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Oroton Drumfire claws way up leaderboard

Home 2025 Oroton Drumfire claws way up leaderboard

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Hours into the 2025 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, the crew of Will Vicars’ Hoek TC78, Oroton Drumfire, already had repairs to attend to.

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Time & Date: 29/12/2025 – 0700 hours (66 hours after the start)  

The crew sought shelter in Botany Bay, south of Sydney Harbour, to deal with a headsail issue. Crew members Thomas Constable and James Whelan were hoisted up the rig to retrieve the halyard and repair the headsail fitting. 

The beautiful Oroton Drumfire - ROLEX/Andrea Francolini pic.

The work proved successful, and Oroton Drumfire departed Botany Bay to rejoin the fleet in the 80th Sydney Hobart, organised by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.  

More than 48 hours after the swift repair job, Oroton Drumfire was still clawing back places on the leaderboard. The Hoek TC78 design—one of the most striking in this year’s fleet—at 0700 hours on 29 December was positioned east of Cape Barren Island with 214 nautical miles to go. 

Fuelled by a diet of fresh salmon poke bowls from skipper Phillip Neil, the ‘Drummy’ crew remain determined to reel in Peter Vanderwal and Shane Diethelm’s Swan 48 Sumatra, which currently leads Oroton Drumfire in the *Cruiser/Racer Division. 

Bow down on Oroton Drumfire - ROLEX/Andrea Francolini pic.

Oroton Drumfire’s mainsail trimmer Katy Macdonald is pushing hard to overtake Sumatra, driven by a friendly rivalry with her partner and Sumatra crew member Max Henderson. 

At 1730 hours on 28 December, Macdonald reported: “We're going well now, trucking along with a Code, staysail and full main across Bass Strait in 15 knots clocking almost 10 knots boat speed.” 

Rough conditions on board Oroton Drumfire - ROLEX/Andrea Francolini pic.

MacDonald said, “It’s a huge difference from night before last when we were down to two reefs and the staysail with very confused seas and over 30 knots of breeze on the nose. Drumfire handled it well but it’s still very uncomfortable with plenty of slamming.”  

*IRC Cruiser/Racer Division: The intention is to provide larger boats which were designed more for cruising than racing and which generally, due to their size, end up with ratings similar to “sportier” 40 footers with an opportunity to race more similar boats. 

Greta Quealy/RSHYR media