One of the toughest ocean races in the world is back for another year, with a strong fleet of yachts set to make the treacherous trek down the east coast of Australia in the 2018 Sydney to Hobart yacht race. This is The Roar’s guide to live streaming the race online and watching it on TV.
Sydney to Hobart LIVE updates, blog
The race, running over a distance of 628 nautical miles, will commence on Sydney Harbour at 1pm (AEDT) on Boxing Day – Wednesday, December 26.
The race route will take the fleet out of the Harbour and down the coast of New South Wales to Bass Strait, before running down the coast of Tasmania and heading into the Derwent River where the finish line is located.
The race record, set last year by Comanche, sits at 1 day and 9 hours, however, it’s likely the race will take somewhere around the two-day mark for the winners, and up to five days for the last yachts over the finish line.
As has been the case for some time, the first hour of the race will be broadcast on TV.
The rights to the race currently belong to Channel 7, who this year will broadcast the first hour through 7Mate (Channel 73), due to their coverage of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and India being on the main channel.
Channel 7 will begin their coverage on Sydney Harbour at 12:30pm (AEDT), with it running for an hour and a half through to 2pm (AEDT).
From there, the only TV coverage will be through news updates across all the major channels.
The first hour of the race can be streamed online through 7 Plus, which is Channel 7s official streaming application. The coverage there will also start at 12:30pm (AEDT).
You can also stay on top of the entire race with The Roar. We will be running a live blog of the race from start to finish, with hourly updates after the run out of the Harbour so you won’t miss a moment.
The official race tracker on the Sydney to Hobart website will also keep you up to date with the exact location of every boat in the fleet as they make the run to Hobart.
Josip Vehovec
Guest
here in Croatia sailing fans were delighted with the start of the race but are all disappointed with any drone coverage along the coast and/or under way. and what about finish? maybe we are all spoiled by the VOR
Glenn
Guest
I have been checking the news services and there is very little coverage for the race. It would appear that there is only room for one sport at a time and it must be cricket time. Surely the money involved in international yacht racing must rank it equal too or even raise it above other popular sports ? I cannot express my disappointment with the TV channels this year. I hope this is only a one off slip in Australian broadcasting .
Peter J. Morgan
Guest
Jennifer wrote "And that will be the coverage of one of the most Epic Annual Yacht Races of Australia." Make that Australasia. No. make it the planet! I live in Auckland, and my wife and I were bitterly disappointed to discover that there was zero coverage of the start of any TV chanels available to us -- and we are Sky TV subscribers -- disgusting!!!!!!!!!! Surely some business could give us complete coverage, even if it has to be paid for with ads. It looks like the finish line will be reached soon after daylight. Will there be live coverage, even if only by live-streaming?
Maza
Guest
It does tell you but not like it did last year. You have to hover over the boat and look up above out of the ocean shot and it will tell you which boat is which. I agree for such a great monumental race we are desperate for information and can't get it without a lot of effort
Peter Raven
Guest
Yacht tracker: There is no option to hover your mouse over the boats and be told which one it is. This option was available in previous races. The current tracker is useless. Would also like to see the finish on TV/Foxtel in real time.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Ross, you should check out our live blog of the race. https://www.theroar.com.au/sailing/live-score/sydney-to-hobart-yacht-race-2018-live-race-updates-blog-712392/
Ross OConnell
Guest
Pretty pathetic, 11pm & nowhere can you get any meaningful update other then the tracker, which doesn't tell you race tactics or what the different strategies are. Feels like we're back in the 70's. I at least remember some half decent late night updates in years gone by. The "hourly news updates" are pathetic, no footage, a throw away one liner "it's a tight one between ..". Channel 7 should be ashamed of themselves it as though they have bought the rights so that viewers didn't go to another channel during the cricket. Done well this could be an international event.
Cll
Guest
pretty suprised it only went for an hour! And nothing online after that... as someone else said _ we have drones now... My vote is SBS next year.
Brian Carswell
Guest
Dead right Glenn,woeful TV coverage with hapless commentary. Yes,no respect for the viewers or the once a year event. Brian.
Brian Carswell
Guest
Extremely disappointed with the race coverage. Insipid commentary about what a spectacle,about the glorious day,about how fast the yachts are/will travel. About a politician jumping into the sea (why not have the plethora of ads whilst she did that?) And the ad breaks! Typical of commercial television to not have any respect for the once a year start or the viewers. WOEFUL coverage. Brian.
Jennifer
Guest
I agree!! Its unbelievable that for such a spectacular and monumental race, that is such a prominent part of Australian Culture and Identity we have such little access to any coverage at all! I am totally amazed. There is surely someone in the TV broadcasting Industry with the intelligence to get this type of event covered full throttle from the start to the end?! We all know its a three day event, yes, but hey lets face it - theres an enormous demand for this to be covered for three full days, theres so many more channels now than ever before, we live in the 21st Century and Media Broadcasting has evolved now - or has it? We will all do better to tap into Facebook where someone is probably posting live footage. And that will be the coverage of one of the most Epic Annual Yacht Races of Australia. OMG. yep. Wake Up Australia.
Glider
Guest
when oh when will the Hobart Race and CYC catch up with the 21st Century and create Hobart TV with live streaming and drones / footage from the yachts themselves. So far behind the times when we could be seeing the best maxis going downwind at 30 knots ..... on the big screen at home. Wakeup Australia.
Glenn
Guest
what happened to all the lead up to the Sydney Hobart race ? the coverage is non existent ! 1 hour with so many adds that at every important turn of the race trey went to a commercial. After waiting for 12 months to see the race what a let down. 7 should give the rights to a channel that respects its viewers. yes I am very disappointed . even 7 plus is less the minus as it has an error code and will not run !!!
heather black
Guest
So came here at 1pm when ABC showed no signs of the race. FOX says cricket on their ch7 and thanks for the info
Caroline
Guest
Hi ... Cannot wait to watch and connect with blogs etc ...