Second Sydney-Hobart yacht race ends in protest

It means the record books will record 2019 handicap winner Ichi Ban – which protested provisional line honours winner Celestial after what it and the race committee claimed was a breach of the rules around keeping a watch on VHF channel 16 – as the line honours winner of the 76th event.

The international jury hearing the protest, which found Celestial was out of contact for around 90 minutes after a crew member’s personal locator beacon was accidentally activated, awarded Ichi Ban a three-minute benefit while handing Celestial a 40-minute penalty.

The move has pushed Ichi Ban, which finished three minutes behind Celestial, into the top spot in the overall standings.

A handful of smaller boats are yet to cross the finish line at Constitution Dock in Hobart’s Derwent River, although it is likely that the provisional line honours winner, the 30-metre maxi Black Jack, will stay at the head of the finishing order.

According to the international jury’s report, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority contacted race organisers shortly before midnight on December 27 after one of the Celestial’s crew activated a PLB.

The race committee tried to contact Celestial via satellite phone and failed, so instead, it called the nearest boat, which happened to be second-placed Ichi Ban.

According to the report, Celestial repeatedly failed to respond to Ichi Ban’s call on the VHF emergency channel. It also failed to respond to a white handheld flare, but was eventually roused by a red parachute flare deployed from Ichi Ban more than 90 minutes after the first attempt to make contact.

The international jury’s findings note that contact eventually was made via a handheld VHF radio onboard Celestial, and not its communications radio.

The international jury noted that 12 other PLBs were accidentally activated during the race and in each case, the boat had responded to the race committee within 25 minutes, with an average response time of 15 minutes.

The race committee also filed a protest against Celestial’s result.

Last year’s Sydney-Hobart race failed to go ahead after the COVID-19 pandemic swept through Sydney’s north shore community in the days ahead of the event, forcing its last-minute cancellation.

The organisers behind the event, the Sydney-based Ocean Racing Club of Australia, had planned for this year’s event to finish at a different location if Tasmania’s borders remained shut in light of the pandemic.

Even so, a number of boats withdrew from this year’s event after crew members tested positive to COVID-19 infections ahead of stepping aboard boats for the race.