Olympic swimming great Ian Thorpe will be part of a near-record fleet of 142 boats lining up for the 2025 Sydney to Hobart Yacht race.
Thorpe will be part of the crew onboard two-time defending line hours champion LawConnect and has been training with them.
The race’s website says Thorpe has undergone safety and sea survival training and spending time at sea onboard the 33-metre long LawConnect.
Thorpe said he was excited about the chance to push himself on water instead of in it.
“I’ve spent my life in and around water but this is a completely different test, both mentally and physically,” Thorpe told rolexsydneyhobart.com.
“Joining the LawConnect team is an opportunity to push myself, learn something new, and be part of an incredible Australian sporting tradition.
“I’m really excited. I can’t wait to get out on the harbour and down to Hobart.”
80th YACHT RACE
Tourism Minister Jane Howlett says the 628 nautical mile yacht race is now in its 80th year.
“The Sydney Hobart Yacht Race has been drawing crowds since 1945,” she says.
“The Tasmanian Government has been a long-time supporter of this race; through Events Tasmania we provided $300,000 to the event from 2023 to 2025.”
Howlett says this year’s fleet includes 17 boats from other countries such as Germany, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the United States, as well as 13 from Tasmania.
“This year the race will have the second-biggest fleet this century, with the largest being for the 75th anniversary event in 2019,” she says. The 2019 event attracted 157 yachts.
“The fleet will also feature 11 female skippers, and an all-female crew aboard First Light.”
Returning for her 33rd race is navigator Adrienne Cahalan, navigator onboard the Dutch entry Aragon.
She has previously navigated Wild Oats XI to dual line-overall wins and is now steering the Dutch cruiser-racer.
The oldest vessel in the fleet is the 10-metre long Canadian red cedar yacht Maritamo Katwinchar, built in 1904, which will be competing in its fourth race this year.
MP for Clark Marcus Vermey (Lib) is grateful to the volunteers who make the race a success, as well as the sailors and their supporters for their involvement.
The yachts depart across four start lines in Sydney Harbour on Friday, December 26, and arrive at Hobart around New Year’s Eve.
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