The 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, run by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, is the historic 75th race!

Closed Captions (CC):
it's the Everest of ocean racing the

cruising Yacht Club of Australia's Rolex

Sydney Hobart yacht race the 628

nautical mile journey starting from

spectacular Sydney Harbour and finishing

at Constitution dock Hobart is one of

the most famous in the world and in 2019

the Sydney Hobart yacht race celebrates

its 75th anniversary starting from

humble beginnings in 1945

the event has transformed into an iconic

international sporting sensation

regarded as one of the world's greatest

tests and a true bucket list Adventure

there's nothing quite like the Rolex

Sydney Hobart

you're in for a treat today as we take

you to the finish line in her bar for

the line honors finale

hello and welcome to beautiful Hobart

stunning destination for the Rolex

Sydney Hobart yacht race and this the

75th edition

well the cruising Yacht Club of

Australia in partnership with tourism

Tasmania is thrilled to bring you this

telecast of the closing stages the line

honors battle and joining me in

commentary is ace match racing skipper

Olympic silver medallist Olivia price

and also Rupert Guinness award-winning

journalist and author well it's been

described as a tango on water with these

super maxi since they left Sydney

Harbour Olivia pea comet definitely got

and you could definitely say that

firstly we saw infotrac lead out of

Sydney Harbour so they took the first

honours of the race then we still

Comanche take the lead by quite a fair

bit a couple of miles they got up to

speeds of 29 knots down that first

evening and then since then we've seen

so many changes and transitions that

really is down to any one rupee you've

covered sport all over the world

including 31 Tour de France's you've

sailed the race twice what makes it so

special well Gordon it's the people it

very much is the people's race you know

we see every year at the start and

Sydney Harbour the thousands who line

the harbour and every year we come back

here to another finish of the Rolex

sydney hobart and there's thousands here

at Constitution dock and you don't just

see the people you feel the emotion the

emotion between the crews and their

families and their friends and the fans

not just the sailing but the fans of

sport it's a really a community event

okay let's now sit back then and enjoy

the action the closing stages the line

honors battle in the Rolex Sydney Hobart

hello and welcome to the line on his

finish of the Rolex Sydney Hobart yacht

race with me is award-winning journalist

Ruffa Guinness on the River Derwent for

the historic 75th sydney hobart run by

the cruising yacht club of australia as

Gordon mentioned my name is Olivia price

and wow what a race this has been refit

we've just round it Comanche has just

rounded the iron pot and we are right

next to her we've seen some had some

fantastic battles here in the last 36

hours what a race this has been yeah

Olivia it's it's a beautiful sight it's

one of the beautiful sights of sport

when you see the lead yacht and any

Rolex city hobart race come up the

Derwent River just like we're seeing

Comanche now she's had a beautiful race

she's sailing superbly now and you could

just imagine what the mood on the on the

boat right now is amongst the crew

although saying that they have to remain

attentive they're still several miles to

go before the finish line but this is

one of the great sights you'll see and

very soon we'll start to see the

spectator fleet increase as the miles go

by definitely we've seen a couple of

keen spectators come out to storm Bay

and watch Comanche come through storm

Bay by herself I might add we've had

infotrac is currently sitting in second

closely followed by blackjack and wild

oats who rounded Tasman Island together

and then just behind them is shk

scallywag with us we've got a couple of

spectator boats as you said roof it and

it's only gonna increase at the moment

we're still hidden a little bit behind

the land on the on the side of the dough

at River however the breeze looks like

it will increase as we get further up

the bay there's about eight knots of

wind at the moment but we're doing about

14 knots of boat speed record yeah

that's that's great Olivia I think we

all know how the the Derwent River can

come play off for you or against you in

this sort of race and I think we're very

fortunate to see some some nice wind

this morning are we gonna see some

beautiful sailing to see this race four

line on us it reached its end

we've had a great race so just saying

earlier Olivia you know there's a lot of

talk about it being like a tango just 24

hours ago and it very much was as the

lead changed several times but at the

end of the day

Comanches come out on top and we could

just see her showing us what she does so

well yes definitely so and overnight we

did have Comanche extend her lead they

were fantastic conditions for her really

broad reaching fast fast reaching we

thought it might have slowed down a

little bit and had a bit of a lunch time

line on us finished for this Rolex

Sydney Hobart yacht race however it's it

what time is it

Rupert it's 5:00 to 6:00 in the morning

and it's all happening right here on the

river Doan we've just seen Comanche

speed slow down just a little bit the

crew have all moved forward in the boat

all down to the lowered side of the boat

as well to try and create hold onto as

much power and speed as possible and

she's just starting to what we call load

up again and create some power in the

sails and use that for speed forward

yeah and obviously it's worth mentioning

that you know Comanche is you know did

been line on a couple of 2017 and holds

the record for this race

obviously the records not going to be

broken unless something miraculously you

know it's not going to be broken today

but I think it's great and adds

something to the weight of the race that

you've got a former winner here

backing up with another win it sort of

it helps add weight to the history books

in many ways yes exactly Rupert you just

did mention that the record will not be

broken in the 2019 Rolex sydney hobart

the current record holder is however

winning the record was nine days not

sorry one day nine hours 15 minutes and

24 seconds now that was that passed by a

couple of hours ago so this will not be

a record-breaking race however this will

be an historic race because it is it has

been fantastic we saw infotrac first

lead out of Sydney Harbour taking that

first honours and then we saw Comanche

take the early lead in the first day

first evening closely followed by then

infotrac I'm sorry scallywag shk

scallywag took that lead away from

Comanche and then everyone went into a

bit of a hole as they were off the

Victorian Coast yeah that's right and we

saw Comanche go much further out to sea

very earlier on and obviously she came

through very strongly yesterday

