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Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race
COMING SOON
18 March, 2026
View Results

Home Race 2003 Recap

2003 Race Recap

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First National Real Estate, Overall Winner in 2003

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2003

Race Program

Prior to each race Cruising Yacht Club of Australia publishes a separate official race program (with details of competing boats, the results of past races and articles about the race and its participants and other important events).  The 2003 Edition is here.    

Weather

This was an historic race for quite a number of reasons, but weatherwise it was a mixture of what can usually be expected in the Tasman Sea at mid-summer.  Unfortunately, the fleet of 56 was the smallest since 1975 but this was more than compensated for by the quality of competing yachts, including two 30m LOA super maxis and several top quality boats from overseas.  From a spectacular downwind start, with most of the fleet setting spinnakers on Sydney Harbour, the boats sailed to windward into light to moderate breezes down the New South Wales South Coast.

In Bass Strait they encountered fresh to strong south-westerly winds and rough seas but off the Tasmanian East Coast there were significant areas of very light winds for the leaders.  The two super maxis, Skandia and Zana virtually match-raced all the way to Hobart with Skandia finishing a mere 14 minutes in front.  This was the first time a boat with a canting keel had taken line honours and Skandia was the first Victorian yacht to take line honours since Kurrewa IV, a Victorian/NSW entry, back in the early 1950s.

The smaller boats came home down the Tasmanian East Coast on a fresh nor'easter that saw them dominate overall results under both IMS and IRC handicap categories.  The Overall winner of both IMS and IRC was First National Real Estate, a production Beneteau 40.7.  The highest placed big boat on corrected time in the IMS category was the British-chartered Farr 49, Bounder, which placed 13th.  In IRC, the Farr 52 Ichi Ban was the best, placing 17th overall. This race also saw the IMS category used for the last time to decide the Overall Winner for the Tattersall Cup.

Race reports

After each race, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's magazine Offshore contains photo galleries, reports and articles on the race.  Read on to access them.

February / March 2004 Offshore - see pages 12 to 25