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First timers to 10 timers - competitors celebrate milestones

Home 2025 First timers to 10 timers - competitors celebrate milestones

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Prior to the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Carl Marshall walked the docks of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA), Rushcutters Bay, in search of a boat to take him on for the great race.

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But there was one small rule the 17-year-old had overlooked. The minimum age limit for the 628 nautical mile blue water classic is 18. 

That did not stop the New Zealand die-hard sailing addict from throwing his hat into the ring. Although unsuccessful, he was undeterred.  

Carl Marshall is the bow person on board Rum Bucket - CYCA/Salty Dingo pic.

“Sailing is in my blood. I have done it since I was seven-years-old,” Marshall said. “I knew this is what I wanted to do.” 

Fast forward to winter 2025 in Auckland. The crew on board the boat Marshall was scheduled to sail on for the day failed to show. He saw that Quintin Fowler’s Rum Bucket was racing and asked if they needed crew. 

“I get on Rum Bucket and I do a pretty good job,” Marshall, now 18, said. “By the end of the day they offered me a spot in the Sydney Hobart.” 

Marshall grew up in Napier, New Zealand, where he read about the sailing exploits of his hero, Kiwi sailing legend, the late Sir Peter Blake KBE. Now, one of the youngest sailors in this year’s race, Marshall is set to begin his own offshore journey as bow person on board the More 55 designed Rum Bucket. 

Marshall looking at home on board Rum Bucket - CYCA/Salty Dingo pic.

“It’s been a full year or two of trying to angle towards this and I’m finally here,” Marshall said. “I’m so excited. I can’t imagine myself not enjoying it. 

“I’ll be smiling the whole way.” 

While Marshall is at the start of his Sydney Hobart career, Genevieve White and Bridget Canham are about to tackle their milestone 10th races. 

White’s first Sydney Hobart was in 2000 on board Sean Langman’s Open 60 Xena. To mark her 10th race in style, White will navigate the pink-and-white-Kiwi entry, Vixen Racing, skippered by Sharon Ferris-Choat. 

“I’m very much looking forward to the race, Vixen Racing is a lovely little boat to sail,” White said of the Class40 yacht. 

Vixen Racing in action - CYCA/Andrea Francolini pic.

Apart from the Sydney Hobart, White has several other prestigious yacht races in her resume. She has competed in the Volvo Ocean Race (now the Ocean Race), Rolex Fastnet, Newport Bermuda and Transpac races. 

White is well known at the CYCA for her marine safety training business, Marine SafetyWorks. Understandably, business is hectic in the lead up to the Rolex Sydney Hobart, which is the main reason why, 25 years after her first race, she is only now notching up her 10th race south. 

White looks forward to celebrating her milestone with her crew, friends and family in Hobart. 

“That is what I enjoy about the race – the people. Obviously, I love the race as well, but that only comes together if you enjoy the people,” White said. 

Canham will celebrate her 10th Sydney Hobart as a watch captain on board the Lyons 54, MWF Kayle, skippered by John Whitfeld. The Making Waves Foundation provides disabled and disadvantaged people with opportunities to sail through this yacht and others. 

Canham is chuffed to be involved in the program for her milestone, that just happens to coincide with the 80th edition of the race. 

“Sailing with the Making Waves Foundation [MWF Kayle], you literally give people experiences that will change their lives,” she said. 

Canham has experienced several Sydney Hobart highlights over the years that include her first race in1993 on Kerry Goudge’s all-woman crew on Telecom Mobilenet, a Farr 40. It was what some call the toughest race on record — of the 104 starters, only 38 finished and the Line Honours winner was the 47ft Ninety Seven, the smallest yacht in decades to be first into Hobart. 

Kathy Veel and Canham (right) ahead of the 2022 Sydney Hobart - CYCA/Andrea Francolini pic.

“Going through Bass Strait – there were the biggest seas I've ever seen, literally mountainous seas,” Canham said of 1993. “It was a long race, and the welcome we got at the other end in Hobart was unbelievable.”  

And who could forget 2022, when the Currawong crew of Kathy Veel and Canham were the first all-women double handed crew to compete in the race. They repeated that feat in 2023. 

“It was just extraordinary,” Canham said. “That race has opened a lot of doors for me as well since then. So, I’m really grateful for that.” 

Greta Quealy/RSHYR media