Yacht racing in the Southern Hemisphere is just heating up, and the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge is the final tune-up for the Sydney to Hobart race that begins on Boxing Day.
Being a handicap race, the boat that crosses the line first (Line Honours) is rarely crowned the overall winner of the race, but to the sailors themselves, they could care less. Crossing the line first is cause for celebration!
As the crew of maxi-yacht Andoo Comanche can attest, finishing anything but first to capture Line Honours is no fun at all. Fittingly skippered by John Winning Jr., Andoo Commanche did just that under sunny skies and 20-knot (23 mph / 37 kp/h) winds in the two-lap Sydney harbor race.
"We had a good day. We started where we wanted to start," said Winning Jr. "We just want wind. We were lucky that we had a nice reach off the start to be able to be first at the bottom mark. We are thankful to the weather Gods for giving us that wind."
Andoo Comanche's speed was too much for the rest of the maxi fleet reaching 27 knots (31 mph / 50 kp/h) and crossing the finish line off Rushcutters Bay in 53 minutes 58 seconds. Christian Beck's LawConnect finished almost 2 minutes behind, followed by the Mark Bradford-skippered Black Jack and Hamilton Island Wild Oats.
The overall winning boat was Jim Cooney's Volvo 70 'Willow' which finished in 1 hour 4 minutes 8 seconds, just 10 seconds ahead of the Botin 80 'Stefan Racing' captained by Grant Wharington.
"It was a really exciting race... We had a solid start. We were quite happy with our position," said Cooney afterwards, adding that while "everything went to plan" in the race overall, the crew "recovered well" after one hiccup - a furling issue relatively early in the race.
LawConnect timed the start perfectly, but Andoo Comanche soon showed the speed it is known for and blew by taking a commanding leading to the first mark. Andoo Comanche extended its lead on the upwind leg to Shark Island before an easy run to the finish.
The SOLAS Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour finalized the results of 2022 Australian Maxi Championship. After the recent Cabbage Tree Island Race, Hamilton Island Wild Oats, Andoo Comanche and LawConnect were all tied with seven points each.
However, while Andoo Commanche earned Maxi Division honors, it was LawConnect that was the Maxi Division's overall winner.
Now the teams will set their sites on one of the most difficult challenges in off-shore yacht racing, the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, a 628 nautical mile (722 miles / 1,163 km) test of perseverance, will, and endurance. Maxi-yachts will finish in just over two days, and veteran boats like Black Jack and LawConnect are sure to play a part at the finish.
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