The best-looking boats in Australia will be on display this weekend (12–14 December) for the 2025 Club Marine Sydney Hobart Classic Yacht Regatta, hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA).
A record fleet of 36 classic yachts is expected for the three-day regatta. The fleet comprises current and former Sydney Hobart Yacht Race competitors, all built prior to 1995. This will be the seventh edition of the event since its inception in 2019.
Former Sydney Hobart Overall and Line Honours winners return
Many yachts in this year’s fleet are etched deep in Sydney Hobart folklore. Many boats in the fleet are former Sydney Hobart Overall and Line Honours winners, still racing more than 50–70 years after their first Sydney Hobart.
Headline entries with Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Line Honours and Overall wins include:
- Fidelis (1964) – 1966 Line Honours winner
- Margaret Rintoul (1948) – Line Honours winner 1950 & 1951; set a race record in 1951
- Nerida (1933) – 1950 Overall winner
- Anitra V (1956) – 1957 Overall winner; placed second Overall in 1956, 58 and 59; sailed in the inaugural 1945 race
- Love & War (1973) – Overall winner of the 1974, 78 and 2006 Sydney Hobart. The yacht will also compete in the Grand Veterans Division in the 80th edition of the Rolex Sydney Hobart
- Wild Oats (1985) – Overall winner in 1993 and 2014
- Solveig (1950) – 1953 Line Honours winner and 1954 Overall winner
A 99-year-old proves age is just a number
One of the biggest human-interest stories of the weekend will be 99-year-old Australian yachting icon Gordon Ingate, racing on board Jasnar (1947). Ingate, a former America’s Cup helmsman and multiple world champion, is regarded as one of the CYCA’s most decorated sailors.
Photo opportunities
With their varnished timber, classic lines and colourful spinnakers, the fleet offers one of the most photogenic sailing spectacles on Sydney Harbour. Kingtail, Wraith of Odin and Maris will be on display at the CYCA pond (opposite the CYCA Lower Deck).
Regatta schedule
- Friday 12 December – Invitation Race, 1400hrs
- Saturday 13 December – Pursuit Race, 1200hrs
- Sunday 14 December – Scratch starts for all divisions, from 1200hrs
Sunday’s race will start at Cannae Point, Manly — the original starting line of the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - Sunday 14 December – prizegiving at around 1530 at the Sydney Race Village
Visit the CYCA Website for race updates, previews and more.
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