Sydney Hobart Race: Duo on verge of history subject to protest over alleged rule breach
The overall winner of the Sydney Hobart Race is subject to a protest, which is scheduled to be heard on Wednesday morning local time
Sailors Michel Quintin and Yann Rigal were handed a brutal lesson Tuesday in how quick emotions can swing in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
After becoming the first double-handed overall winners in waiting earlier in the day, the New Caledonian duo learned that their historic performance would now be subject to a protest over a sheeting sail use, scheduled to be heard in Hobart at 9am (AEDT) on Wednesday (10pm Tuesday UK time, 5pm Tuesday ET).
There is no disputing the magnitude of their achievement aboard the 35-foot BNC my::Net, which became the first two-handed yacht to finish the 80th edition of the Sydney Hobart.
Their result also positioned them to become the first double-handed entry to win the coveted Tattersall Cup, as overall winners on International Rating Certificate (IRC) corrected time. Corrected time is calculated using a mathematical handicap designed to offset the advantage of larger, faster yachts, such as the 100-footers that dominate the race for line honors and the John H Illingworth Trophy, won this year by Master Lock Comanche, over smaller, slower ones such as BNC.
BNC was the 33rd vessel to cross the Hobart finish line, recording a line-honors time of three days, 21 hours, 40 minutes, five seconds. However, on corrected time at 11 pm (AEDT) Tuesday, BNC was leading overall with a time of four days, one hour, two minutes, 24 seconds.
If confirmed, the result would further cement BNC’s place in Sydney Hobart history, as she would also become the first New Caledonian entry to win the race overall. Likewise, Quintin and Rigal would be the first sailors from the Pacific island nation to claim overall victory.
But after a dramatic reshuffling of placings as several yachts finished on Tuesday, their place in history came to hinge on the outcome of a protest lodged by another double-handed entry — Min River, sailed by its Chinese/Australian owner Jian Ling and Frenchman Alexis Loison, a friend of the New Caledonian duo.
Michel Quintin and Yann Rigal on board BNC (Salty Dingo 2025)
Min River was the first double-handed finisher behind BNC and, at 11 pm (AEDT), sat second overall on corrected time, 54 minutes behind her.
Despite the protest, nothing will diminish the emotion shared at BNC’s arrival at Hobart’s Constitution Dock at 10:40am (AEDT) on Tuesday. The mere prospect of becoming the first double-handed overall winners of the Sydney Hobart was almost too much for Quintin and Rigal to process when it was put to them.
“Honestly, we don’t really realize it yet,” Quintin told reporters with a smile after docking. “It doesn’t feel real. We’re just back on land, waiting. Maybe later it will sink in.”
