2026 Melbourne to King Island | Race Updates

Follow the Melbourne to King Island fleet on Blue Water Tracks and via our social media channels (Facebook & Instagram) or check back in here during the race.

17.21 Line Honour - 7 March 2026

Phoenix 49, skippered by Brenton and Jennifer Carnell, has taken out Line Honours in the 2026 King Island race.  Their first ocean race as new owners of this boat (previously known as Carrera S).  Congratulations.  The evening will be filled with boats arriving and crews coming in to enjoy the King Island delights.

1:00pm Race Update – 7 March 2026

After 20 hours of racing and with around 30 nautical miles to the finish, less than one nautical mile separates the leading boats Phoenix 49 and Cadibarra in the battle for line honours, with The Jackal also firmly in the mix.

The stronger southerly breeze has now begun to reach the leaders and boat speeds are starting to increase. On handicap, Cadibarra currently holds the advantage, with How Bizarre, skippered by previous winner Scott Robinson, and the youthful crew aboard Voodoo Child, skippered by Jason Farnell, also well placed.

As the fleet approaches King Island, tides and currents may yet play a role, with the leaders facing an adverse tide until around 6pm, potentially giving the chasing boats an opportunity to close the gap.

Keep an eye on the race tracker as the fleet begins to reach the stronger winds, with the first arrivals expected later this afternoon.

Race Update – 7:00am, 7 March 2026

Fourteen hours into the race and fifty-eight nautical miles from the start, two clear strategies are emerging, with less than one nautical mile separating the line honours leaders approaching from different directions.

Cadibarra, the Sydney 41 skippered by Paul Roberts, has held a much more westerly track, picking up stronger winds and 3–4 knots more boat speed. Meanwhile, Phoenix 49, along with the balance of the fleet, is sailing east of the rhumb line and holds a narrow line honours lead of less than a nautical mile over Cadibarra.

As the fleet approaches King Island, the question now is whether Cadibarra will find enough wind to be pulled clear of the top of the island and hold its advantage.
Newcomers to Category 2 racing, Belle and Godzilla, are also in strong contention on handicap. At this stage, there is very little separation across the fleet, with positions continuing to shift.

With the southerly winds expected to build in the coming hours, the handicap picture may soon become clearer so keep an eye on the tracker https://race.bluewatertracks.com/2026-melbourne-to-king-island-race

One thing is certain: before long, the crews will be swapping their onboard meals for King Island’s legendary hospitality and a well-earned steak sandwich, later this afternoon.

9:00pm Race Update, 6 March 2026

Just under four hours into the race to King Island, the fleet is settling into the night.

On the AMS leaderboard, Phoenix 49, skippered by Brenton and Jennifer Carnell, currently leads Voodoo Child, while Vagabond holds third. Not far behind, Quixotic and Cadibarra remain well within striking distance.

The next eight hours will be critical, with the fleet expected to encounter a developing light wind patch. Strategic decisions on how far to sail west before tacking could help decide the winners. Belle’s earlier tack may prove decisive in the contest for line honours with Phoenix 49, while The Jackal, despite starting fifteen minutes late, has put itself right back in the mix after an early move to the east.

As the fleet works its way across Bass Strait, attention now turns to how each boat navigates the approaching lighter conditions overnight, and whose strategy will see them slip through the patch first and into the stronger winds.

Keep an eye on the tracker here https://race.bluewatertracks.com/2026-melbourne-to-king-island-race

5.30 Just after the Race Start 6 March 2026

Phoenix49 leading the fleet Photo David Schuller

Right on time in near-perfect conditions of 13 knots from the south and less than 2m swell, the 2026 Race to King Island is underway. A fleet of 22 yachts and 150 crew are now racing across Bass Strait, with the famous King Island steak sandwiches and legendary volunteer hospitality awaiting them at the finish.

As expected, the larger yachts Belle and Phoenix were first to round virtual mark ORCV1, with Phoenix stretching the lead by the time they reached virtual mark ORCV2.

