Sam Haynes, Commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) and defending Overall champion of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, will return for the race’s 80th edition. On Boxing Day, Haynes will again helm the Volvo 70 Celestial V70 (formerly Willow)—the same yacht that won the 2024 race on corrected time. Haynes is after his third Overall win, having previously won in 2022 on board his TP52 Celestial.
Haynes said the opportunity to vie for the George Adams Tattersall Cup, awarded to the Overall winner, in the race’s 80th anniversary was far too good to pass up. “I thought, ‘Why wouldn’t you do it?’” Haynes said. Initially, he believed last year’s race would be his last for some time, having achieved his goal of competing in the Hobart while serving as Commodore. However, the stars aligned for a second race in his two-year term, thanks to encouragement from family, renewed crew enthusiasm, and confirmation of Celestial V70’s availability, courtesy of owner Jim Cooney. “Once I’m motivated, I find a way to make it happen,” Haynes said. “This boat [Celestial V70] is just incredible. I would not be racing again without this boat,” he added.
In 2024, Haynes and his crew won by a staggering corrected time margin of 9 hours, 44 minutes, and 42 seconds—the largest since Rani‘s victory in the race’s first edition in 1945. They also placed second on Line Honours, behind LawConnect. Haynes noted that a blown A3 spinnaker leaving Sydney Heads may have cost them that top spot.
Armed with an upgraded sail wardrobe, the V70 will be “nipping at the heels” of the Maxis (LawConnect, Comanche, Wild Thing 100, and SHK Scallywag), especially in strong reaching conditions. “If the conditions suit the bigger boats, we’ll be right up there,” Haynes said. The competition is fierce with URM Group, a 72-footer, returning after being dismasted in last year’s race, and Moneypenny back with WA owner Rob Appleyard at the helm. However, Haynes hopes for a forecast favouring the bigger yachts, as history shows that the race is truly unpredictable.
Returning to Celestial V70 for this year’s race are Jack Macartney, Lewis Brake, David Burt, David Chapman, Robert Greenhalgh, Alex Nolan (navigator), Luke Parkinson, Harry West, and Haynes’ son Will. New additions to the crew are Nick Bice, Lindsay Stead, Pablo Torrado, and William Mackenzie. Haynes credits his highly experienced crew for helping secure the Overall win, noting that Robert Greenhalgh has competed in five Rolex Sydney Hobarts and was on board the Overall winning team for four of them. “That [Overall win] doesn’t happen by chance,” Haynes emphasised. “A lot of it comes down to the preparation and the crew experience.”
Only three sitting CYCA Commodores have competed in the race: Sir Robert Crichton-Brown, Mervyn E. Davey, and Dr. Sam Haynes. “It’s part of the Club’s heritage,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to carry that on.” Now, Haynes is chasing the dream of a third Overall win, expressing that the opportunity to race was too significant to pass up. “I think not doing the race would be a mistake… If you do get the chance to go and write yourself into a record book, then you should take it.”
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