afternoon and you know it's been great

to see several of these Maxie's lead the

race I think for many years you know

we've seen where just one maxi is led

all the way or whatever I mean last year

of course we had four maxes the four of

the five max is still in the race all

with a nice side of each other

coming up the Dermott but here we are

now 2019 and again the spectator feed is

still increasing as we as we go the crew

on board is very busy though which

saying before they have to remain

vigilant they have to remain attentive

they can't start thinking of the

celebration as just yet but this is a

brilliant sight and I think Comanche is

a beautiful boat I mean a lot has been

spoken about her since she first came to

Australia and for Jim Kearney and

Samantha grant I'm sure it's a great

vindication for their commitment and the

investment not just in dollars but also

the investment of resources and man and

people power into this campaign has been

a fabulous effort to buy them in their

crew yes exactly we can see or we can

hear Comanches winches and ropes being

eased through this very transitional

period behind the land up the river

do--it the rugged coastline of Tasmania

is absolutely beautiful but it does

create a bit of a shifty do--it River

and we do know that the Doha is

notorious for being unpredictable and

uncertain no matter what the forecast

might say we do Comanche does have a

full mane up and quite a large jib

they've just moved a couple of things

around on the bow so we might even say a

potential reaching sail although at the

moment we are completely upwind full-on

the wind crew on the rail now as the

boat loads up Olivia you've got a lot of

experience obviously in sailing I mean

what would be some of the instructions

being

been given on board amongst the crew I

mean as we talk about the crew remaining

vigilant but what would be some of the

things that would be taught they'll be

telling each other right now they'll be

I I'm thinking that they're going to be

quite excited they can they've just come

around the corner from the iron pot and

they are looking at about 12 knots of

wind now that's pretty positive in terms

of getting up the dough and without any

any stops or any hesitation so I would

say that they're quite comfortable

they're looking at us we're looking at

them they were wondering what we're

saying I'm wondering what they're say to

be honest but I think you know you've

got it you've got to be quite happy with

that race it was a really tough it's

been a really tough roll deck Sydney

Hobart and I think we I think they just

really trying to get to the finish line

and then they can celebrate Rupert look

at this beautiful site here of comanche

I mean she's just sports going through

the water beautifully there I think this

is doing absolutely looking superb as

well isn't it you know it's a beautiful

River yeah exactly and the tasmanian

coastline as I said is rugged it's

beautiful we have Mount Wellington on

the on the left of us here beautiful

skies there's a lot of fishing to do

down here in Tasmania plenty of we can

go to Moana we could go up to the top of

Mount Wellington Rupert we could go

fishing we could do a whole bunch of

things and the coastline here is

beautiful absolutely amazing I would

love to do some exploring potentially

even drop anchor up here refit and go

for a bit of Cray fishing I've heard

that it's quite good right around where

we are now yeah there's a great mountain

there to Mount Wellington love to go and

cycle up there one day yeah and this

broadcast is proudly supported by the

cruising Yacht Club of Australia and

tourism tasmania and they've been able

to give us some amazing footage of the

beautiful tasmanian coastline the iron

the iron pot itself is amazing i just

love it here roofer it is one of my

favourite places in the world certainly

is i mean every year you come back here

for this race to the Rolex sydney hobart

but the really the oral or the or the

feel of Hobart and particular doing

River seems to change every year but

it's it's a fantastic beautiful place

and I think it's you know the the the

history of Tasmania is fantastic as well

so I've been here many times now and I

always learned something new about

Tasmania yeah and for those of you that

are just joining we are bringing you the

line honors finish and of the Rolex

Sydney Hobart yacht race their historic

75th sydney hobart please make sure that

you're staying up-to-date with the

following yacht so we have in second

place we have infotrac in third place is

a tight battle for third and fourth

between blackjack and wild oats 11 and

then in fifth place we currently have

shk scallywag now reap it the Battle of

sorry what we've been talking about all

day yesterday was how tough this battle

has been and how far back Wild Oats got

earlier in the day yesterday in that

light transitional period yes certainly

walnuts was was caught in a hole there

and for a boat of her stature as a nine

times winner that was chasing a record

10th win she certainly came into this

campaign it was certainly a troubled

campaign at the start in the cabbage

tree island race she had sustained a lot

of damage to her to the deck and the

mast did a miraculous job in getting her

ready for the race but I guess it was

always going to be question marks as to

how ready she really would be but of

course she did fall into a hole there

and dropped back as far back as far as

11th place 30 miles behind off the lead

but she did very well yesterday to fight

her way back into what you could say

contention up until late yesterday

afternoon obviously that winds not going

to be hers today and that will be a

different sort of taste on the lips for

skipper mark Richards but he's going to

have to suck that one up and move on

they'll have to decide what they're

going to do with wild oats for their

future campaigns but we're talking you

know we'll be talking about Comanche and

how well she's going here today I think

Christian Beck's infotrac they had a

great race you know he was very

confident

when they left the cruising Yacht Club

of Australia just before the start

they've done very well to sort of show

that they are not to contend with yes

definitely this race for line honors was

always a bit uncertain with none of

these boats being able to race each

other in their current form up until the

start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart on

Boxing Day so we have Comanche who's

been doing a lot of overseas sailing as

well as shk scallywag who has a full new

sail set basically infotrac did not have

too much done throughout the last 12

months Wild Oats as we spoke about had a

lot of structural and major damage just

four weeks before they were able to get

back on the water two weeks prior to the

start so not much time to recover from

that effort and then with blackjack

having modifications done throughout

June and July into August this year it

really was going to be an unknown and

the conditions have changed so it really

