For 2024, the world-famous Boxing Day race will be remembered for how brutal it was on the equipment. Winds reaching 40 knots were just part of the equation. It was the confluence of the strong East Australia Current, meeting an Easterly bound swell line built up through Bass Strait, along with waves from the new, powerful Sou’west wind that replaced the more than fresh Nor’easter before it, that created a turbulent time.
Maritimo would like to pay our deepest respects to the two competing sailors who so tragically lost their lives during this event. In separate incidents and at different times on two yachts, Roy Quaden on board Flying Fish Arctos, and Nick Smith from Bowline passed away. Our condolences go to their families and friends.
The first night at sea, and indeed the whole race was described by many a sailor who had already completed numerous Hobarts before, as simply, ‘The worst I have ever been in.’
Maritimo had two vessels entered. The new to Bill Barry-Cotter Maritimo 100, the maximum length allowed to compete in the race, and rather than an outright race machine like her similar-sized supermaxis, Maritimo 100 is equipped in a very similar manner to the motor yachts that Maritimo produces. The second was the 120-year-old Maritimo Katwinchar that had entered the Double-Handed Division, with Michael Spies and Peter Vaiciurgis as co-Skippers.
After the race, Maritimo 100’s Skipper, Peter Jones, who has now completed 27 races, spoke about the 628 nautical mile journey. “We brought the boat down in mostly one piece, and all the crew are safe and well, too. It couldn’t have gone much better. We saw a peak wind of 42 knots and 3 to 4.5 metre seas, which were very confused at the Green Cape area. We got through the worst of it in about four to five hours.”
“We had a small tear in the mainsail on day one, so this restricted how much mainsail we could use for the rest of the race. It is roller-reefed onto a mandrel inside the Park Avenue boom, and about two metres up the leech (trailing edge) was the tear, so we were able to reef down just past it, but then only use that amount of mainsail for the rest of the trip.”
“Apart from that, the boat performed brilliantly, and the crew were excellent, as well. Especially our chef, Jennifer Ng.” By way of highlighting that, Jones quickly mentioned, “On the 28th we had butterflied roast lamb, including roast potatoes, fresh peas, carrots, pumpkin, and of course, gravy. On the morning before that, we had a full English breakfast of sausages, bacon, baked beans, and eggs. There was also a homemade lasagna in amongst it all. Legend status, I tell you.”
The yacht is fitted with a massive 165% overlapping Genoa for use when off the breeze, along with a 100% jib (referring to available sail area) for use on the breeze, and a spinnaker that did not get hoisted this trip due to the conditions and angles of sailing. So, the vessel did a lot of what is called two-sailing, and also often deployed a staysail inside the large Genoa when reaching, which is across the breeze. This meant that safety and comfort remained the key determinants of the passage.
“We’ll have more family and friends on board for that, along with a few loyal, and I dare say lucky, Maritimo Motor Yacht customers. What an experience it will be for all.”
Ross Willaton, a long-term Maritimo Team member, also went South for the race. The World Champion Offshore Powerboat legend appears to have found a new passion in sailing, Jones informed us. “He’s almost fully converted now. He was above and beyond, and he did a magnificent job.”
At the other end of the scale, Maritimo Katwinchar is only 10m long and 2.5m wide. For most of the race, the vessel was atop the standings in Division Five, led the Double-Handed Division for a while, and was a feature in the higher parts of the overall standings for a good spell, as well.
Co-Skipper of Maritimo Katwinchar, Michael Spies, has completed 44 Hobarts to date. Alas, Hobart was not the final outcome in 2024 for them, but rather Batemans Bay on the NSW South coast. “It was pretty sporty out there. We played a pretty good hand, we were safe, and were still pushing on hard, but not ridiculously so. Just the one notch off being on the edge, with a little bit of contingency there should we need it. We never wiped out once that whole race. We were pretty strong tactically, teaming up, and looking after the boat. It was pretty devastating to then have to retire, but it was the only prudent thing to do.”
Maritimo Katwinchar was taking on water from the cockpit as a result of all of the waves over the deck, and whilst the bilge pump was taking care of it, this was only when the vessel was upright, which was not much of the time in conditions like that. As it would have been another three days at sea for Spies and Vaiciurgis, the only sensible choice was to head for port. “You have got to know when to start racing, then you also have to know when to stop racing, and start surviving,” Spies offered in closing.
