The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race
- December 24, 2014
Over the past 69 years, the Rolex Sydney Hobart has become an icon of Australia's summer sport, ranking in public interest with such national events as the Melbourne Cup horse race, the Australian Open tennis and the cricket tests between Australia and England. No regular annual yachting event in the world attracts such huge media coverage than the start on Sydney Harbour. Over the years, the Rolex Sydney Hobart and Cruising Yacht Club of Australia have had marked influence on international ocean yacht racing. The club has influenced the world in race communications and sea safety, maintaining the highest standards for yacht race entry.
Since 1945, starters in the Sydney Hobart have raced the equivalent of two circumnavigations of the world, almost 45,000 nautical miles. They have been drawn from the seven seas, have come from all corners of the world and range from 100-feet supermaxis to boats littler larger than the Owl and the Pussycat’s.
There have been boats with spas and showers, bars and leather lounges; there have been boats with little more than a yellow plastic bucket and a portable gas stove but all are thrown together to compete in one of the greatest ocean challenges of our time.
This year, the Boxing Day race is the 70th edition of the competition and, for the first time, there will be a division for those who sail the in spirit of the 1945 inaugural race of nine boats; The Corinthian Spirit, pure amateurs who sail for the love of the sport.
The Corinthians are a welcome addition to the Rolex Sydney Hobart fleet, a direct reflection to how this epic annual adventure started and how it has evolved into the reality drama that absorbs the racing world each summer.
This is a 628-nautical mile race in which all skippers appreciate that the buck stops with them. They call the shots and live with the consequences of their decisions; to sail or to wait. After nature’s violence in the 1998 race in which six yachtsmen died, the organising club, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA), have insisted on the northern approach to the strait and several safety devices.
We are proud to be providing the tracking for the contest once again. Each yacht will have a YB tracker installed on board and all skippers will be taught how to use the device, which is quite simple if we do say so our selves. The trackers will collect and transmit data every fifteen minutes, meaning the race officals will know exaclty where the fleet are at a click of a mouse.
The race tracker also makes it possible for friends, family and international arm chair admirals to see every twist and turn that this great contest has to offer in almost real time, as the player is updated instantaniuosly when the data arrives at YB tracking HQ servers.
For more information and the race player please visit the offical website.
