Can the Sydney to Hobart stay afloat?
Columnist By Melanie Dinjaski, 30 Dec 2011 Melanie Dinjaski is a Roar Expert
Against the more fancied Wild Oats XI, Investec Loyal took line honours in the 2011 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race after a dramatic protest momentarily halted celebrations on Wednesday night.
But while yesterday’s news reports informed us of the result that we were told we’d be ”anxiously” awaiting, most Australian sporting fans could hardly give a toss. So why is this?
The invention of sailing is one of mankind’s greatest and oldest achievements. It was a way to travel and explore new territory, but more commonly it aided fishing endeavours. These hard-working sailors were not of wealthy means.
But when the ‘party king’ Charles II was returned to the throne from the Netherlands he brought with him to the rest of Europe a passion for recreational sailing, and it soon became a popular sport among the elite.
These days we may associate older, wealthier, boat shoe and polo shirt-wearing types with the sport, however this is a myth.
From your modest coastal crabbers and surfies, to your luxury car salesmen and winemakers, the demographic of sailors is just as broad-ranging as it used to be.
The rich lot may own the maxis in the Rolex-sponsored Sydney to Hobart, but rest-assured the smaller boats are never far behind them.
For the smaller entourage, it becomes more about the journey than the race in the 1,170km route down the coast through the famously challenging Tasman Sea.
Though I won’t be entering the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race anytime soon, I’m not a complete stranger to it all.
When I was younger I used to rise every Boxing Day and with my pair of binoculars eagerly await the fleet of sails we could see from Maroubra Beach. They were always beautiful to watch.
A bit later I attended sailing camps which taught me the basics of the sport. I also learnt to appreciate the finer points involved and met some of the sailing community that ranged from teenagers to old-timers.
But not everyone has the same understanding about sailing and the Sydney to Hobart.
On television or radio, as many whinged earlier this week, the Sydney to Hobart can be accused of being ”boring” to watch to the untrained eye, much like golf or cricket.
But let me tell you, sailing is a lot of fun and an intriguing sport if you know what’s going on.
Leaning off the side of the boat, being splashed with a face full of sea water while the skipper calls the tacks and jibes and you dodge the boom; sailing is something I’d encourage everyone to try at least once in their life.
Even the smallest vessels can reach some fantastic speeds, and knowing its coming from wind-power and wind-power alone is a great feeling and one that you’ll never get in any speedboat.
Still, while there are some appreciators of the race, an overwhelming consensus about the Sydney to Hobart this year much like the year before, was that ”it’s boring”, ”it’s too technical”, ”it’s not a sport”, ”I don’t care”, and ”why should I?”.
Some suggestions to improve the race’s popularity included a call for more boats to sink or for there to be a limit on money spent.
Fellow Roar expert Athas Zafiris requested a new route from Suez to Zanzibar which would bring the added value of a Somalian pirate or two, and maybe even another Gold Logie nomination for Karl Stefanovic.
If the waves of indifference continue the Sydney to Hobart may soon struggle to keep it’s place as a prestigious Australian sporting event.
So if you could sit down with the organisers of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, what would you suggest to make it more appealing to the masses?
For me, I’d start by gathering all the skippers for a special rendition of The Lonely Island’s ”I’m on a boat”. But that’s just me.
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You can follow Melanie Dinjaski on Twitter @MelanieDinjaski.
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December 30th 2011 @ 7:43am
Robin said | December 30th 2011 @ 7:43am | Report comment
This race went into decline when yacht clubs in Sydney took over the running of it and reduced Tasmania’s clubs participation was reduced to bugger all.. But the main reason the raceis slipping down the charts is the coverage it gets in the media. When we had radio ship accompaning the fleet we had reguar updates. I mean every two too three hours, now we get start on TV then nothing. We only see the finish as a news item. There is nothing at all of where ther yachts are except the leader the balance of the fleet no one knows where they are and what they are doing. It is the same media reports on the other races too, Melbourne to Hobart and the Launceston to Hobart. The media is to blame for any decline in popularity.
