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(December 28, 2022) – A year ago, Sam Haynes was on the brink of quitting sailing in disappointment after his hopes of overall victory in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race were dashed by a protest.
Today, Haynes is back in Hobart and in the box seat to avenge the set back in 2022 race, with his TP52 Celestial currently holding first place overall. Haynes, who is also the Vice Commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, organizer the race, was cautious to start celebrating too early.
While well positioned, Haynes must still wait for the finish of other boats that could potentially beat Celestial and the outcome of a request for redress at 4:00 pm tomorrow for the GP42, Enterprise Next Generation, owned by Anthony Kirke. The West Australian boat stood by KOA yesterday when the latter lost her rudder. The verdict could impact the final standings.
Also fresh in Haynes’ mind was how Celestial, the TP52 he bought before the 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart, was relegated to second after a protest against him last year…
“Last year at the finish, we knew we had the best corrected time,” he recalled. “We just about had our hands on the Tattersall Cup…
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