2008 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

64th Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

Event information
Type	Yacht
Dates	26–31 December 2008
Sponsor	Rolex
Host city	Sydney, Hobart
Boats	100
Distance	630 nautical miles (1,170 km)
Website	Website archive
Results
Winner (2008)	Wild Oats XI (Mark Richards)
Succession
Previous	Wild Oats XI (Mark Richards) in 2007
Next	Alfa Romeo II (Neville Crichton) in 2009

The 2008 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, sponsored by Rolex and hosted by Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Sydney, New South Wales, was the 64th annual running of the "blue water classic" Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. ^[1] The 2008 edition began on Sydney Harbour, at 1pm on Boxing Day (26 December 2008), before heading south for 630 nautical miles (1,170 km) through the Tasman Sea, past Bass Strait, into Storm Bay and up the River Derwent, to cross the finish line in Hobart, Tasmania. ^{[2] [3]} This marked the 10 year anniversary of the 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, during which 6 sailors died due to a major storm. ^[3]

The 2008 fleet comprised 100 starters; 92 finished. ^{[4] [5] [6] [7]} By placing first in line honours, Wild Oats XI became the first yacht to claim fourth consecutive line titles, beating the previous record held by Morna (later Kurrewa IV) of three consecutive line honours victories (1946, 1947 and 1948). ^{[8] [6] [9] [10]} Skipper Bob Steel and his yacht Quest won the Tattersall's Cup as the overall handicap winner. ^[5]

2008 fleet

116 entered to participant and 100 started in the 2008 Sydney to Hobart Yacht race. They were: ^[4]

