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Silver Fern rounding Tasman Island under spinnaker, Sydney-Hobart 2024
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This year's Sydney to Hobart Race was my 5th, and my 3rd one on Silver Fern. This time as a Navigator and a 2nd Mate. I've been involved as Navigator, Watch Captain, First Mate and helmsman on the previous ones. Except for the first one, when I was only a crew. So much has happened since then!
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| Competitor badge for Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Lena Wilderäng |
So here is the story of my fifth Sydney to Hobart. There are
more photos on my Instagram, and you may have seen the boat on TV or other media, or social media accounts.
It was interesting sailing with a new skipper. I do it once in a while, but this one had not sailed with me at all, and had a different approach to many things onboard. This time, I had spent less time helming compared to the previous races. Instead, I have mostly been at the bow, or at the navigation table - or elsewhere on the boat, managing the crew or the maintenance tasks, in order to bring everyone to the finish line safe and happy.
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| Silver Fern preparing for the start |
This year's race was dramatic, to say the least. About a third of the fleet retired due to damage to the boats, injuries, a man overboard... Tragically, two people died in this race. On our boat, there was some minor damage, although there were a few close calls, like the first mate falling from the boom, miraculously not getting overboard.
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| Weather briefing on the race start day. The reports looked worrying. |
The start was dramatic in itself. A lot of crew have not been sailing this boat, they came as paying guests. The skipper was at the wheel, heading right into the other boats at the start. We got in the way of another boat and got to do two penalty turns.
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| Media coverage just before heading out to the start line |
Already on the first day, we got a main block damage. The boom was swinging violently in the strong breeze. We got running downwind with a poled out jib. All around us, yachts were struggling. One broached within our sight.
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| Early on day 1, wind is picking up |
When the night came, the wind was building. We changed to storm job, and had three reefs in our main. The wind was gusting up to 40 knots. There was lightning, cross seas, and helming was a hard job. During the night, the team that was on shift got to hear the VHF call to one of the yachts that had a sailor lose his life onboard. Hearing that must have been extremely traumatic. We were hearing about other yachts getting damaged, one got dismasted so a security message was called out about avoiding the place where the rig was dropped. At the end of the night, many yachts had to retire. It was awful to be in the middle of this.
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| Golden skies later during the race |
The second day came wind lighter winds, and we shook out a reef. However, we knew that the southerly change was due to come through, and we did not know how hard it would hit us - and when. Thus we were conservative in sail choice - but that had us moving too slow. Also, the topping lift jammer had snapped, tearing the main sail, so we had to have the reefs in it. More messages about boats in trouble were coming in. A capsized vessel, more retiring boats. Then, we ourselves experienced electrical problems. Our Starlink was down, and we were risking more trouble. The engine was iffy from the start, supposedly from dirty fuel, so this also had to be fixed on the fly. Our first mate Iain fixed all that, which was amazing. He was also the one who fixed the wind instruments in the last minute, what a hero!
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| Cockpit view |
The change came through and was not that dramatic at all. However, now we were beating into the Southerly wind, and a few crew got seasick. Cooking food was hard in the heeling, bumping galley. The wind dropped towards the night, and as we reached Cape Green it died altogether.
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| Nav table view |
On the third day, we were mostly floating with the current. Spinnaker came up and down, not working in the 0,5 knot wind. We used to time to clean up the boat, do maintenance, the skipper put a repair into the main sail, and there were a few more jobs done. Now cooking was easy, so there was a pork roast made, and we had some ice cream (the had mostly melted, but it did not stop anyone from enjoying it). Finally I smelled the breeze and decided to try out the spinnaker once more. Some crew did not believe it was worth trying, but there we were, moving along.
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| A scene from one of the previous tries with the spinnaker. Becalmed... |
After a while, we changed to genoa. During the night, the wind picked up once more, and I got the deja vu from last year's race where we got absolutely overpowered under genoa, and had a man overboard that we retrieved. This time, we managed to change the sail sooner, and everyone stayed on board. All were on deck, all were absolutely soaked, but now we flew into Bass Strait, finally after being stuck for so long.
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| Another sunrise. Another sunset. Days flow by as we sail on... |
Morning again. Wet people coming back from the night watch. Tired people coming up after sleeping too little. I made warm breakfast for everyone. Then a crew member made plunger coffee and everything turned around. Wow! Flying the job the whole day, making some knots across the Strait, and changing to lighter sails towards the night.
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| Helen, an amazing sailor. Another great team member Craig trimming the spinnaker in the background. |
After that, we were onto the next stage - making our way along Tasmanian coast. Once again, it was all about managing the crew and the boat. Now, it was possible to relax a bit on the bow, and keep an eye on the other boats that were near.
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| Finally time for a group photo! 5 out of 15 crew on the bow. |
The last day was about rounding Tasman Island. I made pancakes for breakfast to celebrate this. The seas were calm, the wind was just perfect and we were flying spinnaker. What an absolutely epic moment. Perfect seas, beautiful wind, full sunlight, amazing views, great photos. Very memorable. Here, the report is made to Race Control. From here, we don't need to do the position reports anymore. It's still quite a race to the finish line from here, but it's closer, tangible.
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| Rounding Tasman Island |
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| The iconic pipes |
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| Spinnaker on! |
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| Happy smiles |
My idea was to make something special for the New Year's eve, as we were risking spending it on the boat somewhere south of Hobart. The choice fell to a cheese board and a chocolate cake with icing. While the cake was being baked, I had to come up on the bow to manage the spinnaker gybe. The helmsman went into the gybe too soon, so the huge white sail went wrapping around the forestay, risking a long miserable job of detangling it. So here, the maneuvre instructions included both sailing and the baking (turning off the oven in particular). It was quite epic to gybe and bake at the same time! Then, this was had with coffee, in sunshine. Anything to boost crew morale!
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| The Spinnaker Gybe Cake |
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| Snack platters enjoyed by first mate Iain, and Ross - a legend you might recognize from the last Sydney to Hobart |
Coming in to Hobart just before New Year's fireworks was very special. The wind was dying out and we risked getting parked up in the Derwent, but the last wind actually got us over the finish line. Finally! Now, thousands of people were on the dock, cheering. I was in the boom flaking the main sail, and stayed there waving to the crowds - felt like the Queen of England. Just after we tied off and filled our glasses, the countdown started and the fireworks lighted up the skies. What a finish.
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| Welcome to Hobart! |
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| After the Finish Line |
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| Happy New Year! |
On New Year's Day, there is a tradition of the so-called "Quiet Little Drink" at a place called Shripwright's Arms in Hobart. Amazing to be here to share the celebration with the rest of the sailors. The place breathes sailing tradition. They have the same band playing every year for so many years, the guys may be old but do they rock! People were cheering, dancing, hugging in the sunshine. An amazing feeling.
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| Not very quet and not very little! |
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| Legendary Shipwrit's Arms |
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| Yours truly |
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| The band playing, same since many years |
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| "Running two days late" - another great crew member, Rob! |
At the same time, there was a very sad feeling to it, too. Two people have tragically died during this year's race, and it was quite close to a higher death toll. There was a ceremony for thise two sailors in Hobart, and we also held a ceremony for them on board.
At the Quiet Little Drink, there were quite a few bruised and broken bodies, some wearing casts. I have talked to several crew who had to retire because of boat damage, electrical failures, fires, and a lot more. At the end, about a third of the fleet never made it to the finish. I'm happy everyone on our boat were ok, despite a few close calls. This has been, and still is, one of the most dangerous boat races in the world. The feeling of accomplishment and celebration will always have a sorrow band around it. May the sailors rest in peace, and forever have fair winds.
