Sydney to Hobart yacht race: Andoo Comanche takes the day one lead with SHK Scallywag losing ground
Topic: Sport
After a mixed start to day one, Andoo Comanche took the lead late in the afternoon as the winds picked up for the leaders. ( Getty Images: Andy Cheung )
Race favourite SHK Scallywag is one of the three first casualties of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race after the vessel's bow sprit broke early Tuesday evening.
Skippered by David Witt, the SHK Scallywag from Hong Kong, had recently undergone modifications, added some well-known crew and appeared to be in great shape.
But without the bow sprit, continuing the race would prove impossible.
Andoo Comanche has taken the lead late on a dramatic opening day of the race, after a string of incidents including a protest and a penalty turn.
The David Witt-skippered SHK Scallywag was one of the first three yatchs to leave the race. ( Getty Images: Steve Christo - Corbis )
After a slow run in the early stages down the coast, the leading chances for line honours picked up speed later in the afternoon once they headed offshore to maximise their momentum.
The forecast predicts difficult weather for the fleet on Tuesday night and into Wednesday, with storm activity, erratic winds and possible hail.
As at 7:00pm AEDT, Andoo Comanche was leading, offshore between Lake Conjola and Milton, travelling at 24.4 knots.
LawConnect trailed by 3.8 nautical miles, travelling at 24.6 knots. Wild Thing 100 was third, 16.1 nautical miles behind Andoo Comanche.
Not long after SHK Scallywag retired, Arcadia from Victoria, along with Rum Rebellion, also reported they had left the race.
The race began in typically tense fashion on Sydney Harbour.
LawConnect got the jump at the start and was the leader at the opening mark. But soon afterwards a problem getting their sail up led them to jibe away from the lead and the spectator craft, leaving Andoo Comanche and Scallywag with the advantage.
Scallywag (right) took an early lead after a close call with Andoo Comanche — but they may be hit with a penalty after a protest from their rivals. ( AAP: Dan Himbrechts )
However with all crews pushing things to the edge, a protest flag came in from Andoo Comanche, claiming Scallywag had tacked too late, forcing them to take evasive action with their sail luffing, losing momentum.
Swearing could be heard on board Andoo Comanche as they shouted out their protest after the near miss.
Scallywag sailed clear in the lead and was first out of the Heads, but facing the possibility of a time penalty at the end of the race if Andoo Comanche's protest was upheld, skipper David Witt chose to execute a double penalty turn off Bondi. Scallywag lost ground due to the move.
Six years ago, Wild Oats XI chose to race on after a protest from Comanche, and the one-hour time penalty incurred at the end of the race ended its line honours hopes.
Later in the day, Andoo Comanche retook the lead, passing LawConnect with Scallywag in third.
The winds were not strong on the way down the coast and the race was a lot slower than last year, with the leaders reaching Wollongong after three and a half hours of racing, an hour later than last year's race.
Look back at how the day unfolded in our blog.
Andoo Comanche still leads, Scallywag losing ground
Andoo comanche is officially leading ... but not by much, scallywag did do penalty turns, submit a comment or question, live updates, that's where we will leave it, a by andrew mcgarry.
Right now the race for line honours is a head-to-head duel between Andoo Comanche and LawConnect, but it would be foolish to make too many predictions about how things will go into night one and beyond.
Please keep monitoring the story above the blog, which will be updated if there are any official announcements on Scallywag.
Thank you all very much for joining me on our live coverage of the race south from Sydney.
Thanks to Bob William s on board Sylph VI for talking to us mid-race, and thanks to everyone for your comments and questions. I'm sorry we couldn't get to answer all of them.
There will be more stories covering the race tomorrow as the race heads towards Eden and Bass Strait.
For now, I'm Andrew McGarry and it has been a pleasure to bring you day one of the blue water classic.
Has there been more than one cat in the Sydney-Hobart?
Hi Andrew, I'm afraid Oli might not be the first cat in the Sydney-Hobart yacht race. Apparently a cat was on board the yacht Connella in the second race of 1946-47. (According to the Pittsworth Sentinel - Fri 10 Jan 1947 and others - Trove). - Nick
Five and a half hours down, and Andoo Comanche remains in the lead, heading south at 22 knots.
Last year's winner leads by 2.5 nautical miles from LawConnect, which is going at 18.8 knots.
There is now an increasing gap with the rest of the fleet. Wild Thing 100 is now third, 15.2 nautical miles from the lead, travelling at 17.3 knots.
SHK Scallywag (7 knots) is fourth, 18.1 nautical miles from the leader, and it appears David Witt's boat may have turned north-west. We have no confirmation of anything happening on board, but it does not look like a normal course right now.