Yacht	Nation	Type	Owner	Skipper	Launch year	Ref
41-Sud		Armchambault 40	Jean-Luc Esplaas	Jean-Luc Esplaas	2006	[6] [11] [12] [13]
Abracadabra		Tripp 47	James Murchison	James Murchison	1992	[6] [11] [13]
AFR Midnight Rambler		Farr 40 mod	Ed Psaltis Bob Thomas	Ed Psaltis	2001	[11] [6] [13]
ASM Brindabella		Jutson 79	Andrew Short	Peter Baker	1993	[6] [11] [13]
ASM Shockwave		Reichel/Pugh 80	Andrew Short	Andrew Short	2000	[6] [11] [13] [14]
Audacious		Sydney 38	Greg Clinnick Paul Holden	Greg Clinnick	2002	[6] [11] [13]
Audi Centre Melbourne		Corby 49	Chris Dare	Chris Dare	2007	[6] [11] [13]
Aurora		Farr 40 - one off	Jim Holley Mary Holley	Jim Holley	1983	[6] [11] [13]
Bacardi		Peterson 44	Martin Power	Martin Power	1978	[6] [11] [13]
Balance		Sydney 47	Paul Clitheroe	Paul Clitheroe	2006	[6] [11] [13]
Black Jack (previously Stark Raving Mad)		IRC maxi yacht	Peter Harburg	Mark Bradford	2005	[6] [11] [13]
Broadsword		Archambault 40	Simon Wood	Simon Wood	2006	[6] [11] [13]
Chance of Shenval		Farr 40 one off	Robert Green	Robert Green	1989	[6] [11] [13]
Chancellor		Beneteau First 40.7	Ted Tooher	Ted Tooher	2000	[6] [11] [13]
Charlie's Dream		Bluewater 450	Peter Lewis	Peter Lewis	2008	[6] [11] [13] [15]
Chutzpah		IRC 40	Bruce Taylor	Bruce Taylor	2007	[6] [11] [13]
Copernicus		Radford 12m	Greg Zyner	J Nixon	2008	[6] [11] [13]
CHorse		Cavalier 350SL	John Smith	John Smith	1998	[6] [11] [13]
Cougar II		TP 52	Alan Whiteley	Alan Whiteley		[6] [11] [13] [16]
Doctel Rager		Elliott 56	Gary Shanks	Gary Shanks	1987	[6] [11] [13]
Dream Lover		MBD 40	Rick Morgan	Rick Morgan	2006	[6] [11] [13]
Dormit/INSX		NSX 38	Julian Sill Robert Sill	Robert Sill	1994	[6] [11] [13]
Eleni		Sydney 38	Tony Levett	Tony Levett	2003	[6] [11] [13]
Finistere		Davidson 50	Robert Thomas	Robert Thomas	1991	[6] [11] [13]
Flying Fish Arctos		Radford 16.4	Flying Fish Australia	Andy Fairclough	2001	[6] [11] [13]
Getaway-Sailing.com		Volvo Ocean 60	Peter Goldsworthy	Peter Goldsworthy	2001	[6] [11] [13]
Getaway Sailing 2		Sydney 38	Peter Goldsworthy	Jay Pettifer	2001	[6] [11] [13]
Georgia		Farr 53	John Williams Graeme Ainley	John Williams	2000	[6] [11] [13] [17]
Goldfinger		Farr 52	Peter Blake Kate Mitchell	Peter Blake	2002	[6] [11] [13]
Helsal III		Adams 20	Tony Fisher Rob Fisher	Rob Fisher	1984	[6] [11] [13]
Helsal IV		Dynamique 62	Tony Fisher Sally Smith	Sally Smith	1986	[6] [11] [13]
Ichi Ban		Jones 70	Matt Allen	Matt Allen	2005	[6] [11] [13]
Inca		Vickers 41	Noel Sneddon	Noel Sneddon	1999	[6] [11] [13]
Impeccable		Peterson 33	John Walker	John Walker	1980	[6] [11] [13]
Inner Circle		Farr 40 IOR	Ken Robinson Darren Cooney	Ken Robinson	1987	[6] [11] [13]
Isabella		Hanse 400E	John Nolan	John Nolan	2007	[6] [11] [13]
J Steel (Yeah Baby)		Sydney 38	Louis Ryckmans Marc Ryckmans	Marc Ryckmans	2000	[6] [11] [13] [14]
Jazz Player		Bakewell-White Z39	Andrew Lawrence	Andrew Lawrence	2004	[6] [11] [13]
Jus'Do It 3		Beneteau First 47.7	Ian Darby	Ian Darby	2005	[6] [11] [13]
Kioni-Global Yachtracing		Beneteau 47.7	Global Yacht Racing	A Middleton	2001	[6] [11] [13]
Krakatoa II		Pogo 40	Rod Skellet	Rod Skellet	2005	[6] [11] [13]
Lady Courrier		Beneteau First 45	Gery Trentesaux	Gery Trentesaux	2005	[6] [11] [13]
Leukaemia Foundation		Sydney 38	Richard Holstein Stewart Kellie	Richard Holstein	2000	[6] [11] [13] [18]
Limit		Reichel Pugh 62	Alan Brierty	Roger Hickman	2008	[6] [11] [13] [14]
Lloyds Brokers - Too Impetuous		Holland 43	Rudy Weber	Rudy Weber	1981	[6] [11] [13]
Loki		Reichel/Pugh 63	Stephen Ainsworth	Stephen Ainsworth	2008	[6] [11] [13]
Mahligai		Sydney 46	Murray Owens Jenny Kings	Murray Owens	1998	[6] [11] [13]
Maluka of Kermandie		Classic gaff rigger	Sean Langman	Sean Langman	1932	[6] [11] [13]
Morris Finance Cinquante		Sydney 38	Ian Murray	Ian Murray	2002	[6] [11] [13]
