Sydney to Hobart race to feature tribute to victims of Bondi terror attack

The Sydney to Hobart yacht race will include a tribute for the victims and survivors of the Bondi terror attack as the fleet passes the beach on Boxing Day.

To commemorate the 15 lives lost on December 14, 15 boats will leave flower petals in the Pacific Ocean when passing the site of the attack. The boats will include race favourite, Master Lock Comanche and reigning overall winner Celestial V70.

Commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and Celestial’s skipper, Sam Haynes announced the tribute at the weather briefing on Wednesday, and invited other skippers to join the 15 boats. Haynes said the commemoration was for “members of the Jewish community, and our community who unfortunately were killed in the terrorist attack on that day. So as we pass Bondi, 15 boats will spread some petals into the ocean at that point”.

Master Lock Comanche’s skipper, Matt Allen, said his boat would be part of the tribute after he visited the site in his role as vice president of the Australian Olympic Committee.

“We went down with a large group of Jewish and non-Jewish Olympians to Bondi last Friday and had a service there, and then a brunch to really show our support for the victims, the entire community,” he said. “We know that sport can bring together the community, both within Australia, and also the Olympic movement globally can do that ... It was a very heartfelt occasion.

“The initial thought is, ‘Do we have any family, staff and the Olympic community involved?’ and trying to make sure everyone was safe. That’s a hard exercise because it’s a very big community. Quite quickly we worked out that everyone was safe. Then just wanting to really talk about what we were going to do to try and provide our support as much as possible to the entire community.”

A spokesperson for the yacht club said security for the race had been reviewed after the tragedy.

“We will continue to work alongside relevant authorities as we prepare for the race on Boxing Day,” the statement read.

The compulsory weather briefing began earlier on Wednesday with a minute’s silence for the two sailors, Roy Quaden and Nick Smith, who died during the Sydney to Hobart race last year. Haynes described the deaths as tragic, saying, “This will be something that is very much on our minds, and the families of these two sailors.”

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting strong southerly winds when the fleet exits the heads on Friday, with two to three metre swells expected outside the harbour. But the worst of the forecast weather – heavy rain and gale force winds – is tipped for Tasmania on New Year’s Eve.

Race director Lee Goddard reminded the fleet of the changes for this year’s race following an investigation into the 2024 tragedy.  The changes include mandating that every crew member wear a man overboard detection system on top of the already required personal locator beam. It is also now required that at least 50 per cent of each crew complete their vessel’s qualifying race and 60 per cent of each crew must complete a sea survival course.

“It goes without saying last year we went literally through that full range of emergencies,” Goddard said. “Not least the weather, communications, but serious isolated and serious multiple incidents which were all occurring at the same time.”

The weather forecast should ensure no records will be broken and is likely to favour the largest boats in the fleet, although back-to-back reigning line honours skipper Christian Beck continued to claim underdog status on Wednesday.

“With the Sydney to Hobart, it’s the only sport in the world where the shit box has been winning for the last two years but whether that can happen again is probably more than anything up to my mate next to me,” Beck said pointing to Allen.

“If they race well, then we’ve got no chance of winning. Their boat is so much better than ours, I think all they need is a delivery crew to actually beat us, really.”

David Witt, skipper on SHK Scallywag, wasn’t buying Beck’s talk and interrupted him by pretending to fall asleep while Beck was talking. “Shit boxes don’t win,” Witt said.