Reflections on the Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race

(Hobart, Tasmania, Australia)- John Murkowski and friends on the J/122E JOYRIDE share their perspective sailing the famous Rolex Sydney to Hobart Race.

JOY RIDE team: John Murkowski, Quill Goldman, Maaike Pen, Bron Miller, Alex Fox, Erik Sjogren, Byron Meseroll, and Robin Slieker

“3 Days, 16 hours and 49 minutes. Sydney Hobart 2018 is in the bag!! Sitting here on a New Years day, finally rested post race, reflecting on this unique experience, there are a few things that stand out for me.

Sydney:
The first time you walk the dock in Sydney the amount of race boats is overwhelming. Joy Ride isn’t a slow boat, but on the dock of Sydney Hobart there are only a dozen boats slower than us and it is clearly apparent when you walk the docks, look at the crazy race boats and talk to their crews. The first time you sail out into Sydney’s harbor, there are boats everywhere with sail races going on up and down the harbor. Coach boats chasing, high speed ferries going everywhere and race crews preparing for the race. The actual start is crazy with three different start lines and 40+ boats in our start, a very favored committee end of the line, 6 helicopters flying overhead, and hundreds of spectator and chase boats surrounding the course.

The race to the Heads goes much faster than you might think. The harbor looks much bigger on TV than it is, despite several areas of dirty air, we won our start, and put a lot of faster boats behind us by the time we passed the South Head.

The Race:
Great first 24 hours of downwind running with the big A3 in 20-25 knots of wind. We lost the tack eye off the sprit during the night and we’re knocked down for a few minutes until the crew got the kite back in and we could repack and launch again off the other tack. By the midnight check in, four boats had retired due to damage. One demasting, one lost rudder, one broken sprit and one ripped out sheave box. The race down the coast was great and we made our safety call upon entering the Bass Straits. If you had told me that we would be becalmed in Bass Straits for 8 hours, I would have never believed you. During the second night, we put 25 boats behind us and felt really good about how we were sailing. Then we sailed into a huge hole and with the advantage of AIS, most of our fleet escaped to the east and we quickly found ourselves back behind. With two high pressure systems separated by a low pressure trough, there was significant instability as we moved from a big Northerly to an even bigger Southerly. We did more sail changes than I can remember trying to get the boat moving and find the new southerly wind. The southerly came in strong with 30-40 knots of wind and with the huge fetch from Antarctica, some significant sea states. The temperature dropped and we all put on our foulies for the first time as waves started breaking over the boat. The third night came and we sailed past the pipes and started to try to find our way into Storm Bay. Turning further right at the famed “Organ Pipes” allowed us to start quartering the sea state and helped empty the cockpit of the cold Antarctica water. We entered Storm Bay before sunrise and passed three more boats. As the sun rose and we entered the river, we were fortunate to find pressure after another 20+ sail changes. We crossed the line early in the morning with the J1 doing 7+ knots.

Hobart:
We crossed the line, got our horn and waited for the escort boat to come out to meet us. We docked and were immediately met with a case of beer from the race committee. As we drank our 6 am beers and walked the dock, it was clear that a lot of sailors had been there for a while and had also enjoyed their beers. In Sydney, the big boats weren’t in the marina, but in Hobart the whole fleet is together and as you walk the dock, Joy Ride looks like a tender for one of the big boats. Hobart’s welcome was overwhelming and with two races finishing together (Sydney Hobart and the Melbourne Hobart), the taste of Tasmania and the race village; there was a great energy at the docks. We cleaned the boat and waited for our hotel rooms to become available. Breakfast and more cleaning and then the rooms were available and we could go rest and get clean. At three and a half days, the race is much more of a sprint than Vic Maui. More like an extra-long Southern Straits race. Definitely a boat of exhausted sailors when we finally tied up.

As I sit in Sydney waiting to fly home, I’m immensely proud of our crew. They put so much effort into preparing the boat and worked so hard during the race. While we always want to win, I don’t have any regrets about our effort and how we did in the race. We sailed our boat 7000 miles from Seattle to do the famous Sydney Hobart. From leaving Elliot Bay to arriving in Hobart, it has been an epic adventure that will be with all of us for the rest of our lives! Four of the crew will be returning the boat on January 6th back to Sydney where she will live until we figure out what the next great adventure will be.

Finally a huge "Thank you" to one and all for the wonderful words of encouragement over the last few weeks. We are overwhelmed by all of your support.

Wishing you a happy and prosperous 2019 from all onboard Team Joy Ride! Sail safe, go fast and have fun!"

Sailing photo credits- ROLEX/ Carlo Borlenghi.  Follow the J/122E JOYRIDE Team here on Facebook  Follow Rolex Sydney Hobart Race on Facebook hereAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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