Mr Beak's Ribs		Beneteau First 44.7	David Beak	David Beak	2004	[6] [11] [13]
Mustang Sally		Farr 46	Warren Batt	Warren Batt	1988	[6] [11] [13]
Nest Property		Traditional 30	Murray Wilkes	Murray Wilkes	1984	[6] [11] [13] [19]
Obsession		Sydney 38 Mod	Obsession Syndicate	Andrew Lygo	2000	[6] [11] [13]
One for the Road		Northshore 37	Kym Butler	Kym Butler	2003	[6] [11] [13]
Optimus Prime		Marten 49	Trevor Taylor	Trevor Taylor	2008	[6] [11] [13]
Pachamama		Nivelt 50	Dario Schwoerer	Dario Schwoerer	2000	[6] [11] [20]
Pale Ale Raging		Elliott 56	Gary Shanks	Gary Shanks		[13] [21]
Papillon		Archembault 40	Phil Molony	Phil Molony	2005	[6] [11] [13]
Patrice Six		X-41	Tony Kirby	Tony Kirby	2007	[6] [11] [13]
Pinta-M		S&S 41	Atse Blei	Atse Blei	1972	[6] [11] [13]
Pippin		Farr 37	Roger Sayers	Roger Sayers	1984	[6] [11] [13]
Pirelli		Farr 65	Les Goodridge	Les Goodridge	1989	[6] [11] [13]
Pisces		Sydney 36	David Taylor	David Taylor	1998	[6] [11] [13]
PLA Loma IV		DK 43	Rob Reynolds	Rob Reynolds	2002	[6] [11] [13]
Polaris of Belmont		Cole 43	Chris Dawe	Chris Dawe	1970	[6] [11] [13]
Quantum Racing		Cookson 50	Ray Roberts	Ray Roberts	2006	[6] [11] [13]
Quest		TP 52	Bob Steel	Bob Steel	2005	[6] [11] [13]
Quetzalcoatl		Jones 40	Antony Sweetapple	Antony Sweetapple	2001	[6] [11] [13]
Ragamuffin		TP 52	Syd Fischer	Syd Fischer	2004	[6] [11] [13]
Ragtime		Spencer 65	Chris Welsh Ragtime LLC	Chris Welsh	1965	[6] [11] [13]
Ray White Spirit of Koomooloo		S&S 49	Mike Freebairn Don Freebairn	Mike Freebairn	1968	[13] [22] [4]
Rush		Corel 45	Ian Paterson John Paterson	John Paterson	1996	[6] [11] [13]
Sailors with disABILITIES		Lyons 54	David Pescud	David Pescud	2000	[6] [11] [13]
Salona		Salona 37	Phillip King	Phillip King	2006	[6] [11] [13]
Sanyo Maris		Tasman Seabird	Tiare Tomaszewski John Green Ian Kiernan Ben Hawke	Ian Kiernan	1958	[6] [11] [13]
Seahold Perie Banou II		S&S 39	Jon Sanders	Jon Sanders	1971	[6] [11] [13]
Secret Mens Business #1		Murray 42	Rob Curtis Ross Trembath Doug Snedden	Ross Trembath	1996	[6] [11] [13] [23]
Secret Mens Business 3		Reichel/Pugh 47	Geoffrey Boettcher	Geoffrey Boettcher	2008	[6] [11] [13]
She		Olsen 40 mod	Peter Rodgers	Peter Rodgers	1982	[6] [11] [13]
She's the Culprit		Inglis 39 Mod	Todd Leary	Todd Leary	1994	[6] [11] [13]
Shogun		Cookson 50	Rob Hanna	Rob Hanna	2005	[6] [11] [13]
Skandia		30m Maxi	Grant Wharington	Grant Wharington	2003	[6] [11] [13]
Somoya		Northshore 46	Garry Rose	Garry Rose	1999	[6] [11] [13]
St Jude		Sydney 47	Noel Cornish	Noel Cornish	2007	[6] [11] [13]
Strewth		MKL 49	Geoff Hill	Geoff Hill	2002	[6] [11] [13]
The SubZero Goat		Sydney 38	Clayton Bruce Foye Lance Packman Mitchell Gordon	Mitchell Gordon	2003	[6] [11] [13]
Telecoinabox Merit		Volvo Ocean 60	Leo Rodriguez	Leo Rodriguez	1997	[6] [11] [13] [24]
Terra Firma		Sydney 47	Nicholas Bartels	Nicholas Bartels	2004	[6] [11] [13]
Time Lord		Bavaria 50	Donald Keith Munro	Donald Keith Munro	2005	[6] [11] [13]
Tow Truck		Ker 11.3	Anthony Paterson	Anthony Paterson	2001	[6] [11] [13]
True North		Beneteau First 40.7	Andrew Saies	Andrew Saies	2000	[6] [11] [13]
Typhoon		Farr 395	Barry Kelly	Barry Kelly	2006	[6] [11] [13]
Valheru		Elliott 13 mod	Anthony Lyall	Anthony Lyall	1994	[6] [11] [13]
Walross 4		Nissen 56	Akademischer Segler-Verein e.V	Christian Masilge	2007	[6] [11] [13] [25]
Wedgetail		Welbourn 42	Bill Wild	Bill Wild	2005	[6] [11] [13]
Wild Oats XI		Welbourn 42	Robert Oatley	Mark Richards	2005	[6] [11] [13]
Wild Side		Sydney 36 CR	Martin Vaughan	Martin Vaughan	2008	[6] [11] [13]
Winsome		S&S 41	Harry J Heijst	B Mirck	1972	[6] [11] [13]
Wot Now		TP 52	Graeme Wood	Graeme Wood	2008	[6] [11] [13]
Wot Yot		TP 52	Graeme Wood	W Sykes	2001	[6] [11] [13]
Yendys		Reichel Pugh 55	Geoff Ross	Geoff Ross	2006	[6] [11] [13]
Young Ones		Young 11 (mod)	Ian Miller	Ian Miller	1984	[6] [11] [13]

