Smooth sailing and starry skies in 2025 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race

Sailors have enjoyed smooth sailing conditions across Bass Strait for their first night at sea in the 53rd Melbourne to Hobart ‘Westcoaster’ Yacht Race.

The Jackal is leading the race for line honours in the 2025 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race / Photo by Al Dillon

The Jackal, a Ker 11.3 skippered by Setton, has maintained their predicted line honours lead, finding a little more speed overnight and now has a few miles on Matt Fahey’s Sydney 38, Faster Forward, in what is shaping up to be an intense battle for line honours.

Race veteran Simon Dryden on the helm of Faster Forward as they hunt down The Jackal in the 2025 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race / Photo supplied by Faster Forward

Fahey, reporting in at 0530 on Sunday morning, said he was happy with his crew’s performance overnight.

“We had a pretty good night all up, we held a Code Zero for a few hours that went pretty well, and after putting up a spinnaker this morning, we are making good progress.

“We had reasonable pressure through the night, a little more than we thought we might have had which was good.

“We are currently abeam of the bottom third of King Island and making our way to our waypoint off the North West of Tassie, probably expecting to be there in another four to four and a half hours.

“We had a very pleasant night at sea, it wasn’t overly cold, and we had a half-moon for most of the night and incredible stars which we haven’t seen a lot of over the last few years.

“Overall, we are pretty comfortable with where we are sitting,” said Fahey.

In what is always a game of tactics and strategy, course choice around King Island can make or break a boat’s chances of success in this race.

 Alien (L) and Faster Forward (R) will be battling it out all the way to Hobart in the 2025 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race / Photo by Al Dillon

Justin Brenan, skipper of the Lidgard 36 Alien, talking before the race, considers this a pivotal point in the race, so time will tell whether he has put the boat where it needs to be for a chance of another handicap win.

“First, you’ve got to get across Bass Strait which is generally windward work and the strategy and timing to pass between Tasmania and King Island is critical, because if you time it right, you set yourself up for a win.

“You can lose 10 to 15 miles if the timing is wrong which is difficult to make up,” said Brenan.

All is well onboard Joan Lorraine as the sun rises on Day Two of the 2025 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race / Photo supplied by Joan Lorraine

Joan Lorraine and Vagabond both took a more westerly route than the rest of the fleet which appears to have paid off for Vagabond, with the Beneteau First 47.7 making ground on Alien which sailed much closer to the rhumb line.

Joan Lorraine is having a fantastic race with skipper Peter Garner and his crew sailing the boat well in steady 7+ knot winds and enjoying the warmth on the water.

“It’s all good onboard.

“We had smooth seas and a light breeze overnight which made for very comfortable sailing.

“The increasing breeze this morning has given us better pace … and the sun’s up so we’re all a little warmer,” said Garner.

Joan Lorraine is having a great race so far in the 2025 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race / Photo by Al Dillon

The Joan Lorraine crew is looking to make up for the disappointment from last year’s race where they retired after experiencing boom damage.

The Jackal is expected to cross 41 degrees south around midday today with all boats expected to pass by dinner time.

Race Director David Schuller is predicting dynamic conditions for the fleet’s run down the West Coast to Hobart.

“Current wind conditions are averaging 17 knots from the north-north east and later in the day the forecast is for the the wind to move from north-east towards the north, which will provide consistent downwind sailing for all boats,” said Schuller.

A light patch is forecast to reach the boats when they are about 30 nautical miles north of Hells Gates early evening which will spread West and South from there, giving a lighter path of between four and nine knots until 10am tomorrow.

“With the wind expected to abate this evening, navigation for the boats is predicted to be tricky,” said Schuller.

On current forecasts, Schuller expects The Jackal to arrive in Hobart the evening of December 30th.

The fleet is competing for the prestigious Heemskerk Perpetual Trophy which will go to the handicap winner on AMS.

Other prizes include the Zeehan Trophy for the Navigator of the boat that wins the Heemskerk Trophy, the Wrest Point Abel Tasman Trophy for the winner on line honours, and the City of Melbourne Perpetual Trophy for first on corrected time on performance handicap.

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.

Follow the 2025 Melbourne to Hobart Yacht Race on Blue Water Tracks on: https://race.bluewatertracks.com/2025-melbourne-hobart-westcoaster