Oldest yacht to tackle Sydney-Hobart race to do it all again
Katwinchar will line up again in Australia’s toughest yacht race, 73 years after its first attemptKatwinchar, the famous 32-foot English ketch that sailed across from the UK to compete in the 1951 Sydney-Hobart yacht race, will take to the field again after a shakedown race in the inaugural Noakes Sydney to Gold Coast race.
The 120-year-old yacht last raced in the Sydney-Hobart in 2019 – the 75th anniversary of the event – where it finished first in a field of six larger boats entered in the Grand Veterans division.
It was a slower run for the Sydney to Gold Coast race, with Katwinchar finishing fifth in the IRC division 3 class and 47th overall.
Katwinchar was restored by its current owner, Maritimo luxury motor yacht founder Bill Barry-Cotter, to bring it back into racing trim.
“Under the leadership of sailing master Michael Spies, Maritimo Katwinchar returns to offshore racing, sailing the race double-handed with Peter Vaiciurgis,” Maritimo said in a statement announcing the tilt at the 2024 Sydney-Hobart race.
“The yacht has just completed the Noakes Sydney Gold Coast race this week, marking its first outing in preparation for the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart in December.”
Katwinchar was one of 14 boats to enter the 1951 Sydney-Hobart. It arrived in Sydney after an eight-and-a-half-month journey from the UK, passing through the Panama Canal, and was believed to be the smallest boat to sail from the UK to Australia, arriving in Sydney a month before the race start.
The boat, which was loaded with the owner’s household possessions, finished the race but retired before reaching the finish line. Katwinchar made it as far as a small fishing village near Dunallen, east of Hobart after encountering rough seas. All three crew members who sailed the ketch across from the UK settled in Tasmania.
In the late 1950s Katwinchar was sold to Frank Barry-Cotter, Bill Barry-Cotter’s father, until it was sold and faded from memory, eventually becoming a morning minder.
In 2017, Bill Barry-Cotter found the boat in a poor state and bought it to embark on a two-year restoration back into racing trim using the talents of Maritimo’s workforce.
The boat still wears the “CYC8” allocated to it when it arrived in Australia without any sail numbers.
Entries for the 2024 Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race opened on June 14 and will close on October 25. The 628-nautical-mile race starts on Sydney Harbour at 1pm on Thursday, January 26.
Last year, 85 boats of the 103 that started the race completed the gruelling challenge. The 2023 race for line honours was decided by a 51-second margin – the second-closest finish in the race's 79-year history.
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