Results

Line Honours results (Top 10)

Position	Race number	Sail number	Yacht	State/country	Yacht type	LOA (Metres)	Skipper	Elapsed time d:hh:mm:ss	Ref
1	X1	10001	Wild Oats XI	New South Wales	Reichel Pugh 100	30.00	Mark Richards	1:20:34:14	[6] [13]
2	10	M10	Skandia	Victoria	Jones IRC Maxi 98	30.00	Grant Wharington	1:21:41:17	[6] [11] [13]
3	03	AUS 03	Ichi Ban	New South Wales	Jones 70	21.50	Matt Allen	1:22:28:10	[6] [11] [13]
4	100	USA50062	ASM Shockwave 5	New South Wales	Reichel Pugh 80	24.40	Andrew Short	1:22:57:30	[6] [11] [13] [14]
5	05	AUS 98888	Limit	Western Australia	Reichel Pugh 62	19.50	Alan Brierty	1:23:05:58	[6] [11] [13] [14]
6	66	52566	Black Jack	Queensland	Reichel Pugh 66	20.12	Mark Bradford	1:23:19:31	[6] [11] [13]
7	60	AUS60000	Loki	New South Wales	Reichel Pugh 63	19.20	Stephen Ainsworth	1:23:29:50	[6] [11] [13]
8	36	1836	Yendys	New South Wales	Reichel Pugh 55	16.80	Geoff Ross	2:00:57:05	[6] [11] [13]
9	02	52002	Quest	New South Wales	Farr TP 52	15.84	Bob Steel	2:01:00:37	[6] [11] [13] [5]
10	102	6952	Wot Now	New South Wales	Judel Vroljik JV52	15.85	Graeme Wood	2:01:10:26	[6] [11] [13]

Handicap results (Top 10)

Position	Sail number	Yacht	State/country	Yacht type	LOA (Metres)	Skipper	Corrected time d:hh:mm:ss	Ref
1	52002	Quest	New South Wales	Farr TP 52	15.84	Bob Steel	2:17:43:22	[6] [11] [13] [5]
2	SM 5200	Cougar II	Victoria	Farr TP 52	15.85	Alan Whiteley	2:18:11:05	[6] [11] [13] [16]
3	6952	Wot Now	New South Wales	Judel Vroljik JV52	15.85	Graeme Wood	2:18:46:41	[6] [11] [13]
4	AUS 70	Ragamuffin	New South Wales	Farr TP 52	15.85	Syd Fischer	2:18:54:01	[6] [11] [13]
5	1836	Yendys	New South Wales	Reichel Pugh 55	16.80	Geoff Ross	2:19:30:14	[6] [11] [13]
6	8899	Quantum Racing	New South Wales	Farr Cookson 50	15.20	Ray Roberts	2:20:26:14	[6] [11] [13]
7	AUS 98888	Limit	Western Australia	Reichel Pugh 62	19.50	Alan Brierty	2:22:24:49	[6] [11] [13] [14]
8	AUS60000	Loki	New South Wales	Reichel Pugh 63	19.20	Stephen Ainsworth	2:22:51:57	[6] [11] [13]
9	YC3300	Secret Mens Business 3	South Australia	Reichel Pugh 51	14.53	Geoff Boettcher	2:23:40:18	[6] [11] [13]
10	USA50062	ASM Shockwave 5	New South Wales	Reichel Pugh 80	24.40	Andrew Short	3:00:27:24	[6] [11] [13] [14]

References

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17. Mangan, John (28 December 2008). "That sinking feeling as crew told to abandon $2m yacht". The Age. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
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