LawConnect and Celestial
What do you think the chances are of law connect winning line honours and celestial winning handicap ? - Scott
It's very hard to pin down at this early stage of the race. You can tell which boats won't be playing a part in the overall result, but it's a difficult task to isolate particular boats and say where they might finish or who is likely to win.
Celestial is currently 10th overall, going at 13.5 knots 32 nautical miles south of Botany Bay.
The issue with overall is it's not just the speed you're going at, it's the handicap you have. Celestial has a lower handicap than most of the boats ahead of her, but they're all going faster.
If it all slows down, then Celestial could well improve position and be fighting it out.
As far as LawConnect goes, it literally is a three-way battle for line honours as things stand. Christian Beck's supermaxi is 1 nautical mile behind Andoo Comanche, and 3.6 nautical miles in front of SHK Scallywag. But right now, it's the slowest of the three.
The chances are that the head of the fleet will hit some difficult conditions later tonight and tomorrow, particularly once they get to Eden and points south. How the main contenders fair then will tell us a lot about which way the race for line honours is going to go.
I could see any of the three as a possible line honours winner right now. As it stands, it could well be a showdown between Andoo Comanche and LawConnect. If the winds drop, that may allow Scallywag to come through.
Line of the race so far
Does Oli the cat being on the boat make it a catamaran?? - Louise Teague
Bravo, Louise, that's a cracker of a pun.
I hope for Oli's sake, that he has a smooth passage to Hobart on board Sylph VI, and that he's not feline too poorly by the end of the race.
I'll show myself out ...
is it going like Clockwork out on the water?
Can you tell us anything about the only South Aussie boat in the field which is apparently named 'Clockwork' please? What are its chances of winning overall (handicap) honours? - StevoR
Apologies for the delay in getting to your comment. Clockwork is a Sydney 38 class boat in this year's race.
It's 11.8m long, and there are 10 crew on board, led by owners Andrew Lloyd and Mary Ann Harvey.
At the moment, they are going along at a bit over 6 knots, which compares favourably with a fair number of the fleet right now. They are still nine nautical miles SE of Botany Bay, which tells you how favourable (or not) conditions have been this afternoon, four and a half hours into the race.
Clockwork is 76th in the race for line honours, and 81st in the race overall.
The current prediction is that it will cross the line in the late afternoon on New Year's Eve — when you put in the corrected time to take into account it's size and other factors, the race time would have it crossing the line at 4:25am on New Year's morning.
So they're unlikely to win the race overall, but they're finish time and placing will depend a lot on what weather they face and when and whether they can avoid the worst of the conditions their competitors may have to face over the next few days.
The race is tough - and not just for those on the boats
My partner, Michael, is skippering our boat 'Merit' in the race. I didn't race as don't do well on lack of sleep, but think I won't sleep anyway as will be refreshing the tracker every 5 minutes for the next 3 days! - Jo
I understand the nerves when you're following from on-shore, but that's amazing that Michael is in the middle of it all heading for Hobart as part of the blue ocean classic.
I know that I don't need to tell you what the tracker is saying, but for the rest of our readers, Merit — a 19.3m Volvo 60 round-the-world racing yacht - is going along in the middle of the pack at present.
Like many of the boats in their area, well offshore, south of Bundeena, the winds have dropped off. Merit is going at 2.2 knots, and is a little over 25 nautical miles from the lead.
Now that the leaders have picked up the big winds, the race is quickly separating into two, with the main part of the fleet with little momentum for the moment, and some leaders flying ahead with the best of the conditions.
Good luck to Michael and the rest of the crew (not to mention the other 102 crews out on the water), and I hope it's not too nervous a wait for you Jo until Merit reaches Hobart.
We are three and a half hours into the race, and the leaders are passing Wollongong, which tells you the pace of the race is different this year.
In the 2022 edition, the leaders were going past Port Kembla two and a half hours after the start.
However, the winds are clearly picking up and the leaders are gaining momentum as they go down the coast.
A few minutes ago, LawConnect was leading narrowly, but things have changed again.
The new leader Andoo Comanche is flying along at 25.2 knots, 0.4 nautical miles ahead of LawConnect, which is currently travelling at 18.5 knots.
Scallywag is still third, racing the furthest offshore of the leaders. It's working for them, however, as they have closed the gap to 2.9 nautical miles, and they are the fastest boat out there at 25.6 knots.
The other supermaxi on the water, Wild Thing 100, is 10.4 nautical miles back in fourth. Grant Wharington's boat is going at a respectable clip, at 20.6 knots.
