December 26th, 2024Double Handed sailors out to win the Sydney to Hobart

Growing up in Sydney’s Pittwater in the 1960s, Bill Barry-Cotter and his family regularly sailed the family yacht – Katwinchar, a Watney Circa 1904 build.

The 32 foot Canadian red cedar yacht was built in London, England, at Watney Brewery. 

The family sold Katwinchar, but it was never far from Barry-Cotter’s mind. Years later, Barry-Cotter, founder of Maritimo (an Australian boat manufacturing company), started to search for it. In 2017, by happenchance, he found it for sale on the Australian online marketplace Gumtree. 

Without hesitating, the Queenslander bought it and spent two years on a $2 million restoration, led by the Maritimo team at Hope Island Marina, Queensland. 

According to Sydney Hobart veteran Michael Spies, who helped restore the yacht, even as a youngster Barry-Cotter knew it was one-of-a-kind: “Bill said there was something special about the boat. It was faster than the boats of the day. 

“When we rebuilt it, there was only the top plank of wood needed to be replaced.”

An incredible 14000 man hours was dedicated to the restoration but, Spies said, “Structurally the bones are still there, the DNA is still exactly the same.”  

Spies and five others, including Barry-Cotter’s brother Kendal, who skippered the yacht, went on to race Katwinchar in the 2019 Sydney Hobart, her first since 1951. 

The yacht went missing during the ’51 Sydney Hobart until the then owner E. J. Mossop (who’d sailed her from England to Sydney), sailed into Hobart on January third, retired from the race. 

When Kendal and crew raced the yacht in 2019, they placed second in division.  

The 120-year-old yacht, now called Maritimo Katwinchar, will participate in the Double Handed division for its third Sydney Hobart, with co-skippers Spies and Peter Vaiciurgis. It remains the oldest yacht to have competed in the race. 

“It was ridiculous having to carry six [crew],” Spies said of the previous races. 

Maritimo Katwinchar leaving Sydney Heads during the Bird Island Race – Credit: RSHYR | Vito Feremans

Spies, who has competed in 45 Sydney Hobarts, was heavily involved in the double handed modification process of the yacht. Modifications include a new carbon fibre rig, tiller steering instead of her wheel and the removal of the mizzen mast to minimize weight.

Spies first sailed with Vaiciurgis on Maritimo the TP52. Although this will be Vaiciurgis’ second Hobart, the Coffs Harbour school teacher has a raft of national titles to his name in the NS14 dinghy. 

“He doesn’t suffer fools and doesn’t rant on,” Spies said of Vaiciurgis. “We’ve become very tight friends.”

It’s been a learning experience for the duo, who have had several highs and lows on the journey to the RSHYR start line. 

“I’ve always tried to do too much on the boat,” Spies said. “I always get too hyped and that’s probably where we failed in the Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race. We weren’t disciplined enough and I think we’ve overcome that. 

“It’s not like you can turn off. You try to do two hours on, two hours off. But for two hours off, there’s never two hours off. Someone’s still got to do the radio skeds, someone’s still got to get some food up. We’ve since become quite disciplined. We seem to complement each other pretty well.” 

Maritimo Katwinchar went on to win the inaugural Gold Coast City Marine Gold Coast Mackay Yacht Race (520 nautical miles) on IRC, PHS and ORC, beating the fully-crewed yachts.

With its low handicap rating, upwind conditions and the assistance of the East Australian Current, Spies said he believed the yacht had a chance at contending with the bigger yachts for the win. 

“If [those conditions] happen in the Hobart, you’re normally in with a shot. It’s been quite a while since a smaller boat’s won.”
 
Spies, who has in the past taken Line Honours and won the race Overall in separate years, said he was looking forward to taking on the Sydney Hobart for his first shot in the Double Handed division. 

“It’s a freak boat,” he said. “It’s a gift that just keeps on giving.”

Sean Langman during the Overall Contenders press conference- Credit: RSHYR | Ashley Dart

Sean Langman swaps the mini maxi for Kismet
 
Another serious competitor is Sean Langman’s Illingworth/Penrose 30 Kismet. Last year the yacht was found half submerged in Sydney Harbour. Langman and team at his marine company Noakes Group, meticulously restored it. Langman said he was drawn to the yacht because of its rich history and connection to Tasmania.

The Tasmanian-built yacht was designed by Captain John Illingworth, who won the inaugural Sydney Hobart in 1945 on board the yacht Rani. In fact, it was Illingworth who suggested a cruise to Tasmania in 1945 become a race instead. The rest is history.

Kismet was originally destined to be a one design offshore race boat for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. She didn’t make the Olympics but placed sixth overall in the 1957 Sydney Hobart for her then Tasmanian owner. 

Words: Greta Quealy/RSHYR Media

Langman’s involvement in the Rolex Sydney Hobart spans 32 races. He has sailed on some of the biggest and smallest yachts in the fleet, including the 9.5m Huon pine, gaff-rigged yacht Maluka, which scored a best place of eighth Overall in 2006. 

Langman has always had a passion for smaller, older yachts like Maluka and Kismet. Last year, he and the crew, including his 2024 Sydney Hobart co-skipper Peter Inchbold, raced Muluka in the Rolex Fastnet Race in the UK.

Although this year’s Sydney Hobart marks Langman’s first Double Handed race, he often sails Maluka double handed and will be sailing her from Scotland to Iceland double handed next year.

“It’s far more comfortable,” Langman said. “That’s sort of what’s really got me going, because of the intimacy of sailing – just two up and the connection to the sea. That’s what I’m really searching for in a Hobart race.”

Langman also found the perfect co-skipper in Inchbold, who also has 32 Sydney Hobarts to his name. Like many in the sailing community, Inchbold was deeply affected by the loss of yachtsman Roger Hickman in 2016, who died shortly after the 2016 Hobart after being diagnosed with multiple brain tumours. 

Inchbold was Hickman’s Sailing Master on Wild Rose when it won the race in 2014.

“Pete has sort of been lost since Hicko died. Initially I thought, ‘I should do this for Pete’. And then I overhead him having a conversation and he said, ’Sean’s had an up-and- down year, I’m doing this for Sean’. So, I figure we’re doing this for each other.”

Langman is no different from Spies in his aspirations for this year’s Sydney Hobart. He said Kismet could be the first double handed yacht to win the race, dependent on the wind and current.

“I actually want an upwind start,” he said. “It sorts boats out, it sorts people out, but it gives us more of an opportunity to stop the big boats getting further away.” 

Ironic given Langman skippered his RP69 to third place Overall last year.

He and Inchbold will be keeping an eye on Maritimo Katwinchar and three-time Sydney Hobart winner, the S&S 47 Love & War, to be skippered by Phillip Kurts.

“They’re absolutely our benchmark,” Langman said.

The seasoned sailor said he was confident of Kismet’s potential to win the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart: “I’m giving her the best chance she can have,” Langman said.

“On Maluka it was always about the journey, always about getting there. This time it’s two handed and trying to win.”

Greta Quealy/RSHYR Media