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From nearly quitting to winning: Double-Handed Gold Coast champion eyes the Rolex Sydney Hobart

Home 2025 From nearly quitting to winning: Double-Handed Gold Coast champion eyes the Rolex Sydney Hobart

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Edward Curry-Hyde and his Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300 Toucan co-skipper Scott Robertson were on the brink of calling off their 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart campaign after they finished the 2024 Tollgate Islands Race.

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The duo had already completed several offshore races in the Double Handed division prior to the race. But the conditions they experienced during the Tollgate Islands Race near Batemans Bay on the NSWs’ South Coast led them to doubt their offshore skills.

“Scott and I were sitting there, both of us going, ‘Hmm, I don't think we are ready to do the Hobart’,” Curry-Hyde said. 

The action took place during the sail back to Sydney on the Saturday night of the race. Curry-Hyde and Robertson had planned to gradually reef the main and downsize the headsail as the wind increased, as per the forecast. What they did not know was that the wind would arrive in one big hit in the pitch black of night.

“It came through like a bullet,” Curry-Hyde said. “We got beaten up pretty badly.”

 

Toucan leaving the harbour in the Audi Centre Sydney Bird Island Race.    Image: CYCA/Ashley Dart

But a post-race phone call from fellow double handed sailor, Rum Rebellion’s Shane Connelly, whom Curry-Hyde did not know that well at the time, convinced him to persevere with the Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore, which includes the Rolex Sydney Hobart (628 nautical miles).

“Shane’s main interest was ‘How did you go?’ and ‘Are you okay?’ And that was an amazing gesture because I realised in the conversation that it was quite a tough race,” Curry-Hyde said. “And whilst we had given ourselves a scare, we hadn’t done too badly.” 

 

The 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart presentation.    Image: ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi

Toucan placed fourth on both Double Handed IRC and Double Handed PHS and second on Wild Rose IRC. 

With encouragement from Shane and the wider double handed community, Curry-Hyde and Robertson continued the season.  

They went on to implement the lessons learnt from the Tollgate Islands Race, the importance of conservative sailing and fatigue management. 

From Cape Town to Sydney 

Curry-Hyde’s sailing results from the past two years are impressive considering he has done little offshore sailing since the 1980s. He grew up sailing the coast of South Africa, from Durban to Cape Town, in “similar conditions to what we see in the Rolex Sydney Hobart”. When he moved to Australia in the 1984 he mostly sailed dinghies and skiffs (lasers, 18ft skiffs, tasers and 14ft skiffs).  

Not until recently did he dip his toes back into offshore racing. He bought Toucan brand-new in 2023 with the purpose of sailing it double handed. He landed on double handed because of his love of being an active crew member rather than sitting on the rail for hours on end on a fully crewed yacht. 

“I enjoy sailing where everybody has an active role,” Curry-Hyde said. "So, when I was coming back into it, it [double handed] just felt right for how I wanted to approach things. It also seemed like a good challenge.” 

A successful run for Toucan 

Curry-Hyde and Robertson placed third on Corinthian IRC and fifth on Double Handed IRC in their first Rolex Sydney Hobart in 2024. 

 

Kite up in the early stages of the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart.    Image: CYCA/Ashley Dart

Not long after the finish, Curry-Hyde threatened to throw in the towel on the 2025 edition. But that did not last for long. 

“At two o'clock in the morning on that second night, I did go, ‘Goodness me, I don't think I'm ever going to do this again’,” Curry-Hyde said. 

But after a good rest and a cup of tea in Hobart, Curry-Hyde changed his mind and was one of the first double handed yachts to enter the 2025 race. 

Planning ahead 

He backed up his 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart result with a stunning 2025 Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race (26 July). Curry-Hyde and new co-skipper William Sykes placed first on Double Handed IRC, first on IRC Division 3 and fourth on IRC Overall in the 384 nautical mile race. 

 

Edward Curry-Hyde (right) at the 2025 Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race presentation.    Image: CYCA/Ashley Dart

And with professional offshore sailor Lincoln Dews as his co-skipper for this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart, who knows what lies ahead. 

Dews is a double handed expert. He will return to Australia to race with Curry-Hyde after he competes in the 2025 Offshore Double Handed World Championship, to be raced out of Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom (22 September – 1 October), with fellow Australian Liz Wardley. 

 

Lincoln Dews and Edward Curry-Hyde on board Toucan.    Image: CYCA/Ashley Dart

The countdown is on 

Curry-Hyde is counting down the days until the race. 

“The idea of planing down the waves, where it’s just you and the elements, I love that,” he said. “It a wonderful sense of freedom surfing down the waves. 

“I live for those moments.”