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Andy Offord on the journey to compete in his first Double Handed Rolex Sydney Hobart

Home 2025 Andy Offord on the journey to compete in his first Double Handed Rolex Sydney Hobart

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Although Andy Offord bought his yacht Borderline, a Sunfast 3300 designed for double handed sailing in 2022, he started out fully-crewed for a couple of seasons out of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA).

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But Shane Connelly, double handed sailing enthusiast and former owner of J/99 Rum Rebellion, kept the pressure on Offord to move to short-handed racing.

“Shane said, ‘The boat is designed for double handed – what are you doing?’” Offord said.

Finally, Offord took Connelly’s advice and switched to double handed for the 2024/25 season.

Offord at home on board Borderline - Ashley Dart/CYCA pic.

Learning curve

Offord initially planned to compete in the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart, but his preparation fell short.

“I didn’t quite feel comfortable [doing the race],” Offord said.

That moment came into sharp focus during the 2024 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore (ACSBWPS) Tollgate Island Race (a 260nm race from Sydney to Batemans Bay and back), when Offord and his co-skipper at the time struggled with fatigue management.

“We pushed a bit hard and ran out of batteries – I learned from that,” Offord said. “I think you’ve got to really back off a bit and not expect what fully-crewed boats can do. And quite often you should back off a bit at night and keep it a bit simpler.

“The boats that do that win.”

Borderline charging out of Sydney Heads - Ashley Dart/CYCA pic.

This will be Offord’s third Sydney Hobart, his first as a boat owner. His last Sydney Hobart was 20-years ago in 2005 on board the late Andrew Short’s Volvo Ocean 60 ABN AMRO. His debut was in 1997 on board Clive Gilmour’s Loose Change.

The long gap between Hobarts was largely due to family commitments, with Offord’s daughter competing in skiing events overseas.

“We were overseas with her doing that and I couldn’t afford to do both skiing and sailing,” Offord chuckled.

New partnership

For the 80th edition of the Sydney Hobart, Offord will sail with Englishman Ian Hoddle. Hoddle arrives in Sydney from the UK tomorrow (Thursday 18 December).

 

Happy days on board Borderline - Ashley Dart/CYCA pic.

Hoddle’s experience of about nine Rolex Fastnet Races gives Offord a sense of calm when he thinks about the journey ahead. Meeting Hoddle through a boat broker and securing him as co-skipper gave Offord the confidence to push on with the Sydney Hobart preparation.

And push on he did. Offord and co-skipper Andrew Downing won the Double Handed Division on IRC and PHS in the ACSBWPS Flinders Islet Race in September.

Offord also received support from professional navigator Alice Parker, who this year will navigate on board the maxi Palm Beach XI (formerly Wild Oats XI).

Once Hoddle arrives in Sydney, the co-skippers will embark on their compulsory 24 hour offshore qualifying sail required of all double handed competitors.

Offord on board the beautiful Borderline - Ashley Dart/CYCA pic.

A challenging but doable race goal

Offord knows he has a huge challenge ahead, with 20 entries in the Double Handed Division out of a total of 132 boats. He believes that to place within the top 10 in the Double Handed Division on IRC will be a massive task but doable.

Offord and Hoddle will face strong competition, which includes three-time Double Handed Overall winner Rupert Henry and his 2025 co-skipper, professional Spanish sailor Pablo Santurde del Arco, on board the Lombard 34 Mistral. On board JPK 10.30 Min River, owner Jiang Lin will sail with Frenchman Alexis Loison, whose résumé includes two Double Handed Overall wins in the Rolex Fastnet Race (2013 and 2025).

 

Mistral racing in the 2024 Sydney Hobart.    Image: ROLEX/Andrea Francolini

“Oh look, I think if we could get a top 10 in the Double Handed Division that would be nice,” Offord said. “I’m not overdoing it. Obviously, you’d love to get on the podium, but we’ll see how we go.

“We’ll do out hardest but there’s some good people here.”