December 30th 2011 @ 9:33am
Sam said | December 30th 2011 @ 9:33am | Report comment
You obviously have not looked at the race website.
December 30th 2011 @ 8:13am
Pilch said | December 30th 2011 @ 8:13am | Report comment
Every boat shoul have a couple of bickini clad hotties up on the bow. Oh, and they should let some tall ships enter.
December 30th 2011 @ 8:58am
Timmuh said | December 30th 2011 @ 8:58am | Report comment
OK, I know nothing about sailing. I’ve been in Hobart on a few new years’ and watched bits of the fleet as they get to the docks but that’s about it. So, everything I write here must be seen as the ignorant shouting above the masses in order to get their confusion heard.
Firstly, the race isn’t aimed at “us”, commercially. By that, I mean its financial appeal isn’t directed to the broad public or even the Australian audience. It is aimed at high earners in Europe, hence the sponsors tend to be prestige European brands. They are after exposure on the sailing program on BBC World, segments on various sports programs, etc. Commercially, whether locals watch a moment of it either waterside or on daily updates doesn’t matter greatly. It does make for better television though when there are a heaps of other boats seeing them off from Sydney Harbour.
The action, for the most part, occurs well out to sea with miles between competitors over a very lengthy journey. That makes it difficult for most people to view, or find interesting. Yes, those miles can be closed down and a decision made now might change the race in a few hours time, but few of us understand that – and even if we did, the only easily accessible updates are on TV hours after the event.
Thirdly, how am I supposed to care about who wins. “Wild Oats XI” sounds like somebody’s stag party morphed into a cricket team, the names have no meaning, with new yachts, or new sponsors for the same one, meaning the names change every year. In most other team sports the teams don’t change that often, and even when they do they have a locality or something to latch on to. Names obviously change a lot in individual sports, but these tend to be followed along nationalistic lines as much as individual players – apart perhaps from some truly outstanding tennis players and sprinters.
This isn’t meant to deride the race or the sport in any way – apologies if it seems to do so – I’m merely attempting as an outsider to answer the question as to why the race gets such a response from many of us. The Sydney-Hobart is renowned as a classic worldwide and even though I am completely ignorant of the technicalities its obvious to anyone that it takes great skill, tactical nouse, and not a little courage, to be successful.
Its also hardly the only sport to struggle to gain, or retain, public interest – even with a large number of social and casual participants (ten pin bowling, indoor cricket, badminton, etc).
December 30th 2011 @ 9:14am
Stabpass said | December 30th 2011 @ 9:14am | Report comment
Great post, who does not like watching the boats go through the heads, or for that matter watching the start of the city to surf, or Boston marathon, or the first over of the Boxing day test etc etc , but truth be told, i dont have a great interest in any of those sports.
They are institutions, and have survived the test of time, and the S 2 H is clearly not aimed at the general populace.
December 30th 2011 @ 12:08pm
Brett McKay said | December 30th 2011 @ 12:08pm | Report comment
I love the whole idea of the Sydney-Hobart race, and I tune in to the start every year without fail, but it’s becoming an uncomfortable viewing activity suddenly…
I can’t help but think that this year’s race was hijacked in the battle for morning television between Seven and Nine. Seven has been a long term sponsor of Wild Oats, complete with regular morning updates on Sunrise, and now suddenly we have the Today Show’s host plonked on board LOYAL for the twin purposes of being sledged by his network, and leaving a burley trail from Eden to King Island.
I’m sure somewhere in there past all this facade there was a very close yacht race, but I really feel like another pinnacle on the sporting calender is being used as a promotional tool for things that previously didn’t give a crap..
December 30th 2011 @ 2:35pm
Rabbitz said | December 30th 2011 @ 2:35pm | Report comment
I agree completely.
When I realised it was the boat Stephanovic was on, that was subject to the ‘protest’ I began wishing the boat would be disqualified.
It will be interesting if we get another race where the fleet has to beat through a series of East Coast Lows and how many of the celebrities decide not to come back for another go.
