How a 'silly mistake' cost these men Sydney to Hobart glory
They should be celebrating a historic win — instead, the crew of BNC is coming to terms with how a "silly mistake" cost them the "crown jewel" prize of Sydney to Hobart overall handicap.
They just wanted to make the boat look nice and clean for their big moment in the sun.
Instead, a "silly mistake" — which is how they described it — sank their dream.
It was supposed to be BNC, crewed by Michel Quintin and Yann Rigal, making history by being the first double-handed yacht to win the prestigious overall handicap in the Sydney to Hobart, since two-person teams became eligible to win in 2022.
Instead, in a New Year's Eve upset, the Tattersall Cup trophy for 2025 overall handicap winner was presented to Min River, co-skippered by Jiang Lin and Alexis Loison.
The overall victory is the prize deemed by the sailing community to be more of a testament to a team's skill than the line honours, which is the first-over-the-line award.
So, what went wrong?
BNC sailors Yann Rigal and Michel Quintin celebrate their arrival in Hobart — before it all went wrong. (Supplied: Salty Dog)
What rule did they breach?
The protest cited a breach of "sheeting sails" regulations in the Australian Racing Rules.
The rule states:
"No sail sheet be sheeted over or through any device that exerts outward pressure on a sheet or clew of a sail at a point from which, with the boat upright, a vertical line would fall outside the hull or deck except:
(a) a headsail clew may be connected (as defined in The Equipment Rules of Sailing) to a whisker pole, provided that a spinnaker is not set."
Yes, it's a bit confusing. Welcome aboard the wonderful world of sailing jargon.
Both BNC and Min River used poles to "exert outward pressure" on their spinnakers, however it is the use of the pole, in combination with the way the spinnaker was attached to the boat, which is the problem for BNC.
You can see the offence in action on the BNC yacht here:
How BNC has attached its spinnaker (ballooning front sail) to the bowsprit while using a spinnaker pole. (CYCA/ABC News)
The Min River crew did use a pole to hold open the spinnaker, but the manner in which that spinnaker was attached to the boat was different — and in compliance with the rule.