The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual oceanic yacht racing event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately 630 nautical miles (1,170 km). The race is run in conjunction with the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, and is widely considered to be one of the most difficult yacht races in the world.
World Sailing (WS) is the international sports governing body for sailing; it is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
Sir Russell Coutts is a world champion New Zealand yachtsman. He won an Olympic gold medal and skippered three Americas Cup victories in 1995, 2000, and 2003.
Paul Pierre Cayard is an American yachtsman and professional sailor. He has competed at multiple world championship level sailing events, including the America's Cup, the Whitbread Round the World Race, the Volvo Ocean Race and the Olympic Games. In 1998 he was selected as the US Rolex Yachtsmen of the Year. He has won seven world championships, twice participated in the Olympic Games and seven times in the America's Cup. In 2011 he was elected into the US Sailing Hall of Fame.
Anna Tunnicliffe Tobias is an American sailor and CrossFit competitor. In 2008 she won an Olympic gold medal in the Laser Radial single handed sailing class. In 2009 and 2011, she won the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Laser Radial. She also won the women's world championship of the snipe class in 2010, and placed second in 2008.
The Farr 40 is a 40-foot one-design sailboat designed by Farr Yacht Design in 1996 following after the Mumm 30. It was originally designed as a one design class but had some compromises in design to rate under the International Measurement System (IMS) rule. The class has held World Sailing class status since 1997.
Fernando Echávarri Erasun is a professional yachtsman in the Olympic Tornado class. Teaming with crew Antón Paz Blanco, he became the Spanish, European, World Champion, ISAF Sailor of the year in 2005, Olympic gold medallist at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games held in Qingdao.
Kenneth Read is an American yachtsman who is considered one of the world's most accomplished and celebrated sailors. He was named United States Rolex Yachtsman of the Year twice, and has won more than 50 world, North American, and national championships in a variety of classes, with eleven of those being World Championships titles in the J/24, Etchells 22 and yacht classes.
Terence McLaughlin is a Canadian sailor and Olympics silver medallist.
The sport of sailing involves a variety of competitive sailing formats that are sanctioned through various sailing federations and yacht clubs. Racing disciplines include matches within a fleet of sailing craft, between a pair thereof or among teams. Additionally, there are specialized competitions that include setting speed records. Racing formats include both closed courses and point-to-point contests; they may be in sheltered waters, coast-wise or on the open ocean. Most competitions are held within defined classes or ratings that either entail one type of sailing craft to ensure a contest primarily of skill or rating the sailing craft to create classifications or handicaps.
Peter Burling is a New Zealand sailor. He is the 3-time winning helmsman for Emirates Team New Zealand for the 2024, 2021 and 2017 America's cups..
The Offshore Racing Congress (ORC) is an international body for the sport of competitive sailing and is responsible for the establishment and maintenance of rating and classification standards used to define offshore, that is marine as opposed to inland, yacht racing handicap categories.
The Transpac 52 (TP52) is a class of yacht used for competitive 52 Super Series yacht racing, and the Audi MedCup previously, besides the world championship of the class. The class is recognised by the International Sailing Federation which entitles the class to hold an Official World Championships.
World championships in sailing are world championships organised or sanctioned by World Sailing. As a sport, sailing has the largest number of world championships due to the diversity of equipment and disciplines.
Andrew Blair Tuke is a New Zealand sailor who won the 2021 Americas Cup Held in Auckland and also won the 2017 Version held in Bermuda. He also won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 49er class alongside Peter Burling.
Elizabeth Baylis is an American sailor competing in match racing. Baylis started her sailing career at an early age in the classic high winds venue of San Francisco Bay. She still calls the Bay her home, but she has accumulated over 25,000 offshore miles including many victorious Pacific Cup and TransPac races from California to Hawaii. She sailed with America True during the 2000 Louis Vuitton Cup. Baylis is probably best known for her match racing accomplishments as a skipper which include the 2002 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship. title and multiple Grade 1 championship wins. Her offshore and match racing success were recognized in 2002 when she received the US Rolex Yachtswomen of the Year award. As the Executive Director of the Women's International Match Racing Association (WIMRA) she led the campaign to include women's match racing in the 2012 Olympics and continues to promote the sport around the world by teaching clinics and running regattas. In 2013, WIMRA successfully launched the first professional match racing series for women with Baylis taking the role of Series Manager. Baylis is the Chairman of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Match Racing Committee.
Ruggero Tita is an Italian sailor. He competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics and 2024 Summer Olympics, with Caterina Banti, in Nacra 17, winning two gold medals.
Terry Hutchinson is an American sailor eleven-time world champion in the Corel 45, J/24, TP 52, Farr 40 and IMS classes, and a winning tactician of the Louis Vuitton Cup. In 2008 and 2014, he was named Rolex Yachtsman of the Year. He has also been part of five America's Cup campaigns.
UFO 34 is a cruising and racing fibreglass monohull sailboat class. It is a sloop based on a design by Holman and Pye. The design features a spade rudder and a Bermuda rig with a large, overlapping headsail. Over 150 UFO 34s have been built both in the United Kingdom and Australia.
The Farr 40 World Championship was an annual international sailing regatta for Farr 40 class, they are organized by the host club on behalf of the International Farr 40 Class Association and recognized by World Sailing, the sports IOC recognized governing body. The class gained World Sailing recognition from 1997 until 2022.
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