Race officials have confirmed Scallywag completed a 720-degree penalty turn off the coast of Bondi Beach, to avoid a possible time penalty at the end of the race.
Reigning line honours champion and 2023 favourite Andoo Comanche lodged an early protest, accusing Scallywag of tacking too close to her.
The boats appeared to come within metres of each other as they made their way out of Sydney Harbour.
Comanche's crew could be heard on broadcast coverage yelling "protest" to the Hong Kong-based 100-footer before formally flying a red flag.
Scallywag thrives in lighter winds such as those reported at the start of the race and, hoping to lead the fleet out of the heads, was slow to react to the protest flag.
But the fact the incident had taken place in the harbour meant Scallywag had only a limited distance in which to complete the penalty turns, or risk receiving a time sanction on arrival in Hobart.
In 2017, Wild Oats XI opted not to respond to a protest from Comanche early in the race and a subsequent one-hour time penalty cost her a line honours victory.
Update on Sylph VI and Oli the cat
As we said earlier, we are keeping an eye on the two-handed sloop Sylph VI on its way to Hobart.
The boat first competed in the race in 1961. Williams bought it 25 years ago, and he, along with first mate Chris Warren is on the way south — along with his cat, Oli.
Speaking to Williams, the 12.5m long boat is going well and has avoided trouble so far.
"We're where we expected to be — at the back of the fleet!" he said.
"It's bouncy conditions, but we've got a bit of breeze and we still have the fleet in sight."
Sylph VI was on the fourth start line, furthest back. But this meant they had less of the spectator craft to negotiate.
What of his historic fellow crew member, the first cat to sail to Hobart?
"Oli has crashed out on the starboard settee, with his head on the pillow — he looks very peaceful," Williams said.
It's going to be a long haul to Hobart, but they are going at a nice 6 or so knots at the moment, and things are good.
There will be some bad weather on the way, but they haven't hit anything so far.
"There are thunderheads around, we can see them, but nothing near us so far," Williams said. "There is potential for hail, so we'll have to keep our eye out.
"The main issue for us will be when we get further south and we get some very strong southwesterly breeze.
"We'll see how we go when we get down there."
How does Oli go in storms?
"I don't like rough weather that much either, but Oli usually finds a comfortable spot to curl up in, often down the back end of the quarterberth. "It's nice and cosy, he curls up in a ball and stays asleep for a while. Later he'll come out for a bit of food ... and a pee, maybe!"
You can follow their progress on Sylph VI (or for that matter on any of the boats in the fleet) on the race tracker .
Seeking the breeze
Hi Andrew, With Scallywag & LawConnect heading further offshore, do you think their strategy is to pick up the Eastern Australian current or try to find a stronger breeze? What is the speed of the Eastern Australian Current in the fastest part of the current? I presume it’s position relative to the coast varies quite a bit as it makes it way down the east coast from the tropics, assuming Scallywag & LawConnect are looking for the current, how will they find the optimal part? Many thanks, Rob (Maryanne’s husband & Mandy’s Dad - so I just had to ask a question!!!) - Rob
I don't know the answer of where the strongest current is or will be. What I do know is that as of the final weather briefing this morning, the BOM were saying that this afternoon they expected light, variable winds closer to shore.
Offshore, the expectation was that winds would be E to SE 10-20 knots. The winds the supermaxis are currently experiencing are towards the lower end of that range.
My best guess is that the big four — who are all well out from shore right now — will be staying out there for the moment, in search of the strongest winds, rather than the current.
The prediction is that once the fleet gets beyond Eden, wind speeds will increase to 20 to 30 knots (albeit still E to SE winds blowing largely away from Hobart).
Who knows who will benefit most from this. Will it be the smaller boats, or will the inevitable happen and the 100-footers pull ahead? We shall see.
First out of the Heads
Who was first out of the heads? - John
Sorry folks, for those who were keen to know who was officially first out of the Heads, it was actually Scallywag.
LawConnect was first around the first mark, but after their sail problems, they were overtaken by Scallywag, who were first to get out of the Heads.
After all the boats got hit with a wind drop, LawConnect then briefly took the lead, but again were not the first out.
It's been a crazy old start, eh?
Why do people jump off the boats?
Hi Andrew, can you please talk us through how and why the two crew from Scallywag ended up in the water? - Maryanne
Hello Maryanne,
The explanation for why the people jump off the boats is that they are not actually crew.
As part of the coverage of each year's race, camera operators and photographers usually go on board one or two of the leading contenders as they are going through the harbour and the Heads, in order to take pics / send back footage.
The issue is, of course, that unless they want to actually go to Hobart, they need to get off the boat at some point.
The only way to do that is to jump off, so that they can be picked up by waiting boats.
