Entries have closed for the 80th running of the ‘Great Race South’, the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, with an elite fleet set to face the starter’s cannon on Boxing Day.
The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) announced that a massive fleet of 142 yachts have entered the iconic Australian race, 38 more than faced the start line last year. It is the second biggest fleet this century behind on the 2019 race that celebrated the 75th edition of the event.
The fleet includes a host of world class yachts and sailors, all set to take on the 628 nautical mile epic alongside a 121-year-old marvel, and 13 boats from overseas including from Germany, Hong Kong, Netherlands, USA, New Caledonia, New Zealand and Poland.
Highlights of the entry list include:
- last year’s Overall winner Celestial V70, skippered by CYCA Commodore Dr Sam Haynes amongst five past Overall winners (Celestial V70, Love & War, Unicoin, Wild Oats XI (now Palm Beach XI) and Wild Oats)
- 2023 and 2024 Line Honours victors, Christian Beck’s LawConnect
- six 100ft maxis, led by LawConnect and including Master Lock Commanche (Matt Allen & James Mayo), Wild Thing 100 (Grant Wharington & Adrian Seiffert), Mark Richards’ Palm Beach XI, Bill Barry Cotter’s Iuxury cruiser Maritimo 100 and Hong Kong based international star SHK Scallywag
- 11 female skippers, including Elizabeth Tucker leading an all female crew aboard First Light
- 2025 Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Overall winner, Smuggler, who also claimed the 2024 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore
- 20 Double Handed entries
- 121-year-old classic Maritimo Katwinchar, owned by Bill Barry Cotter and skippered by Michael Spies
- the return of the IRC Grand Veterans and Veterans divisions featuring yachts like Maritimo Katwinchar, three-time Overall winner Love & War and Windrose
- the introduction of the IRC Cruiser/Racer Division - where cruising comfort meets offshore performance – featuring the stunning Oroton Drumfire
Palm Beach Motor Yachts Takes the Helm of the Iconic Wild Oats XI
Richards, with his entry Palm Beach XI, which was formerly Wild Oats XI, is sure to set tongues wagging as he returns to the race after a two-year hiatus. Palm Beach XI (RPAYC/NYYC) was confirmed as a starter just an hour before entries closed. Under Richards’ helm, Wild Oats XI claimed nine Line Honours and two Overall victories in the great race. She also claimed the Merlin Trophy in the 2015 and 48th Transpac, her first venture into this famous yacht race, with Richards again Skipper.
Palm Beach XI under the new ownership of Pittwater based Palm Beach Motor Yachts, will relaunch with major modifications for the 80th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
On Friday October 24, Palm Beach Motor Yachts, subsidiary of Grand Banks Yachts Ltd., announced it has become the new owner of one of the world’s most legendary offshore racing yachts, the 100-foot Supermaxi Wild Oats XI. Reborn as Palm Beach XI, thismultiple Sydney to Hobart line-honours winner will serve both as a symbol of the company’s passion for technology and innovation and as a proving ground for performance and design excellence. It will also become a defining catalyst for Palm Beach Motor Yachts, strengthening the company’s global presence, amplifying its competitive position, and reinforcing the brand’s reputation for engineering and performance leadership.
The announcement will be followed by an international press event at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show on October 29, where Palm Beach Motor Yachts will unveil striking renders of Palm Beach XI’s new state-of-the-art appendage package. These extensive upgrades feature a new deeper keel fin and bulb, upwind daggerboards, and impressive C-foils, all engineered to optimise lift, minimise drag, and keep Palm Beach XI at the forefront of marine technology and international ocean racing.
For more than two decades, Palm Beach Motor Yachts Founder and CEO Mark Richards has shared an extraordinary and special relationship with the Oatley family, skippering Wild Oats XI to numerous ocean-racing victories. Now, he takes the helm as both an owner and skipper - a full-circle moment in modern ocean racing. The timing is especially meaningful as it coincides with the 30th anniversary of Palm Beach Motor Yachts, founded by Richards from humble beginnings in Pittwater three decades ago and built on the same spirit of determination, precision, and innovation that has defined his racing success.