I would also support the CYC if they decided to ban renaming vessels with a sponsors name, unless the sponsor owns the boat outright, not merely has a naming rights deal.
December 30th 2011 @ 5:00pm
sheek said | December 30th 2011 @ 5:00pm | Report comment
Brett,
I also love the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. We used to holiday every 2 years from PNG around Xmas-New Year for 3 months. It was on my trips “south” in 1965 (aged 9) & 67 (aged 11) that I discovered the Melbourne Cup, Davis Cup tennis, Boxing Day cricket test & the Sydney-Hobart yacht race.
Alas, commercialism destroys anything good eventually. I love that Eagles line from the song The Last Resort – “call something paradise, kiss it goodbye”.
We humans have a knack of destroying anything good. Just like the Coasts – Central, Sapphire, Gold & Sunshine – they’ll all be ruined eventually by over-use & over-abuse.
Rabbitz,
It annoys me seeing these celebrity sailors carrying on the same way as racehorse owners – as if they alone were responsible for the success. And yes, I’m talking Karl Stevanovic. The guy is a shameless show pony.
From what I understand, Karismatic Karl spent most of the trip throwing up his guts. I can understand that part, as I probably would have done the same thing in the same boat – pun intended.
But there he was, hogging the limelight, as if he alone sailed the bloody thing down the coast.
December 30th 2011 @ 5:05pm
sheek said | December 30th 2011 @ 5:05pm | Report comment
Melanie,
All sports will die off eventually unless we get our youth back out into the open air doing adventure sports. Get them sailing, rowing, canoeing, cycling, orienteering, plus all the traditional sports as well.
Part of the problem is because they’ve become obsessed with x-box, etc, they have no connection, no first hand experience with the sports they see on TV.
December 30th 2011 @ 7:30pm
Jack Russell said | December 30th 2011 @ 7:30pm | Report comment
It’s not exactly a spectator sport is it? It’s also not like watching the America’s Cup or even the Olympics where we actually care about who wins, and can actually follow the race. Why would I give a stuff if sponsor’s name comes across the line first ahead of sponsor’s name and sponsor’s name? I can appreciate the skill involved in almost any sport, including sailing. But that doesn’t mean I can take an interest in the result. Especially since I can only follow it with hourly updates on ABC radio.
January 5th 2012 @ 10:44pm
Scotty said | January 5th 2012 @ 10:44pm | Report comment
Care who wins? Mate I used to care a great deal who got the line honours when I was a kid; we had our goodies (Anaconda was my favourite) and our baddies such as Nirvana. It seemed to be important who was leading. maybe it helped that I grew up on the Central Coast and although I surfed rather than sailed, the sea was everywhere in our lives. There were regattas on Brisbane Waters on a regular basis. And I was very proud that Brindabella was built at West Gosford! David Adams winning his class in the Round the World Race!. Great times.
Since I have moved to the UK its receded from my sporting landscape, but I am not surprised that interest has waned a bit. Sailing really has never been a spectator sport, and quite clearly ocean racing is a rich mans sport, but even a guy with a tatty old Laser (like I used to have) can appreciate the skills.
December 31st 2011 @ 10:11am
ilikedahoodoogurusingha said | December 31st 2011 @ 10:11am | Report comment
Just a quick comment on the name of the yachts etc…Wild Oats is named after the owner Bob Oatley and is number 11 in a long line of racing yachts that he has owned starting in the 1980′s, the winery Wild Oats commenced in 2006, and is named after the boat, not the other way round. Channel 7 has the TV coverage so it is not surprising that they sponsor the yacht that has been the first one out of the harbour for most of the past 7 years. Karl Stevanovic was one of many personalities on Loyal, they are used to raise the profile of the yacht which main purpose of racing is to raise money for the Humpty Dumpty Foundation. I don’t believe for one minute the protest had anything to do with the commercial channels rivalry.
On another note, I hope that some of you got some interest from the blog of the race.