Joe de Kock gave KD1 a major refit when he bought the former Goodform 10 years ago, after she had competed on the Farr 40 circuit and done some IRC races. KD1 won Division 2 in the 2024 Australian Yachting Championships and is now ready for her first Rolex Sydney Hobart.  “We’ve made the change to offshore racing for the 2025/26 season,” de Kock says.

In the lead-up, KD1 contested the Noakes Sydney Gold Coast race but a torn main ended her race. The Flinders Islet Race proved better, with an eighth overall, followed by fourth in the Tollgate Islands Race. De Kock, who established Midcoast Boatyard and Marine facility in 2003 and has raced everything from skiffs to yachts, last raced to Hobart in 2022, with KD4, a Dehler 44 he sailed double handed with Richard Hooper, who is aboard again.