Close behind and off to a strong start are Shimmer, How Bizarre, Jac Hoi and Cadibarra, keeping the pressure on the leaders. As the fleet exits the Heads, all boats have been instructed to remain west of the Pilot Boarding Ground due to shipping traffic.

Follow the fleet live on the tracker for your favourites and check out the leaderboard:

2026 Melbourne to King Island Final Reminders

Have you read the latest Sailing Instructions?

Click here for SIs and NTCs  

Arrival and berthing information

Follow exactly the instructions given by the tender driver on where to berth.

We are using the fisherman’s moorings so follow their instructions as outlined in the SIs and on our website here  to leave the moorings in good order.  Use only moorings as directed.

Tender Service

The water police are monitoring the event, the KI boat club have asked everyone to wear a life jacket on the tender transfer service to avoid a fine.  Consider bringing a waterproof bag for your personal gear.

Media matters

Please join the competitor WhatsApp Channel, the link has been sent to you via SMS.  The best photo/video will win a prize.  This allows us to share your experiences with a wider audience in order to grow participation in ocean racing, so thank you.  This WhatsApp group is for competitors only.  All photos are to be submitted by 4pm on Monday 9^th March and they must be taken by yourself or nominated crew.

Send any photos or articles to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Biosecurity on King Island

Biosecurity Tasmania will provide a biosecurity bag to King Island Boat Club for crew to dispose of any biosecurity matter (fruit and vegetables) that may still be onboard upon your arrival on King Island.  Please use the yellow biosecurity near the wharf area.  Better still take nothing of concern on shore with you and take it back with you.

For more information: click here

Meals at KIBC

King Island Boat Club is putting in a huge volunteer effort to provide hot meals and drinks for you.  Please show courtesy by at least coming in for an hour or so after the race (even if you are keen to head home straight away).  Let them know how much we appreciate them doing so.  A smile and a word of thanks goes a long way.

Leave at Home document

There is a Leave at Home document available for you to fill out and leave at home with your family and emergency contact, click here to view the document.

Skeds

Similarly, the Sked sheets are also available on the ORCV race web site. Click here to view.

Race tracker

Supporters can follow the race using the Blue Water Tracks link on the ORCV web site.

Don’t forget to add your photo to your Blue Water Tracks profile as well as ensure your boat and crew profiles are up to date. Details of how to update are found here:

Tracker Instructions - ORCV

Race Director contacts

The Race Director phone numbers (for operational needs only) during a race are:  

• Race Director 1: 0418 396 605
• Race Director 2: 0418 396 465
• Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Presentation

You will be notified of the time of the presentation by SMS.

Safety related matters

Keep your VHF on Ch16 and ensure the volume is turned up.  We may need you to help others or you may need them to help you.  Keep your mobile and Satphones on too and ensure you can hear them ring.

Together we can protect our oceans.  

This King Island Race has been registered with Sailors for the Sea as a Clean Regatta.  There are ways to get involved:

• Enjoy vegan/vegetarian or locally produced King Island product
• Join us for a beach clean up walk after presentations
• Please take all waste back to Melbourne.

King Islands Little Penguins

PFA’s (Poly-fluoroalkyl substances or forever chemicals) are widespread in Tasmanian penguins.  So please stop throwing food packaging overboard and check for “fluoro” in cleaning products, sunscreen, soap and cooking products.

Alien dominates the 2025 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race

Alien, overall winner of the 2025 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race, awarded the Heemskerk Perpetual Trophy, with ORCV Race Director David Schuller (L) and ORCV Commodore Cyrus Allen (R) / Photo by Jane Austin

Justin Brenan and his team of diehard sailors from the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria, have sailed their Lidgard 36 yacht, Alien, to take a clean sweep of all handicap divisions in the 2025 Melbourne to Hobart ‘Westcoaster’ Yacht Race.