is about the sail is on board these

boats I'm being able to maximize exactly

each of those conditions so we talked

about a couple of different differences

sorry about these boats Comanche shk

scallywag and infotrac are quiet beat

boats and chunky boats they're wide I

don't know the skinnier versions of the

hundred-foot Super Max sees in Wild Oats

11 and blackjack so they've been able to

maintain through those lighter periods

they've got more drag of their hull

because they're bigger and they're just

not as fast to accelerate in terms of

top speed and getting there in that

lighter pressure they need a little bit

more power in order to get them off and

going so they've really been sailing

well in order to get through that

transitional race now on board we have

some amazing sailors on board Komachi so

obviously we have Jim Cooney and

Samantha grant who are who are the

owners of Komachi we have Louis Sinclair

and Silas Nolan on the bass fan runo as

well Andrew Henderson Julian croissant

and Mark Bartlett Ryan Godfrey Edward

Hackney so Ted Hackney Kyle Langford and

Tom Johnson

and as well we have James Cooney Pablo

or arte Stu Bennett I'm Johnny

Hildebrand Mitch booth

Michael Sanderson and Stan honey as

navigator so this crew is made up of

extremely established sailors and that's

not taking away from any of the other

sailors during this race who are sailing

the historic 75th sydney hobart but they

are working well as a team

yeah that's certainly our Olivia and

it's actually as you said it's not

taking anything away from the other

other crews either in this role next

Sydney to Hobart we've had five of the

world's best super maxi's and who to run

those boats you've got to have super

crews for each one of them so it's quite

remarkable the the depth of sailing

talent that we've got here in this Rolex

sydney hobart and then notwithstanding

the caliber of crews that are in the

fleet behind us this fleet of 157 at the

start that came down to 155 yeah all

three 150 three four yeah so we had one

retirement overnight as well so we had

two retirements on the first day we had

Hollywood Boulevard the first down with

a broken rudder and then we had faster

forward with steering problems and then

initially overnight we've had just

double checking my notes refit but I'm

fairly certain it was Minerva that's

right yeah so you know out of this race

it's been quite a good percentage of

being able to get into day three of the

Rolex Sydney Hobart yacht race and yeah

the battle for overall is still yet to

come

exactly I mean anything could happen and

I think in the next 24 hours we're going

to see the the leaderboard for with the

overall winner it's going to be a very

interesting board to watch I think

because we you know the conditions can

change there's a lot of boats were very

close to each other behind us and while

the the leader this morning on overall

was dragged a certainly that race is far

from over I think we're going to see

some exciting racing and there'll be a

lot more tales to be told over the next

four hours Olivia yes definitely so we

we mention you just mentioned that dag I

was in the lead as we went live here

earlier we in secondary Division two so

in second place we had quest two's

Division one and then we also had

Division four we had the two unlimited

the tasmat one of the tasmanian entrants

in this race they were in third and

their division four so it really could

can't the overall win could come from

any division obviously a lot of all the

yacht's they always have to focus on

winning their division first don't they

before the overall exactly and yeah

we've got TP 52s we've got cur 46 we've

got a bunch of smaller boats that have

been in the lead earlier during this

Rolex sydney hobart the smallest boat in

the fleet i sorry the oldest boat in the

fleet can't win shot that was in the

lead as well and yeah it really could be

anyone's game cap which it was it was a

poppet or is a popular boat amongst

amongst restyling fans

she got a lot of attention early before

the race and the cap which is a

beautiful boat but I mentioned to see

that how she finishes I think a lot of

people would love to see her finish

strongly and well I think I think that

would be fantastic it would get a warm

reception here in Tasmania the DOE and

River finish line on Constitution dock I

do want to just have a look over the

scenery here roof it so I am just in or

as we make our way up the river Doan I'm

looking at cliffs and beautiful rugged

coastline that we've got flat lands

we've got just the coastline is amazing

it's raw it's beautiful the river itself

is gorgeous there's plenty to do here we

get there's krei fishing there's a bit

of sailing to be had I know that I'm not

a mountain biking fan Reaper but is that

something you'd be interested to do

along the beautiful tasmanian coastline

the forestry oh look i know i'm in

mountain biking and road cycling here in

Tasmania is is a very popular sport

a lot of Australia's greatest cyclists

have come from Tasmania just looking up

at the mountains ahead you can see Mount

Wellington which is just to the to the

left of Comanche they're just in front

of her and it'd be a beautiful Vista

from up top there looking down here

Benny why we're here Olivia we've got

the proofs we right next to Comanche

here

sailing beautifully towards the finish

yes definitely we are with Comanche here

we've got about 10 to 12 knots of breeze

and we're doing about 15 knots of boat

speed so these hundred foot super maxes

have massive sales and feed power in

order to actually go faster than the

wind so they create their own apparent

wind look at that beautiful scenery I

just I love this place what about

Comanche you can see from behind here

now and she's very wide boat isn't she

she is very very - when you look at a

boat like Wild Oats 11 yeah very much

like a pencil they call tell us a little

bit about how that sort of width hat

works in

Comanches favor yeah so we do call those

sorts of boat speed bottoms as you can

see the back is quite wide it's got

quite a structure in its side and we

call that the chine so at the moment

they are trying to hold on to as much

power as possible but keep as little

hole in the water being these light

transitions so they want to try and

maintain what we call the angle of heel

they don't want to be tipping too far to

one side or the other that's where their

crew movement is really important

they've got their trimming happening in

unison you can see that there's a dagger

board up on the windward side so there's

a big board up on the windward side

reducing drag so the one on the lowered

side so on the left-hand side of the

boat will be down in the water and

maintaining a little bit of lift but

also stopping a bit of sideways motion

well there she is Comanche just heading

onwards for her second line on his wind

most probably second line on his wind to

add to a 217 pick tree

a massive campaign boy by convention Jim

