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Crews persist through crew injury and other woes

Home 2025 Crews persist through crew injury and other woes

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Shortly after arriving at Kings Pier Marina in Hobart around 0630 hours today, co-skipper of the DK46 Team WhiteWave (former LCE Old School Racing), William Wu, emerged from the cabin – battered, bruised but smiling having competed in the 2025 Rolex Sydney Hobart.

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Time & Date: 30/12/2025 – 1000 (90 hours after the start)         

His potential broken nose wasn’t going to dampen his spirit – the co-skipper had finished his first ever Sydney Hobart in trying conditions. That it was the 80th edition made it all the more poignant.  

William Wu (second from the right) and majority of the Team WhiteWave crew - CYCA/Greta Quealy pic.

Two band aids made an X-shape across his nose which had been quite badly hurt, potentially broken, late yesterday afternoon.  

“I should probably get this checked at the hospital,” an unbothered Wu said dockside. 

The mostly Chinese-crewed boat, owned and helmed by Mark Griffith, was sailing in around 25 knots of wind down the east coast of Tasmania on Monday afternoon, 29 December. The yacht hit a wave, and Wu was flung across the boat by the mainsheet, landing nose-first into the yacht’s throttle. 

Wu was attended to by the on board medic, who cleaned him up so that he could focus on the last 12 hours or so of the race, organised by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, with finish partner the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania. 

Wu was immensely proud of his team as he reflected on the past three days, 16 hours and 55 minutes at sea. The crew of 12 was mostly comprised of students from Whitewave Sailing Centre, a Royal Yachting Association (RYA)-accredited sailing school located in Shenzhen, China. 

It was the first Sydney Hobart for all but three of the crew members. Wu believes that without the guidance and experience of Australians Mark Griffith and Malcolm Richardson, they would not have made it to the finish line of the 628 nautical mile race. 

Early in the race, as they powered into the southerly, a badly ripped mainsail leech meant they had to drop the mainsail. It lived in the cabin for the next 20 hours or so of the race as they continued on with their trysail (an emergency mainsail) instead. When the wind eventually de-escalated, the crew were able to repair the sail and get back to full speed. 

Although this cost them places in IRC Division 3, which they led in the early hours of the race, the main win for Wu is that they made it to Hobart and the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania manned finish line. 

“It’s a lifetime memory,” Wu said. 

Four minutes behind Team WhiteWave and finishing at 05:59 hours, was Richard Hudson’s IC 45 MOD Pretty Woman. Like Team WhiteWave, they faced mainsail issues on day two of the race when they noticed that a mainsail car (that connects the sail to the mast) was torn out of the sail.  

Managed by their fearless leader and 2023 CYCA Veteran Offshore Sailor of the Year, Richard Hudson, competing in his 18th Hobart, Pretty Woman made a detour to the sheltered waters of Eden on NSW’s South Coast. As they floated around Eden, they attended to the sail and gave the boat a tidy up before continuing on. 

All smiles on board Pretty Woman - CYCA/Salty Dingo pic.

Although this cost Pretty Woman on the leaderboard, the Corinthian crew of 12, with four sailors under the age of 30, pulled through as a team and went on to make solid gains on the leaderboard. 

On their mainsail issues, Pretty Woman helmsperson and co-navigator, Juliet Constanzo, said: “As much as it was pretty disappointing and tough, we all worked really well together, and I feel like it gave the team a new spirit and a new life to keep going and to keep pushing. 

Celebrations are underway on board Pretty Woman - CYCA/Salty Dingo pic.

Another finisher that had its fair share of issues was Tasmanian entry Advantedge. 

This was a big year for the Tasmanian cohort in the 80th Sydney Hobart. There were 11 Tasmanian starters, the biggest turnout from the Apple Isle since 15 boats flew the Tasmanian flag in the 75th anniversary race in 2019.  

Owner and skipper of the Inglis 47 Advantedge, Andrew Jones, along with his crew, that included two father and son combinations (Jones and his son Josh, along with Nicholas Smart and his son Michael), had to overcome all kinds of obstacles in the first 48 hours of the race, from mainsail issues and diesel leaks to a gas shortage – of their own doing. 

Rum and cokes for the Advantedge crew - CYCA/Salty Dingo pic.

“It [the gas shortage] was probably due to poor management,” chuckled Jones dockside, with a recently topped-up rum and coke in hand. 

No gas equals no warm food. But the crisis was averted when they opted to heat their casseroles over the yacht’s diesel heater. 

As to whether it succeeded, Jones replied straight-faced, “We haven’t died yet.” 

But that didn’t matter so much in the first 48 hours of the race, when food was not a priority for around half of the Alithia crew.  

Alithia finished just after midnight - CYCA/Salty Dingo pic.

Once they got through the first two days of the race on sushi and sandwiches, and the weather subsided, the yacht, owned and helmed by Jost Stollmann, had a dream run across Bass Strait. 

Alithia’s navigator, James Nixon, proved that he had learned one or two tricks after 30 Sydney Hobarts. This was his 31st. The yacht did no tacks or gybes from Green Cape all the way to the tip of Tasmania. 

“Our navigator was amazing,” bow person Riley Evans said. 

Evans, who was on board Alithia with his older brother Mitch, was ecstatic about having completed such a milestone with his older brother at his side. The yacht crossed the finish line at 00:59 hours this morning. 

Mitch (left) and Riley (middle) on board Alithia in the 2025 Cabbage Tree Island Race - CYCA/Ashley Dart pic.

Their mother, Nicola Wakefield-Evans, was just about to finish her first Sydney Hobart on board Will Vicars’ Hoek TC78 Oroton Drumfire. 

This wasn’t Riley and Mitch’s first attempt at sailing to Hobart together. In 2024, they were both on board the Sydney 36 The Shepherd Centre but were forced to retire due to engine issues. 

Mitch, an esteemed match racer, valiantly took over Riley’s shift during the race “like an absolute hero,” when Riley suffered from an asthma attack. Riley then returned the favour on the following shift, trying to do as much as possible to take the load off Mitch. 

“I love sailing with my brother,” Riley said. “We have a supportive sailing relationship. 

“We get each other.” 

Greta Quealy/RSHYR media