The most prestigious of these victories is for first place on corrected time on AMS handicap which determines the overall winner of the race and is awarded the Heemskerk Perpetual Trophy.

Joining Brenan onboard Alien and sharing the spoils of victory were his son Calum Brenan, Glen Cowan, Ben Tyrrell, Michael Noy, Andrew Vincent, Allison Wetzels and navigator Katrina Hartman.

Ocean Racing Club of Victoria’s Commodore Cyrus Allen led the presentations at the Derwent Sailing Squadron where sailors, families and friends gathered to share a long lunch prior to the awarding of the silverware.

No stranger to winning, Brenan has sailed in 16 Westcoasters, and has six wins under his belt including a win when the race was sailed down the East Coast of Tasmania as part of the centenary Rudder Cup celebration.

Brenan won on ORC handicap and was presented with the City of Melbourne Perpetual Trophy for his win on PHS.

Katrina Hartman with ORCV Race Director David Schuller (L) and ORCV Commodore Cyrus Allen (R) / Photo by Jane Austin

In a wonderful acknowledgment of her sailing expertise, Katrina Hartman was awarded the Zeehan Perpetual Trophy as navigator onboard the overall winning yacht.

Brenan was chuffed to win another Westcoaster on a corrected time of 2 days, 21 hours, 33 minutes and six seconds, and expressed much praise for his team, including the valuable advice he received from Calum at a pivotal moment in the race.

“I’ve got my number two son Calum onboard, he’s done a few of these races, maybe 12 or 13.

“We did have a light argument on the way down about what to do at Macquarie Harbour with that transition in the weather, I wanted to be two miles further out and he wanted to go up the middle.

“He picked it perfectly and so we sailed striaight through.

“Everyone one else went way offshore and of course having gone all the way out west had to come back to the east, so that gave us a few miles, but other than that, it was just about having the right sails and the right crew.

“It was really nice weather, maybe a little bit light, but we got a couple of hours of reasonable sailing down the bottom and sailed straight past Faster Forward.

“It was a good, interesting race, quite tactical, you really had to sail the right angles, it’s quite critical when you are going through the gap between Tassie and King Island, if you are in the wrong position, you’ve just lost 10 miles.

“People don’t believe me, but all you have to do is look at the currents, the tide really doesn’t matter, as long as you are on the eastern side, and you stay out of the middle.

“I’ve passed this information on to other people, but no one follows it, so that’s a bonus for us every year.

“But really it was just delightful weather, we didn’t have too many calm spots, it didn’t rain, it was warm, what more could you ask for,” said Brenan.

Faster Forward, winning the Edward Henty Trophy for second on AMS handicap and Simon Dryden holding the Robin Hewitt Trophy for achieving the milestone of 30 Westcoasters with ORCV Commodore Cyrus Allen and ORCV Race Director David Schuller / Photo by Jane Austin

Matt Fahey’s Sydney 38, Faster Forward, was second on AMS Handicap, winning the Edward Henty Trophy, and second on PHS.

The Jackal with ORCV Race Director Ravid Schuller (L) and ORCV Commodore Cyrus Allen (R) / Photo by Jane Austin

Matt Setton, skipper of the Ker 11.3, The Jackal, from the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron, was the line honours winner in this year’s Westcoaster, sailing the race for the second time and his first as skipper, in an elapsed time of 3 days, 5 hours, 22 minutes and 23 seconds, 20 minutes ahead of Alien.

In what was a fabulous ocean race for Setton, who was awarded the Wrest Point Abel Tasman Trophy for line honours, the Port Phillip Sea Pilot’s Trophy for the first boat through Port Phillip Heads, and the Alan Collins ‘Rookie Skipper’ prize awarded to the best performing first time skipper as assessed by the Race Director.