Kearney and Samantha grant and the crew

I think when you spoke about the caliber

of the crew tell us a little bit more

about you know what are the races that

do this cruise or does this crew do and

you know you talk about the experience

that brings into a campaign like this

yes onboard the crew there's multiple

line honors winners over Rolex Sydney

Hobart

there are sail GP Australian team

members as well as sell GP USA team

members so sail GP is another world

series of foiling boats so very very

different to these 100-foot supermax

seas and the offshore sailing that we

have going on we have Stan honey

navigator so then this really was a

tactical and navigators race so Mitch

booth and Michael Sanderson and Stan

honey the strategists tactician and

navigator would have been up all day all

night throughout this race trying to get

every inch of an advantage against those

other hundred foot super maxes we heard

from Bradshaw Keller on infotrac during

the one of the navigators press

conferences saying that he was

definitely not gonna get any sleep he

will be watching everyone like a hawk

and you can tell that it's actually paid

off with infotrac sitting back in second

very very well done

we would have I wouldn't have thought it

was going to be a big bottom trace so I

would have thought that the lighter

conditions expected would mean that it

would be a lighter slower race so

therefore the pencil style boats of

blackjack and while those 11 would be

coming up the river Joe at first however

that's not to be referred these guys

have sailed very very well

Comanche they're looking like they're

setting up for attack actually so we

might it's gone very light here yeah so

here we go the the the boat is tacking

absolutely amazing pictures here thanks

to the cruising Yacht Club of Australia

tourism Tasmania and supported by arrow

media we've got the drone we've got the

close-up Ronin cameras we've got cameras

staged all over the River Derwent as

well as on other boats so as you saw

just then it went very light for

Comanche here who is current line

honours leader in the 2019 roll deck

Sydney Hobart yacht race you can see a

couple of people up the front teams -

lured the conversation on board would be

very detail-oriented about the boat

speed and the trim coming out of a

manoeuvre you need to rebuild your flow

over the boat so we saw them slow down

quite a lot their hulls crushed down

onto the water a little bit and you can

see they're just starting to lift their

windward side up now so they're holding

onto that power so they can press

forward and into the new breeze that

they're hoping for the breeze has shut

down a little bit although I am saying

that we're doing about 1213 knots at the

moment and there is a consistent breeze

leading up into Constitution dock at the

finish line here but anything can happen

happen on the river do--it yeah it was

interesting just then Olivia when you

when you saw that shift and how quick

the crew was to respond and now we're

very close to to Comanche right now and

you can hear that not many people are

talking only those who have to talk will

talk and there's certainly no scope for

idle chat either I think you know it's

not just mentally being attentive to

everything but also just not distracting

others by saying and doing things you

don't need to do right now and not

getting in the way of things keeping a

space clear around you it looks like

there's you know on these maxes that

there's always a lot of people on deck

at this time of a race but these crews

they do work and watch in a watch system

so there'll be a crews that have been

off

watch on watch and on standby but rest

assured every one of these people on the

crew will have had to earn their spot to

get there you don't just get a free

ticket down to Hobart on a supermax you

do you live here you know there's a yeah

it really is a team effort on board

these boats you can see as you said

there'll be people talking but there

will be people definitely not saying

very much at all it's although we've got

helicopters around us and motor boats

around us and things like that it's I

believe that it would be quite quiet on

board Rupert I'm looking there's a bit

of movement shuffling to and fro we can

hear the grinding of the drum so the

which and that the sheets are on and

we're looking at the crews all the

mainship trimmers the jib trimmer the

skipper the navigator the tactician the

strategist they will be very much in

communication about trying to get

through these transitional periods I

just want to also mention Rupert that

the reason Comanche was able to extend

her lead last night was because she

stayed a little bit further out to the

east than the other super maxy so with

the conditions that were going on

throughout yesterday we had a really

transitional period across the Bass

Strait where there was light wind heavy

winds big patches that we heard from

Shaun Langman of naval group that he was

stuck next to wild oats 11 for a very

long period of time in no wind at all

but Comanche was able to get out further

east

offshore and the the new easterly breeze

came in and hit them first basically so

it was that the winning move Olivia I

think that was and that was very very

well done to be able to maintain

concentration and attention to detail of

how this navigating of this race was

going to be so is that a reflection I

guess with the of the brain trust of

stand honey in the brains trust of the

work that they're doing yeah exactly

definitely you can see them at the back

of the boat they they're having those

discussions

is there still their job is not done yet

Rupert

what about the rest of the field behind

us the other max is behind us of course

they know that that the hope that the

line on his wind is beyond them but the

boats behind certainly still have to

race for something they're racing for

the podium but you know when you finish

second and third online honors it's

still a bitter pill to swallow isn't it

when you come here for the win

yeah exactly all these crews would have

been working through the night so as we

mentioned and it is heartbreaking for

those that aren't able to take the line

on his win but that's racing and the

Rolex Sydney hobart is the most crucial

grueling sorry ocean race in the world

it really takes out of you mentally

physically and emotionally

exactly the Rolex Sydney Hobart yacht

race is proudly run by the cruising

Yacht Club of Australia you're watching

the cruising Yacht Club of Australia's

Rolex Sydney Hobart yacht race the 2019

Rolex Sydney Hobart is the historic 75th

staging of the 628 nautical mile classic

a celebrated journey that starts on

stunning Sydney Harbour works its way

down the New South Wales coast and

passes formidable masts straight then

along the rugged Tasmanian East Coast

through storm bay and finishing in the

always challenging

there's no race quite like the rolex

sidney homer for more on the great race

visit rolex sydney hobart calm

[Music]

