Entries closed on 23 October for the 81st Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, with 107 yachts confirmed for the start on Sydney Harbour on Saturday 26 December. The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) says the fleet combines “offshore racing superstars, seasoned campaigners, rising talent and passionate Corinthian sailors” for the 628-nautical-mile race south to Hobart.

The fleet at a glance

  • 107 starters, including 18 double-handed entries and eight international yachts.
  • Four 100-foot maxis contesting line honours: Christian Beck’s LawConnect, Anthony Bell’s Loyal, Mark Richards’s Palm Beach XI and Grant Wharington’s Wild Thing 100.
  • Five TP52s, including Sebastian Bohm’s Smuggler and David Doherty’s Islero.
  • 13 women owner-skippers, including Elizabeth Tucker, whose First Light will race double-handed.

Former winners return

The overall contest for the Tattersall Cup, decided on IRC handicap, features several past champions. Jiang Lin, who won last year with co-skipper Alexis Loison, returns with a new boat, a JPK 10.50 also named Min River.

Matt Allen, whom the CYCA lists as the 2025 line honours winner and a four-time overall winner, will race Ichi Ban, a Volvo 70 formerly known as Willow and Celestial V70. Tasmania’s Alive, the overall winner in 2018 and 2023, returns with Duncan Hines at the helm and navigator Adrienne Cahalan aboard. Love & War, a three-time overall winner that finished third overall last year, is entered again.

Sean Langman’s Back 2 Black, which won the 2026 Noakes Sydney Gold Coast race, adds another contender.

A big-boat headline

The line honours battle has taken on fresh interest after Anthony Bell revealed on 27 October that his Loyal entry is the record-holding supermaxi Comanche, renamed Tribeca LOYAL. Three of the four 100-footers have won the Illingworth Challenge Cup for first to finish before, according to the CYCA. The maxis will test their form at the Australian Maxi Championship from 4 to 8 December.

Why the race still matters

The Sydney Hobart remains one of Australia’s great summer sporting events, with a broadcast and sponsorship profile that few sailing events anywhere can match. The start will be broadcast live on Channel Nine and streamed on the race website and the CYCA’s YouTube channel.

“The Rolex Sydney Hobart is an iconic event that showcases the very best of offshore sailing and the unique spirit of our sport,” said CYCA Commodore David Jacobs. “From the spectacle of the Boxing Day start on Sydney Harbour to the extraordinary scenes at Constitution Dock in Hobart, the race captures the imagination of people across Australia and around the world.”

For Hobart, the race delivers a reliable boost to the end-of-year tourism season as crews, families and supporters arrive and the yachts tie up at Constitution Dock in the days after Christmas.

The double-handed effect

The 18 double-handed entries show the growth of a division that was once a novelty. Lin’s overall victory last year proved that a two-person crew in a small boat can beat the full fleet on handicap when conditions suit. Expect plenty of attention on the two-handed boats again, including Rupert Henry’s Mistral and Jules Hall’s Disko Trooper.

As always, the weather will decide much. A fast run south favours the big boats; a slower, more varied race can open the door for smaller yachts. Either way, a fleet of 107 with this much depth points to a competitive race.