In a closely fought race, The Jackal led all the way from Melbourne to Hobart, clinching the line honours victory despite the determined efforts of Matt Fahey’s Sydney 38, Faster Forward, and a last-ditch effort from Justin Brenan’s Lidgard 36, Alien, in the final few miles of the race.

“It was close racing, The Jackal at one stage was 20 nautical miles in front of us and it ended up four nautical miles in the end, maybe less,” said Brenan.

Setton reflected upon his victory as a first-time skipper and what gave them the edge.

“I’m pretty happy to be here, very relieved, it’s been a big year getting the boat ready, I’m glad we made it.

“I think our downwind speed on the second day gave us a little bit of a break from Faster Forward.

“We knew that they would be pretty good upwind and so for the first 12 hours or so, it wasn’t quite downwind, and there were only a few miles between us, but we thought, once the breeze got behind us, we’d be able to skip away a little bit, and we were able to do that which was good.

“It was a great race, very tactical, probably equally as tactical in some respects as a Sydney to Hobart.

Onboard The Jackal with Setton were Jeff Whiteside, Nigel Fellowes-Freeman, Peter Grant, Stuart Addison, Robert Buchanan, Thor Cembala and Ronald Piang Ng.

In true Westcoaster tradition, Simon Dryden, a race veteran onboard Faster Forward received acknowledgement for completing 30 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Races.

Faster Forward skipper Matt Fahey acknowledged his crew in this year’s race and made mention of the impression that Dryden has had on this race.

“I’m delighted, we’ve had the boat seven years, this is our fifth Melbourne to Hobart on our boat, and we just love it.

“We’ve put a new team together this year with a few new people, and they’ve done an incredible job, not only the novices in our team but also the ones with experience that have come to us from other parts of Australia.

“I’m really happy with what we have achieved as a team, I’ve never had a bond like we have already in this group, and I couldn’t do it without Simon.

“I’m thrilled that I’ve had him back with me again this year, and I’m thrilled that I’ve had the opportunity to share his 30th [race] with him, it’s a real privilege to have done four together.

“Hour on hour, there was something new that all of us learnt … that’s the privilege I have in being able to sail with Simon,” said Fahey.

Dryden took a moment to reflect upon his Melbourne to Hobart racing achievements after docking in Hobart for the 30th time.

“It’s a race that I love and that I have done so many times, it’s just part of my nature.

“It’s good fun sailing with a bunch of guys, some of them are new, some are less experienced, so teaching them all the way about ways to do things…it’s always something you look forward to, it’s [Hobart] a great destination.

“It’s about taking people on the journey; I think that all eight people that Matt and I had on this journey will be back.

“The interesting thing about the Melbourne to Hobart Race is that we see such lovely countryside and we see such lovely places, it’s just really nice how this race comes via various stages of Tasmania,” said Dryden.

The Kevin Behrens Shield for Outstanding Crew Member, awarded to the crew member judged most outstanding in the race, was presented to Robert Brown, affectionately known as Spiderman, by the crew of Joan Lorraine for being so willing and helpful and at aged 70 was the first up the mast twice during this year’s Westcoaster.

The Westcoaster is one of the world’s great ocean races, covering 435 nautical miles from the start in Port Phillip to the finish line in the River Derwent in Hobart.

The race starts with a 125 nautical mile passage across Bass Strait before the fleet sails 200 nautical miles south down the West Coast of Tasmania, past Maatsuyker Island, east to South East Cape then turning northeast through the challenging waters of Storm Bay and then the fickle conditions of the River Derwent.

The monohull race record of 1 day 17 hours 28 minutes 59 seconds was set by Shortwave in 2008.

Read the full race results here: https://www.orcv.org.au/results/2025-26/2025M2H/series.htm?ty=83018 

The Jackal wins line honours in 2025 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race

Matt Setton’s Ker 11.3, The Jackal has claimed line honours in the 2025 Melbourne to Hobart ‘Westcoaster’ Yacht Race, in a time of 3 days, 5 hours, 22 minutes and 23 seconds.

