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Battered but Unbowed - Rum Bucket Fights Through Brutal Race to Finish

Home 2025 Battered but Unbowed - Rum Bucket Fights Through Brutal Race to Finish

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For Quintin Fowler, the finish line in Hobart felt as satisfying as any podium after surviving a brutal edition of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

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Time & Date: 30/12/2025 –1130 (94.5 hours after the start)         

Sailing the New Zealand More 55 cruiser Rum Bucket, Fowler completed his second Hobart and immediately rated it tougher than his first in 2011. “This race was way more gruelling,” he said. “We crapped out in this race — but the important thing was, we finished.” 

That finish carried extra weight given the experience on board. With only one Hobart veteran among a largely first-time crew, simply making it to Hobart felt like an achievement. 
 
“When you look at the 34 retirements, you really appreciate what it takes,” Fowler said of this, the 80th Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. “We were absolutely ecstatic to get to the finish..” well aware when officials Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, the race’s finishing partner, confirmed they had crossed the line. 

The worst conditions struck on the second night, when the fleet was battered by strong southerlies and heavy seas. Rum Bucket regularly saw winds in excess of 30 knots, sending the yacht slamming down waves as it pressed south.  

“We were falling off waves,” Fowler said. “We’ve done damage below.” 

Unlike stripped-out race boats, Rum Bucket carries the hallmarks of a cruiser, and that made the punishment inside the boat more severe. “We’re well kitted out with cupboards and things — it’s more a cruiser boat,” Fowler explained. “So the cupboards and other furniture got damaged when we took a hammering in the southerlies.” 

Team Rum Bucket - CYCA/Salty Dingo pic.

The damage wasn’t limited to the interior. While charging down the Tasmanian coast, the crew suffered a major setback when the spinnaker pole snapped. It was a moment that could easily have ended the campaign, but Fowler said the response on board typified the spirit of the team.  

“We also smashed our spinnaker pole in two coming down the coast of Tasmania,” he said. “Once again the crew recovery got us back into the race as quickly as possible.” 

Through it all, positions on the leaderboard became secondary to survival and seamanship. “We’re happy with our result — just to finish is great,” Fowler said. “Thanks to the crew work, we were able to get it together.” 

The race also delivered its share of cruel swings. Rum Bucket opened strongly, even leading Division 2 on the first night, before conditions took their toll.  

“Can you go racing the wrong way? Hell yeah!” Fowler said. “We went from leading our division on the first night to dead last — but we beat a couple of stragglers by the end.” 

Despite the exhaustion, humour remained intact dockside. Asked whether he would return for another Hobart, Fowler laughed. “No. Maybe, ask me after a couple more rums. They might change my mind,” he said. “The sad thing about yachties is that we have very short memories,” he said with a laugh. 

Rum Bucket en route the finish line - CYCA/Salty Dingo pic.

While Rum Bucket celebrated a hard-fought finish, several boats were still battling the course and the weather of the event organised by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia. Among them was the 44-year-old modified Olsen 40 She, skippered by Philip Bell, proving once again that age is no barrier in the Hobart. 

Speaking from on board on this morning (Monday), Bell said the boat was still pushing south toward Tasmania. “We are 40 miles north of Tasman Island, we’re pointing at Tasman now, expecting to be around it by 3pm and in Hobart around 8pm tonight,” he said. 

With conditions remaining demanding, caution was the order of the day. “We pulled the kite down because we were getting 30 knots plus and now we’re in a 25-knot northerly,” Bell said.  

“We’re expecting a period of calm from 4–6pm, then a southerly. It will blow up, but we hope to get around the corner before it gets to full strength.” 

Even after days of relentless sailing, Bell said spirits remained high. “It’s been strength-sapping for the crew, but we’re all smiling now,” he said, as helmsman Mark ‘Moddy’ O’Dea kept She on course toward Tasman Island — and, finally, Hobart. 

 
Di Pearson & Steve Dettre/RSHYR media