no good fancy

okay and we are on the river Doh and for

the line honors finish of the 2019 Rolex

Sydney Hobart Comanche is now hoisting a

bigger reaching sail I believe will see

it very very soon you can see the crew

work on the deck with me is Rupert

Guinness and we are bringing you thanks

bringing you the comments and the live

broadcast of the Rolex Sydney Hobart

yacht race proudly brought to you by the

cruising Yacht Club of Australia and

tourism tasmania with arrow media drones

Ronan's car everything's happening here

rupert on the river do--it yeah this is

a fantastic site this is one of the

great moments of world sailing every

year the role extender hobart as it

reaches its its

grand finale for the line honors victory

but it's also you know from australian

sports it's one of the great moments as

well this is a festive season in this in

the summer of Australia and this the

Rolex tinny Hobart is an institution to

everything summer in Australia and here

we are on the during watching this race

unfold it's not a hot morning I've got

to say live here it's a little bit

chilly even a little bit breezy but it's

a you can't have it hot all the time and

I just think the Durban is still just as

beautiful on a slightly overcast day as

it is on a beautiful sunny day

definitely you can see the clouds

surrounding us but Sun peeking through

just behind us a beautiful sunrise line

honors finish here in Hobart watching

Comanche unfurl there reaching sail off

the bowsprit this is going to create a

little bit more sail area and during

this lighter transition so as we started

our broadcast

it has they rounded the iron pot we had

maybe 12 to 13 knots right now we're in

8 knots so they're really trying to hold

as much power as possible have a look at

that

it is huge its massive we're just we're

just next to kamancheh you feel like

you're next to a skyscraper but it's a

beautiful sight and as you can see she's

getting some impact from that sail

already she's just started a looks like

she's just part of the pick up some

moment

there certainly I can feel it as if

we've accelerated so there she is

sailing towards her second line on his

wind to go with her 217 win when she got

the race record will still be holding

but it still hoes anyways that doesn't

matter no exactly as we said the lie and

the race record is not going to be

broken here this morning the race record

was nine

a one-day nine hours we we've gone past

that that would have been earlier this

morning although this morning was quite

early for us refit this is we're

bringing you this broadcast of Comanche

coming up the river doe and there's not

long to go notice certainly isn't as you

said we got out here early this morning

it was actually dark on the do it but we

could manage to get down to the iron pot

to start our life live coverage and the

the side of Comanche coming around the

iron pot the silhouette virtually yes

she came around the iron pot that was a

beautiful scene to see but this is

beautiful as well look at her you can

see the finish line is right in front of

her obviously some miles to go but is

every minute part of that anticipation

of the excitement must be building

amongst the crew again they got to

harness their enthusiasm and excitement

to definitely you know this coverage is

fantastic that we can see the smiles on

their faces we can hear the turning of

the drums and the ropes it's just insane

this is the rolex sydney hobart line

honors finish it has been an exciting

race so far we've had lead changes for

loners we've had votes the Supermax is

doing three knots we've had the Supermax

he's doing 30 knots and anywhere in

between at any one time certainly I

think you know early we're talking about

the other the four other super maxi's

that are racing here I mean we've had

five of the world's best Supermax is

racing here all at once you know I think

Matt Allen the owner of itchy bun the

cpa-52 he was saying how great it is

that this Rolex Sidney Hobart has those

five Supermax is here and he did make a

point at the start at the cruising Yacht

Club

of Australia saying we may never see

five super Max's like this together

racing against each other again and we

if we don't we're very foolish they've

seen it this year and we've been very

privileged to have seen a great race

between the five of them probably the

big disappointment I'd say of the five

as we're talking earlier was Wild Oats

11 or is Wild Oats 11

I mean she's done very well to fight

back as she has from 11th place

yesterday where she was at almost 30

miles behind it will be very interesting

to hear what Mark Richards has to say

about what went wrong and right in their

race and what is the future for wild

Oaks 11 that one that we had a lot of

work just before the race to be race

ready after she sustained damage on the

cabbage tree island race yeah exactly

you know it was just it was insane and a

massive team effort of how well the Wild

Oats team came together there's a

rigging went to Spain in order to get

fixed

they had mokona key boat builders

helping them up in northern New South

Wales we had a separate part of the rig

rebuilt from New Zealand it was a global

effort and we did talk about this a

little bit and that the reason for that

is because it was so close to the start

of the rolex sydney hobart it was in

november and it was a four week effort

to get it back on the water there was

structural damage to the hull the rig

the rigging itself the sails it was it

was a real effort to get them back on

the line one of the big unknowns of

those five Supermax is has been a

scallywag I mean a lot because the

others hadn't seen her race how do you

make it what's your feel a little bit

about how she's gone you know has you

produced a good result yes sorry yes

definitely we saw scallywag leading shk

scallywag leading for quite a while

yesterday morning they were just in

front that they were in front of the

other four super maxi's the hundred

footers that we have here for line on

his contention I'm really really

impressed with the way that all five of

them have sold we have spoken that you

know while those will be disappointed

with their performance in that first 24

hours however it was a really really

tough and tactical race and it would be

really really draining so if you think

about the team of shk scallywag they a

lot of them have done the

round-the-world ocean race over the last

year and a half they've had some great

racing overseas and they really had a

fantastic boat to be able to produce a

consistent race and they've been able to

do that they were just caught out by

this girl that we're seeing on our left

hand side Comanche

she was out further east in the in the

more breeze when that new easterly

breeze hit offshore and they just were

able to romp on home you know Olivia I'd

like to say I would love to see all five

Super Max is come back next year now

they've all had a taste of the lead

obviously Wild Oats didn't but they've

had a taste of wins before is what

Comanche here on was too second wind

sailing beautifully and then you've had

the others the other super maxi's of all

hadn't tasted the lead they all know

they can be up there they all know that

they can have their say in this race so

surely they must want to come back and

have another crack at this yes

definitely you you'd have to after such

a tactical Amazing Race there's no way

you couldn't come back to the Rolex

sydney hobart next year so just for

everyone watching we are keeping you

up-to-date on the line on us finish

there is not long to go looking back at

second place we've got 13 nautical miles

behind Comanche is infotrac and then

followed closely by blackjack and wild

oats 11 and then scallywag shk scallywag

in fifth so they've all rounded Tasman

Island so they're all making their way

across storm Bay it was interesting this

morning we had Wild Oats 11 and

blackjack go around has been light at

the same time so I can only imagine what

that battle up the dough and it's going

to be we are in lighter winds up here

although Comanches just got a nice

little boost there's a little bit of

puff and pressure across

the the River Derwent depending on where

they are with these mountainous rugged

landscapes of the Tasmanian basically

winter Lance I'm cold

[Laughter]

