Entries open for Sydney-Hobart

The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia has announced the release of the Notice of Race and now invite eligible yachts owners to enter the blue water classic.

Leading the battle for line honours will be Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI, the race record holder, which last year claimed her second historic treble of line honours, overall win and a new race record of 1 day, 18 hours, 23 minutes and 12 seconds, culminating in her sixth line honours victory and second overall win.

Wild Oats XI is anticipated to line up against Syd Fischer’s Ragamuffin 100 and rumours are very strong that Anthony Bell will return with a new super maxi.

Fischer shipped his super maxi to the USA to compete in the Transpac Yacht Race and was the first monohull yacht to cross the finish line in Hawaii with an elapsed time of six days, eight hours, 17 minutes, 26 seconds.

Among Fischer’s Transpac crew was CYCA past commodore, Matt Allen, who with the bulk of the fleet will vie for the Rolex Sydney Hobart’s prized trophy, the Tattersall’s Cup (presented to the overall race winner), with a new Carkeek 60.

Due to be launched in October, Allen’s new boat will carry the same name of all his previous racing yachts, Ichi Ban, which means ‘No. 1’ in Japanese. Having come so close with is former yacht, his hope this year is to win the race overall.

Questioned on his design choice, the Sydney yachtsman responded: "There’s been a lot of evolution in the TP52 area and the Carkeek boats, but the Carkeek has moved away in terms of performance.

"We’re designing it to be a fast, powerful yacht with plenty of sail area, but also structurally sound as I intend to campaign it in major ocean races most of the time and spend about a third of the time competing in regatta-style racing.

"Our major competition for the 2013 Hobart will be the recently purchased VOR70s Camper, owned by Victorian Jason Van der Slot, and Telefonica, owned byQueenslander Peter Harburg, now racing as Black Jack.

“Belle Mente, (American Hap Fauth’s 2012 built JV72), RAN Niklas Zennstrom’s JV72 (which finished fifth in the 2009 Hobart) and even my old Ichi Ban (the Jones 70), which was purchased earlier this year by CYCA Director Andrew Wenham are also rumoured to be coming," Allen added.

The CYCA is predicting an international fleet of approximately 80 yachts will make the start line for the race to Hobart. Entries for the Rolex Sydney Hobart 2013 close on Friday November 1, 2013 at 1700hrs AEDT.

The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2013 Notice of Race is now online at: http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/competitors/online-race-entry/