middle of Hobart's "Taste of Tasmania Festival".

Then it's time to celebrate or commiserate, swap yarns about the race with other crews over a few beers in Hobart's famous waterfront pubs, such as the Customs House Hotel, or the Rolex Sydney Hobart Dockside Bar right on the waterfront.

For this year's ROLEX Sydney Hobart Race edition, the fleet was treated to one of its more infamous boat-pounding, body-abusing editions. Over a third of the fleet dropped out. Amazingly, most of the J/Teams persevered and posted strong finishes. Here is how they faired by division.

IRC Doublehanded Division

This year fielded the largest fleet of J/Teams ever. A quintet of J/99s participated and many did well despite the extremely demanding weather conditions. Taking the silver medal was Jules Hall & Jan Scholten's DISKO TROOPER- CONTENDER SAILCLOTH! Then, earning the bronze medal was Ian Smith & Lincoln Dews's JUPITER! Finally, taking sixth place was Grant Chipperfield & Peter Dowdney's J/133 JOKERx2.

IRC Division 3

In this fleet of eighteen teams, it was Steve Watson's J/130 RAGTIME that took the silver medal! Remarkably, this was Rodney Johnstone's original J/130 RAGTIME bought in the USA and shipped to Australia!

IRC Division 5

In this fleet of twenty-five teams, it was the J/99s repeating their performance in the IRC Double Division! Jules Hall & Jan Scholten's DISKO TROOPER- CONTENDER SAILCLOTH took the silver medal! Then, earning the bronze medal was Ian Smith & Lincoln Dews's JUPITER!

Jules Hall Interview:

Kings Pier overflowed with spectators on Monday, all vying to get a prime view of the latest finishers in the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, and among the arrivals was Double Handed entry Disko Trooper_Contender Sailcloth.

Unphased by a gaggle of curious onlookers, the boat's owner and co-skipper, Jules Hall, sat on deck digging into a hot cheeseburger and chips.

The treat was well-deserved, considering that for the past three-plus days Hall and co-skipper Jan 'Clogs' Scholten have been on a diet of mostly dehydrated food. It tastes like cardboard, but Hall said it's convenient at sea, as it's easy to make and "gets all the calories in quickly."

"I could not face another bag of dehydrated food. Anything but the beef curry," Hall said.

Apart from the food, the experienced Doublehanded duo had a cracker of a race, with several challenges along the way.

Hall said he experienced "nervous energy" on the first night of the race, with the wind instruments picking up gusts of 35-40 knots at times.

"And then we got through that [wind], and we had the southerly, and the southerly, and the southerly..." Hall said, about the struggle of sailing upwind. "So, we were basically either underwater going downwind or underwater going upwind!"

Until the final night, when the yacht "fell into a hole for four hours". This cost Hall and Scholten the win in IRC Division 5 to the S&S 47, Love & War. However, they scored second in the division and second in the Doublehanded Division to Mistral.

"That's the way it goes sometimes," Hall said.

Theirs was the third Doublehanded yacht to cross the line, out of 14 (some of which are still racing).

Nine Doublehanded yachts retired from the 628 nautical mile race due to a range of issues.

The duo last raced in the Sydney Hobart in the inaugural Doublehanded Division in 2021, where they won on Doublehanded IRC, PHS, and ORCi Divisions. Since then, Hall has witnessed the growth in popularity of the Australian Doublehanded fleet,

"It's such an awesome group of people - pioneering, learning how to build this part of the sport - and being so supportive. And also, so competitive," Hall said of his doublehanded peers.

"I think the depth and breadth and capability in the fleet is growing exponentially. It's amazing to see."

For more Rolex Sydney Hobart Race sailing information rolexsydneyhobart.com.