In a closely fought race, The Jackal led all the way from Melbourne to Hobart, clinching the line honours victory despite the determined efforts of Matt Fahey’s Sydney 38, Faster Forward and a last-ditch effort from Justin Brenan’s Lidgard 36, Alien, in the final few miles of the race.

Setton, who embraced his partner Katie and his very excited children, Tara and Zeke, moments after docking at the Elizabth Street Pier, reflected upon his victory as a first-time skipper and what gave them the edge.

“I’m pretty happy to be here, very relieved, it’s been a big year getting the boat ready, I’m glad we made it.

“I think our downwind speed on the second day gave us a little bit of a break from Faster Forward.

“We knew that they would be pretty good upwind and so for the first 12 hours or so, it wasn’t quite downwind, and there were only a few miles between us, but we thought, once the breeze got behind us, we’d be able to skip away a little bit, and we were able to do that which was good.

“Our trip down the West Coast on the second day was a lot of fun.

“We did push the limit a little bit and were lucky to escape with no damage to our new A2, and the same can be said coming up Storm Bay, we pushed the limit on that one, it got a little bit wet, but we recovered it with no damage thankfully so, the downwind stuff is always a highlight.

“We were also fortunate to have Stuart Addison on navigation and he thought we might be able to skirt around a bit of a hole in the wind which we did reasonably well, which probably helped us, but then we all depressed in the lighter breezes as so often happens.

“I think to do well in any yacht race, you need a little bit of luck, and some good planning and preparation and I think we got the balance right.

“It was a great race, very tactical, probably equally as tactical in some respects as a Sydney to Hobart.

“This year’s conditions were probably atypical, pretty light from all accounts, and no 40 knot westerlies rounding Maatsuyker [Island], we rounded it in daylight which was lovely.

“For me, the thing that attracted me to doing the Westcoaster as a first-time skipper and being Melbourne based, was that it was so much easier to achieve, the logistics of getting a boat ready in Melbourne for a Melbourne-based race was fantastic.

“And ORCV has been really supportive of me as a first-time skipper, with all my silly questions, which made it really enjoyable, it a stress having to work through all the paperwork and the compliance, which is necessary and important, but that was a great help, so thanks to the ORCV team.

Onboard The Jackal with Setton were Jeff Whiteside, Nigel Fellowes-Freeman, Peter Grant, Stuart Addison, Robert Buchanan, Thor Cembala and Ronald Piang Ng.

“It was a great team effort, I try and get a good all-round team and people that can do multiple things, not just one role, particularly drivers.

“I think it’s important to have people who are really good and comfortable driving in the day, at night, in heavy and in light conditions, so you aren’t reliant on one or two people. 

“Out of a crew of eight, I think we had four or five really good drivers.

“I’m just really pleased with the efforts of the crew.

“We also had two first timers who are relatively new to sailing, who have only been doing it for a couple of years, Peter [Grant] and Ronald [Piang Ng], and everybody else has been sailing for a long, long time.

“Particular thanks also to Jeff Whiteside who put a lot of time and effort into getting the boat ready with me, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do the race without him,’ said Setton.

And the final highlight of Setton’s first line honours victory?

“We saw lots of pods of whales, I’ve never seen so many pods of whales in a single race, and they were all very close to us,” said Setton. 

Setton also won the Sea Pilot’s Trophy for first boat out of Port Phillip Heads at the start of the race.

The Westcoaster is one of the world’s great ocean races, covering 435 nautical miles from the start in Port Phillip to the finish line in the River Derwent in Hobart.

The race starts with a 125 nautical mile passage across Bass Strait before the fleet sails 200 nautical miles south down the West Coast of Tasmania, past Maatsuyker Island, east to South East Cape then turning northeast through the challenging waters of Storm Bay and then the fickle conditions of the River Derwent.

The monohull race record of 1 day 17 hours 28 minutes 59 seconds was set by Shortwave in 2008.