AUSTRALIA: SYDNEY TO HOBART YACHT RACE
230 views · Published 4 November 2018 · 1:10 · Indexed 10 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(26 Dec 1994) Eng/Nat Australia's Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race got underway today (Monday), marking the fiftieth anniversary of the blue-water classic. 350 boats are taking part in the 630 nautical-mile race, more than double the previous record. With spinnaker sails billowing, the largest fleet in the history of the Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race set sail. So many boats entered this 50th anniversary running of the race that organizers had to stagger the starting times, sending boats off in three groups. Even so, there was considerable jostling at the starting line, and one yacht lost a mast. The 82-foot (25-meter) maxi-yacht Tasmania led some 350 boats through the North and South Heads framing Sydney Harbor, a field twice the size of the previous record Sydney-Hobart fleet. A forest of hundreds of sails spanned the harbor, often blocking out any glimpse of the city or shoreline behind the flotilla. Tens of thousands of people lined the harbor shores under gray, sometimes drizzly skies or cruised along the sidelines in pleasure boats. The first group was about 60 vintage and veteran yachts, including two members from the first race, the Winston Churchill and Archina. But the maxi-yachts were the focus of most attention, with forecasters saying wind conditions make it possible for one or more of the maxis to break the race record set 19 years ago by American Jim Kilroy's time of two days 14 hours 36 minutes 56 seconds in the maxi-yacht Kialoa Three. Beating that time would be worth 77,000 US dollars to the winning yacht. Smaller boats, the 28-footers take up to six days to finish. Brindabella held a big lead throughout last year's brutal race until it was just a few miles out of Hobart, when it retired with hull damage after apparently hitting a whale. A 70-knot gale battered the fleet in 1993, sinking two boats, the first time that had happened since the inauguration of the race. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/9e608f15db1b86b3b27b9eba65bfef35