this is this beautiful washing her

Comanche here I mean as you said you

know the the variable winds but she's

certainly making the best of of the wind

that we've got I mean it's it's it's

it's a credit to the crew so credit to

to Jim Cooney Samantha grant that

they're able to maximize the speed that

they can get out of out of the

conditions here I think that's been the

trademark of their of their race from

the start making the best of every

opportunity definitely as we've said

this entire role exceeding hobart that

there are many transitions and it will

be a tactical race so well we talked

about transitions Ruppert there could be

anywhere from zero to thirty five forty

knots of pressure and basically on the

race course at the exact same time so

there's big pockets of pressure further

back off the tasmanian coastline and

pockets of no wind and so that makes it

really really difficult to navigate your

way through there so Comanche has done a

great job at being able to get through

those windier patches so it would be

sail changes and tactical

decision-making trimming and those sorts

of things as well as actually navigating

your way through the lighter patches so

again more sail changes more transitions

more decisions needing to be made so the

brains trust behind this this team of

Komachi has done a fantastic job

fantastic job getting through the

transitions I'm looking up ahead and

there's a couple more to go Rupert Wow

some some tired bodies on board they've

still got a bit of work to do every

person on board you can see it hasn't

finished their race yet you can also see

how the spectator filled that fleet is

building you know there's helicopters

around us as well there's a lot of

activity and you can

further up ahead this you can see

spectator fleets coming down or votes

coming down to to join the spectator

fleet and just the atmosphere is

building with every every mile here I

think it's it's just as conditions are

starting to come a little bit though

yes so we're just seeing a little bit of

fluttering of that big furling sail that

Comanche put up just a few moments ago

this means and then a bit of a flatten

of the boat as well so we are coming in

behind one of those hills we've got Ted

Hackney at the back tightening that

leech line so that's going to be trying

to hold on to as much of the wind in the

sail as possible so Ted very very nimble

getting out and stretching over those

lifelines to be able to K hold onto as

much power as possible great job there

Ted gosh it's a it's a remarkable isn't

it I mean we were flying along there and

suddenly it's almost like we've just

crossed the line but we haven't of

course we have westward which is one of

the yachts that entered in the first

Sydney Hobart back in 1945 one of the

nine boats so westward will be on the

finish line and we'll give you that

picture as we get there as well so one

another great visual and a great thing

for the historic 75th sydney hobart that

the cruising yacht club of australia in

partnership with the Royal Yacht Club of

Tasmania has run for 75 years now West

which is a beautiful boat to I was

looking at some pictures in reading up

on her yesterday and she used to be she

was originally purchased as a fishing

boat really yeah I was just built as a

fishing boat and then the sail didn't go

through so the person who bought her we

made her into a racing not a good one

right trivia for you that's some

craftsmanship so as we've just seen and

we spoke about we have gone into a bit

of a Mill Pond here on the river doan

and I'm looking around and I can't see

much breeze at all none behind us none

in front of us none to the right or none

to the left we're seeing the doing at

our best absolutely

so it's a really really tricky position

to be in here they want to have as much

sail area as possible up to be able to

catch any breeze that may come over the

hill on the left-hand side of Komachi

however there's also a drag factor so if

it's pushing the wrong way it might if

it back winds is actually gonna slow

them down even more so it's a really

really tricky thing they've really got

to be looking at all the wind models and

looking up ahead there's one little

pressure up on the northern side off

comanches bow but they really need to

use that to get away from this headland

she's virtually parked here isn't she at

the moment well yeah we are not we're

not going anywhere

it really just speaks to the race that

we've had so far the fantastic 20:19

Rolex Sydney Hobart yacht race it's been

like this out in the Bass Strait it's

been 40 knots in the Bass Strait it

really is a race for a tactical race for

navigators is strategist for teamwork

it's actually quite it's quite amazing

we've actually got to see this live on

on a on air here because we always hear

about how boats become parked it just

becomes dispatches that come through on

the radio and everything but we've seen

it here live we've seen Comanche flying

along sailing beautifully and then

suddenly bang she's parked and this is

what can happen any time throughout the

628 nautical miles from Sydney to Hobart

yeah you'd almost say it's exciting

because because we've seen it happen

exactly you wouldn't have thought back

further right the iron pot that this

could happen but looking up the river

dough and there's only two to four knots

further up there and Comanche seems to

have hit that wall

we're now The Spectator Fleet is all

sort of mingling around a Comanche we're

not seeing the picnic baskets coming out

yet we're not close to lunchtime yet

it's only breakfast but you never know

how long you could be here when your

parks know exactly and this is the

notorious River Joe and as we've

mentioned before yeah we're really just

gonna have to sit here and wait a little

bit refit that one little pressure is

just a hundred meters off

Comanches bow and they're really gonna

have to try and get through to that wind

and get out of this little zone but then

then where this is not much up ahead of

us this is the the mental part of the of

the race too for the crew I mean they it

looks like they're just sitting there

not doing anything but at the same time

they've got to be ready to act as soon

as any puff of a breeze or anything can

can come their way so they can make best

use of it while it's there as you can

see the sails just filling a little bit

they're just here but they can't it

looks like they're not doing anything

but there are but you can actually see

they are moving a little bit they're on

their knees just ready to move as soon

as that sail fills and hopefully still

get going again yeah so I'm just

watching the trimmers so we've got Kyle

Langford on the mainsheet and Tom

Johnson on the inside jib sheet and then

we've got a couple of other people at

the back pulling a couple of ropes

trying to maintain the breeze that

they've got it's really about trying to

hold on to the pressure that they've got

and create their own kind of apparent

wind

it's um it's pretty fascinating to think

that we were just back there cruising

along at 19 knots and now we are

potentially moving along at one that is

amazing when you think about it isn't it

it is amazing but what the yotz behind

us living the other the other Supermax

is would they have a feel of what having

to Comanche now would they understand

that or would they see that as a as

something as as space to be gained on

them or do they will they be wary of

that falling into the same hole they'll

definitely be wary Rupert but they'll

also be hoping that this light patch

would stay around basically forever and

then build as a Seabreeze later in the

afternoon

I'm just getting a couple of comments on

Facebook commenting about the helicopter

in front of Komachi node that would

actually be spitting out a whole bunch

of whirly wind so it wouldn't actually

be helping Komachi at all I'm looking

just behind us the breeze has picked up

a little bit as Comanches sail is a

little bit further out the breeze is

actually coming from behind us again and

it will yeah that helicopter is actually

not doing much at all it's probably

being a bit of a hindrance and

disturbing all the year around Aires the

wind is something that you need to be