“This is our DNA and a strategic direction shaped with the board of this great company to build brand awareness, strengthen marketing, elevate the customer experience, and drive innovation,” said Richards.
“Opportunities like this don’t happen without the support of an extraordinary team. With 1,200 people worldwide - sales, service, design, engineering, production, management and shareholders - we’re proud to demonstrate our shared values on one of the world’s most visible stages.
I’m deeply grateful to the Oatley family for their amazing support and friendship over the past two and half decades, together we made Wild Oats XI a benchmark in global ocean racing. It’s an honour to carry that legacy forward under the Palm Beach Motor Yachts name. Whether it’s a 100-foot Supermaxi or a Palm Beach Motor Yacht, our principles never change: maximize strength, minimize weight, and pursue performance without compromise. Running a race yacht is like running a business, build a cohesive team, focused on a goal, work together with discipline and precision.”
The late Robert Oatley and Mark Richards
Haynes, who last year became just the third sitting CYCA Commodore to win the event, is aiming to become the first to win twice while in charge of the world-renowned sailing Club. He also claimed the Overall title in 2022 with his TP52 Celestial.
Last year, Haynes and Celestial V70 claimed the George Adams Tattersall Cup for the Overall win by 9 hours 44 minutes and 42 seconds - the largest since Rani's victory in the race's first edition in 1945.
Incredibly that margin of victory could have been even larger, save for a few issues with the yacht’s sail wardrobe, something sure be an ominous sign for this year’s Overall contenders.
Haynes had thought last year’s race would be his last for some time, having achieved his goal of competing in the Hobart while serving as Commodore. But the stars have aligned for a second race in his two-year term, thanks to encouragement from family, renewed crew enthusiasm, and confirmation of Celestial V70’s availability, courtesy of owner Jim Cooney.
“Once I’m motivated, I find a way to make it happen,” Haynes said. "This boat [Celestial V70] is just incredible. I would not be racing again without this boat," Haynes said.
 and his son William. Credit - Andrea Francolini _ ROLEX.jpg?timestamp=1761354961420)
Sam Haynes (right) and his son William alongside Celestial V70. Image: ROLEX | Andrea Francolini
“One of the things which happened at the very start (in 2024) was the A3 (sail), which is a spinnaker, a very vital Spinnaker on a Volvo 70 as a type of sail which really powers that type of boat,” Haynes said.
“It ripped and the sail gave way. It was an older sail. It had delamination.”
That issue and some damage to a few other sails has pushed Haynes and his program to invest in an upgraded set of sails for 2025.
“So, we actually have a whole (new) sail wardrobe coming for the boat, which is quite a significant upgrade on a Volvo 70,” he said.
“They’re big sails and it's very important to have that. The sails drive the boat. So that's going to make a big difference to the yacht and the sails themselves.”
Haynes at the helm of Celstial V70. Image: ROLEX | Carlo Borlenghi
Returning to Celestial V70 for this year’s race are Jack Macartney, Lewis Brake, David Burt, David Chapman, Robert Greenhalgh, Alex Nolan (navigator), Luke Parkinson, Harry West and Haynes’ son Will. New additions to the crew are Nick Bice, Lindsay Stead, Pablo Torrado and William Mackenzie.
Haynes credits his super experienced crew for helping to secure the Overall win. Robert Greenhalgh, for example, has competed in five Rolex Sydney Hobarts. He was on board the Overall winning team for four of them.
“That [Overall win] doesn’t happen by chance,” Haynes said. “A lot of it comes down to the preparation and the crew experience.”
A chance to enter the record books
Only three sitting CYCA Commodores have competed in the race: Sir Robert Crichton-Brown, Mervyn E. Davey and Dr. Sam Haynes.
“It’s part of the Club’s heritage,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to carry that on.”
Now, Haynes is chasing the dream of a third Overall win.
“I’m glad that the opportunity [to race] presented itself,” Haynes said. “I think not doing the race would be a mistake... If you do get the chance to go and write yourself into a record book, then you should take it.”
The start of the 80th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race will be broadcast live throughout Australia on Channel Nine and globally via the CYCA’s YouTube channel, CYCATV.