I haven't heard anything concerning coming out, so I presume all went smoothly, and the camerapeople and photographers are currently drying off (or filing pictures like mad, as the case may be....).
Change at the top?
This is definitely not your usual start to the Sydney to Hobart.
An hour into the race, the head of the fleet are usually heading southwards at a rate of knots — upwards of 20, in some cases — and there is definite momentum with one or other of the leaders.
Not so this year.
It's a game of cat and mouse out on the water right now.
Andoo Comanche is taking a (relatively) inside line, and has sneaked in front. The defending champion is just ahead, travelling at 11.4 knots at the minute. Between it and the coast is URM Group, the 21.8m long boat skippered by Marcus Ashley-Jones. It is going at 8.4 knots.
Further out to sea is LawConnect — it is further south than the others, but in terms of the lead it is officially 0.3 nautical miles behind Andoo Comanche, going at 9.2 knots.
Behind them is Philip Turner's Reichel Pugh 66 Alive — the boat that won overall in 2018.
Alive (0.4 nm behind) is going at 7.4 knots on a similar line to Andoo Comanche. More smaller boats are in the mix, with Moneypenny (1.3nm back), No Limit (also 1.3nm behind) and Smuggler (1.6nm) all travelling in the middle channel.
The widest run of all is Scallywag, who is now almost out of picture on the tracker, searching for wind.
It's going to be a fascinating afternoon if the winds stay light and give the smaller boats a chance.
A question on the rules
Hey Andrew, I'm new to sailing so sorry if this is a dumb question. Who determines if Scallywag has to do the turns and how long they have to do them? - Maddy
Maddy, where things stand is that Andoo Comanche has put in a protest flag already after that close call in the harbour.
Andoo Comanche are claiming that Scallywag chose to tack too late, forcing them off course to avoid a collision.
From here it's all pending. The judges will be sitting in the protest room in Hobart, waiting for the race to finish.
While the boats are on the water, there will be no decision made. As the saying goes, it's now up to Scallywag's crew to decide if they are feeling lucky.
If they want to take the chance — and so far it looks like they do — then they will sail straight to Hobart and hope that the judges rule with them at the end. A few years back, Wild Oats XI was issued with a one-hour penalty in Hobart for an incident near the start of the race.
If they are not so confident, then they need to do those two turns (or a 720 degree turn, for the mathematically inclined out there), before they get a certain distance down the coast. If they do that, then the protest is cleared, and it's all systems go - but Andoo Comanche and others would doubtless gain ground.
The upshot, Maddy, is that it's not hard and fast, and it depends on the final ruling. #ClearAsMud
A speed update for the leaders
The leaders are certainly not blazing a trail down south as things stand.
Scallywag leads, but the boat is travelling at 9 knots. It's nearest challenger, Andoo Comanche, is going at 9.6 knots.
LawConnect is further back and the furthest out to sea, searching for winds to fill their big sail. They are travelling at 6.9 knots.
Scallywag has clear air - will they keep it?
We are about half an hour into the race, and Scallywag still leads the fleet, with Andoo Comanche in second and LawConnect in third taking a wide line out of the Heads.
Alive is doing very well so far in about fourth spot, although they will be playing the long game to Hobart, looking more to the overall title than line honours.
Scallywag is still going straight ahead, and there is no sign of them turning to do the penalties.
They have until a little way down the coast (around Bondi) to take the turns, but if not they will have to rely on the judges seeing things their way once they get to Hobart!
Already the race record track of LDV Comanche (as it was in 2017) is beginning to stretch away from the fleet.
One day nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds is a ridiculously fast time to Hobart, and any challengers will need EVERYTHING to go right to beat it.
Frustration on board Andoo Comanche
Sailing Master Iain Murray is speaking to Olympian Lisa Darmanin on Seven, and he's not happy.
Asked about the incident with Scallywag, Murray said:
"It's a classic port-and-starboard (incident). That's too close (from Scallywag).
"You can't do that with 100-footers. We'll see".
Asked about the speed of the boat, Murray said:
"We're really struggling to get up to speed in this wind."
A reminder of how to watch
In case you are trying to watch the action, a reminder to check out 7Mate on free-to-air or 7Plus if you want to stream it.
There's a LOT going on
Everyone is having issues with their sails. The conditions are not clear, and now Andoo Comanche is taking its time to change sails.
Behind them is LawConnect, but they have their sail fixed finally, and while Andoo Comanche is going up and down.
Now LawConnect has passed last year's winners — and there is some colourful language coming from the deck of Andoo Comanche!
Meanwhile Scallywag has taken advantage of their rivals problems, and they have sailed clear in first place!
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