consistent to attach flow to the sail

and create lift on either side of the

sail so with that with that in mind it's

probably not doing much to the sail area

of Comanche seeing as though it is very

very big it's a hundred foot super maxi

with two with a big big sail up and full

main well seems like we're sort of

getting some movement again now we've

just started to get some momentum and

pick up speed and obviously not like we

were like she was before but she's at

least moving yeah as I said before

behind us is that breeze and that's why

Komachi has her sail east a lot more

than she did before if it was coming

more from this side they would be able

to pull it on and sheet on a little bit

more and go a little bit

firestar however it's just coming from

behind them so they're having to ease

their sails out just a little bit in

order to catch as much of that wind

coming now from behind us now that's the

first time we've seen that behind wind

and we've there's a little bit more

behind it so you know it looks like it

could stay in here unless we move into

another patch of light air up here in a

transition patch so live over the next

12 hours or 24 hours even the Rolex

Sydney Hobart yacht race is going to

still unravel in the race for the

overall victory the tennis all cup a

beautiful cup it is - yes so it is a

gorgeous cup and keeping in mind that

both the line honors winner and the

overall winner also receive a Rolex

timepiece as part of their as part of

their wins so currently leading IRC

overall is - unlimited from Tasmania and

they're in Division four seconds we have

quests who's in Division once that's TP

52 owned by Bob steel and Neal Craig

Neal and that has won the race that has

won the race before twice one as quest

and once as balanced owned by Paul Klee

Thoreau it's now recalled quests yeah

and in third we have gwai-lo a newer TP

52 to the Rolex Sydney Hobart fleet

they've been able they had some rigging

issues earlier this month and were able

to rectify them and be back on the start

line so that would be fantastic

that has been a fantastic race for them

so far and I'm sure that they're very

happy now in fourth we have our French

boat dag a three and they're in Division

two so the overall when I could come

from any of these to any division at the

moment it really is open slather

essentially with day I mean day guy was

leading for quite a while and now in

fourth but that doesn't mean that she

can't come back again

no not at all so that standings have

changed since we have come and brought

this live broadcast to you and then just

mentioning in fifth

we have 2017 rolex sydney hobart winner

Ichiban in 6th

maverick 49 from Guernsey so that's one

the 49 footer with the DSS foils so

interesting decision for them or they're

trying to advance that sort of

technology and offshore sailing so

another interesting way to go about it

envy scooters and other TP 52 and 7th

and then from there it could be anyone's

game such a hard race to win the Rolex

sitting to Hobart overall I mean you

know to win it twice I mean remember

Ichiban was was there was a lot of talk

about Ichiban winning it back to back

last year and then obviously that didn't

happen you may have the boat you may

have the crew you may have the forum

even coming into the Rolex city to

Hobart but you still need luck refit you

still need some luck so just looking at

our line on his winner

I'm sorry not winner yet but soon to be

looking like it we've got four nights on

the harbour I'm sorry River Derwent at

the moment so they're they're moving

forward for the breeze is still from

behind us as I was mentioning before

they've got their sail is to try and

catch as much of that as possible and

get round this point of Sandy Bay behind

them we have infotrac still maintaining

their second place about 10 nautical

miles behind Komachi so it's still quite

a way back there I can't see them round

the iron pot yet so I'm just taking a

look behind me and I can't see them yet

and then blackjack a further six or

seven nautical miles behind them and I'm

sure they're sitting right next to wild

oh it's 11 at the moment in fourth

so those crews have those boats have

actually made some inroads in the last

few miles since we've been coming up to

doing yes so Anna's come on she was

going across storm Bay before she got to

the iron pot she was doing about 15 to

20 knots

and as they turned around the iron pot

it got a little bit lighter and it's

continued to get lighter as we've gone

up the River Derwent towards

Constitution dock and the finish line so

that Comanche has slowed down her pace

towards the finish line the others have

caught up a little bit but I'm sure that

they will slow down as well because what

happens here has to happen further down

the river as well okay well Comanche is

still some miles to go before the finish

we don't know where there's going to be

with exactly what time she'll finish now

is very much an open question you can

see vaguely where the finish is because

you can see the bridge going across to

do it so at least that's an eye sight

for so long when you come up the Derwent

River you can't see where the finish is

because it depends on the time of day

but you can see the bridge ahead of her

and for the crew that's at least a sign

of an end to a race so that's a

motivating force you know for them yes

definitely coming past this Sandy Bay

point is a nice thing to do because you

know that they're pretty much no

maneuvers left you can start turning

left a little bit and make your way just

around the corner to the left just a

little bit as you can see it's not far

away Ruppert Comanche is still sitting

here in light wind as the race has been

a transitional race it's continuing to

be like that right at the moment they

want to try and catch as much wind as

possible however the sail is flapping

just a little bit looks like they've run

over there their own wind so they were

doing about 4 to 5 knots and now they've

gone into 0 knots of wind so therefore

the sail has started to collapse

well when Comanche started the rolek

sitting at hobart this year from the

actual start she she was not one of the

fastest starters no infotrac was the

first at least in the right position yes

I think they'd much rather be here than

winning out of Sydney hence although

infotrac did a fantastic job after the

tight tussle with the other four super

maxi's out of the heads I don't think I

don't I didn't pick it and I as I said

earlier in this broadcast I thought it

was going to be a skinnier style 100

foot a boat race but it's been a bit of

everything and come on she's done very

well to be able to maintain their speed

through any light or heavy wind so that

is due to their crew work their

decision-making and their ability to to

get stuff done when it needs to happen I

think it's been a really really

interesting race this year I think you

know like last year of course we did

have the four Super Max is coming up

they finished with in 42 minutes of each

other that was dramatic of course for

that alone but I think the the varying

situations situations and scenarios in

this year's race has been really

compelling you just mentioned a few of

them there from the start and we've seen

over the last 36 hours how the race has

changed for the lead

online on us but and again the race for

overall has been really exciting as well

wide open race I think and you know it's

been a race where everybody's had

opportunities whatever boat you're in I

think particularly those midsize boats

I've had a lot of opportunities and

we'll see how are they who comes out on

top there but I think just the the

scenario is how it's changed over the

last 36 hours it has really left

everyone sort of intrigued you know for

starters I think there was this time

yesterday there was discussion as to

when this race would finish there was

some talk of a finishing at 2 o'clock in

the morning some of midday some people

who are hoping mid

have a good breakfast and if not lunch

even but I think here we are it's now

getting close to what quarter to 7:00 in

the morning I still wouldn't put money

on what time this race is going to

finish no definitely definitely not roof

it I am unsure exactly how fast come out

she is going to go in the next five

minutes ten minutes could potentially be

a very very long time that we're sitting

here I do look behind us back down the

river DOE and and there is some wind

behind us

however we are under this headland and

so it will pulse and push in and out

so as Comanche as the wind catches up to

Komachi though will accelerate and they

will ease their sails and and try and

get their boat speed up as high as

possible but then they'll also run into

their own wind their apparent wind and

then they'll fall into no pressure and

then it will just continue to happen

until they probably cross the finish

line

will there come a time is it possible

Olivia that with the way things are now

I know you said that the other Super Max

is they're going to face the same sort

of element as Comanche are facing here

but will it come into the back of their

minds a little concern about the other

Super Max is coming up definitely so I'm

just looking behind me a touchback back

to where the iron pot is and I'm seeing

a yacht I'm seeing infotrac so infotrac

can see Comanche and Komachi can see

infotrac now if that doesn't start

putting some nerves into your mind I

don't know what does I'm just trying to

look at the crew here in Comanche to see

if anyone's looking over their shoulder

that could be a giveaway sign at the

moment they're all looking ahead to the

wards of the finish but when do you

start looking over your shoulder I think

at the moment they've still got to be

attacking the wind and attacking the the

race trying to make their gains

themselves if they start looking behind

too much they will start getting

defensive and I know from my own

experience that looking defensive

doesn't always work until you are able

to have your own plan of attack as well

so you can try and stop someone from

going around

but as soon as you have light wind they

could just continue sailing around you

so I would think that they aren't all

looking forward because they're all

looking for they're attacking the wind

and trying to come up with their own

strategy rather than looking behind I'm

sure that there's been a couple of peaks

though they they say that north sports

events don't they never once you make

your attacking move don't look behind

exactly I think you know at the moment

they've just got to think about their

own game I'm looking just towards the

point a little bit towards Constitution

duck a potential small short breeze line

I've done a lot of sailing done here and

a lot of watching sailing down here and

that breeze line may not come it may

just sit there it may dissipate or it

might accelerate so anything can really

happen and we talk about that a lot

throughout the Rolex sydney hobart that

just because you get you get to the iron

pot first does not mean that you will

win the line honors the line on his

title as we're talking the sunstone that

came out a bit more tuned out that early

cloud has started to drift away off of

towards the right of where we are now

conditions get a little bit warmer I'm

not shivering as much you know the Sun

is opening up the sun's come the land is

heating up there's potential for a sea

breeze later this afternoon that was in

the forecast and I was talking to a

couple of locals here this morning

including Sam Abbott our driver here

this morning who thinks that potentially

this shutdown could last a period of

time and we might be waiting for the sea

breeze to come in weather Comanche can

cross the finish line first before that

or not is a question I still don't know

the answer to I'm going I'm glad I ate

my peanut butter sandwich I'm very

jealous now I'm loaded up I'm loaded up

yeah so as we said I can see infotrac

behind us Comanche sitting very very

close to the finish line

been many many people in this situation

before that yeah you've just got to sit

and wait roof it Olivia and your

experience in what you in match racing a

different form of racing I guess but

still the same essence how do you

maintain that sort of calm within you I

think that these guys are professionals

the crew onboard Komachi aren't

professionals and they're professional

people and professional sailors so they

really know that they have to trust that

they got themselves into this situation

they've been in this situation before

and they are able to think and maneuver

their way out of this situation you've

got to have confidence and trust in your

crew work your decision-making and your

ability to be able to execute those

decisions and maneuvers when you need to

so you know the ability to perform under

pressure really brings out champions

what could go wrong then for the crew

what can go wrong what mistake could

happen now well at the moment anything

could happen

the wind could not come in or they could

make a decision to change a sail that

might not be the right one they might

rush to that decision moving around the

boat and re hosting and hosting sails is

quite a slow maneuver in 0 knots of wind

so it's making that decision early and

making that decision at the right time

they could try a different maneuver that

may not pay off they could drive out

they could fill up they could do a whole

bunch of things so it's really about

keeping cool keeping calm and having

having a game plan and being able to

adapt it if needed I've just seen Kyle

Langford the main trimmer turn around

looking for wind or potentially looking

at infotrac who knows it is it's

interesting watching this it's

interesting watching nothing apparently

nothing happening but obviously a lot is

happening yes yes it may look like

nothing's happening but you can I can

tell you that their brains would be

ticking over trying to find trying to

ease the sail as much as possible but

maintain the power so pulling it back on

and it's really just trying to find

where that wind is able to come from

it could come from anywhere on this on

this River Derwent we've just seen them

turn left a little bit so that's called

coming up closer to the wind heating up

a little bit to try and create more

power and it use that for acceleration

hoping that that's the fastest

point-of-sale out of this no wind patch

we talked about how how big the derriere

of Comanche I mean but she is a big boat

isn't she yeah there's a lot of Hull in

that water yeah I was going to say you

know the in building these boats I mean

there's a lot of Technology obviously

but there's also a lot of science and

understanding and this was when they

built a Comanche this was a very much an

avant-garde type of design wasn't it

yes definitely you know it's about the

broad reaching and the power and the

structure you know if you look at the

two styles of boat we have Comanche

infotrac and shk scallywag in one basket

and we have blackjack and wild x11 in

another basket basically if you compare

those two baskets you've got a big big

bottom boat a structurally strong sharp

angled boat style in the Comanche

style of boat compared to the softer

lines of the hull and the thinner kind

of structure of wild it's 11 and

blackjack

of course these super maxi's don't just

race in Australia do they they race

around the world so they have to be

built for whatever waters they race you

know there can be different waters the

waters of the city Rolex senior Hobart

it can be different to racing in San

Fran in the Mediterranean for example

yes exactly you know that the

Mediterranean is a beautiful place to

sail but you certainly don't need the

big powerful structure and the heavy

duty sails and carbon fiber sails that

they've got on board which is why they

are black we have had a couple of

questions in that regard so the really

structured part of the city Royal exit

near Hobart means that you're ready for

any condition you know we've got another

race called the trans

which is mostly a downwind race so you

don't need that sort of structure you

more want a flighty boat and that's

actually where the tepee 52 came from

that design came from wanting to be able

to fly the boat basically down to Hawaii

from Long Beach the teepee 52 is are

very popular by that they yeah

fast fast boats a Formula One style boat

you know it's you know this Rolex t