Entries for the 80th Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race are now officially closed, and Boating New Zealand’s first look at the fleet makes for an intriguing read, as always. A total of 142 yachts will line up to begin the 628-nautical-mile challenge on Boxing Day, tracing the famous course from Sydney Harbour ’s Rushcutters Bay to Hobart’s Constitution Dock.
We’re pleased to see five Kiwi entries, which we’ll feature soon. But one yacht stands out: a past dominator, now reborn under a new banner.
A legend reborn
For the 80th edition of the Sydney to Hobart, one of the world’s most celebrated ocean-racing yachts is back, with a new name and a radical new role.
Mark Richards, who has skippered Wild Oats XI since her launch in 2005 and now serves as CEO of Palm Beach Motor Yachts, has confirmed the yacht’s return to blue-water competition as Palm Beach XI. After sitting out the past two editions, the 100-footer is poised to line up once more on Boxing Day, carrying a new identity, a suite of appendage upgrades, and a mission that bridges racing pedigree with luxury-yacht innovation.
Palm Beach Motor Yachts announced the transformation at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show on the 24th October 2025, revealing the renamed yacht and confirming its entry for this year’s race. The company stated that Wild Oats XI “will relaunch with major modifications for the 80th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race this December 2025.”
The yacht will act as a proving ground for Palm Beach Motor Yachts’ engineering ethos, with every lesson at sea feeding directly back into the brand’s motor-yacht designs.
Engineering the evolution
Among the most intriguing aspects of the refit is the adoption of C-foils, curved lifting daggerboards designed to reduce drag and enhance stability by generating both vertical and lateral lift.
Think of them as curved underwater wings. When partly lowered, they act like conventional boards, resisting leeway. As the yacht heels and speed builds, the curvature engages to create lift that lightens the hull’s load in the water. The result is less wetted surface, higher efficiency, and a small but vital speed advantage, particularly across Bass Strait’s long reaching legs where stability and endurance matter most.
Boating New Zealand notes with interest the intended use of C-foils in this year’s race and has contacted the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia for clarification on how the race’s measurement and stability rules apply to lifting foils. The current Notice of Race doesn’t specifically mention C-foils, but any such appendage must comply with IRC rating requirements and the Australian Sailing Category 2 safety standards, ensuring the yacht meets strict stability criteria.
From Fort Lauderdale to Hobart
The reveal at Fort Lauderdale marked a symbolic moment for both brand and boat. Beneath the silver-white hull, Palm Beach XI now carries a deeper keel fin and bulb, new upwind daggerboards, and a refined foil package; a set-up designed to push efficiency without sacrificing reliability.
Richards framed the project as an extension of Palm Beach Motor Yachts’ philosophy of continuous innovation.
Palm Beach write in their Palm Beach Motor Yachts Takes the Helm of the Iconic Wild Oats XI” (31 October 2025) press release that: “Every insight earned on the racecourse flows directly into the company’s motor yacht range, ensuring Palm Beach Motor Yachts are not only stronger, faster, and more fuel efficient, but also carry forward the relentless spirit of improvement that defines the brand.”
It’s an approach that blurs the line between grand-prix racing and high-end craftsmanship, using one of the world’s toughest ocean classics as a full-scale Research and Development exercise.
A powerhouse fleet
Richards’ return adds intrigue to an already powerful line-up. The 2025 Rolex Sydney to Hobart features six 100-foot Supermaxis and five past Overall winners.
Leading the charge are:
- LawConnect – Christian Beck’s back-to-back Line Honours champion (2023 and 2024, second in 2022)
- Master Lock Comanche – co-skippered by Matt Allen and James Mayo (having undergone a few name changes over the past years, the Comanche boat won the 2027, 2019, and 2022 editions of the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race)
- Wild Thing 100 – Grant Wharington and Adrian Seiffert
- Maritimo 100 – Bill Barry-Cotter’s luxury racer-cruiser
- SHK Scallywag – the Hong Kong-based international contender
- Palm Beach XI (was Wild Oats XI) – Mark Richards’ returning powerhouse. With line honour victories in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, with the “triple crown” (line honours, race record, and overall win) in both 2005
Joining them are last year’s Overall winner Celestial V70, skippered by CYCA Commodore Dr Sam Haynes, and enduring campaigners Love & War and Unicoin. The mix of proven champions and modern challengers gives the 80th edition an irresistible depth of talent.
The return of Mark Richards
Richards’ record at the helm of Wild Oats XI is unmatched: nine Line Honours victories and two Overall wins, making her the most successful Supermaxi in the race’s history. His decision to re-enter the race under the Palm Beach banner came just an hour before entries closed, a late twist that sent ripples through the sailing world.
After two years away, his comeback isn’t just nostalgia. It’s a declaration that elite yacht design and hands-on racing remain central to Palm Beach Motor Yachts’ identity. Few brands can claim to test future design concepts at 30 knots in the open ocean between Sydney and Hobart.
Foil technology and the future
While Palm Beach XI appears to be the only confirmed 2025 entrant fitted with C foils, the technology marks a logical next step in a broader shift toward foil assist systems in offshore racing. One of the earliest examples was the Maverick 49, a British built performance cruiser designed by Hugh Welbourn and launched by Infiniti Yachts. The boat, which raced in several Sydney to Hobart events, carried Dynamic Stability System (DSS) foils, retractable horizontal foils that extended from the hull to add righting moment and lift at speed.
Much like the DSS concept, Palm Beach XI’s new curved foils aim to balance lift and control rather than achieve full flight. Both approaches show how grand prix design thinking continues to influence offshore racing under IRC rules. The Sydney to Hobart has long been a crucible for innovation, from canting keels to carbon rigs, and C foils may well be the next chapter in that ongoing story.
How far foil-assist systems can develop within offshore racing rules remains an open question, and one that this year’s race will help answer. The Sydney to Hobart has long been a crucible of progress, from canting keels to carbon spars. C-foils may prove to be the next frontier.
Informing the future
When the Boxing Day gun sounds, Palm Beach XI will represent more than the rebirth of a champion. She embodies the meeting of performance heritage, innovation, and trans-Tasman craftsmanship; a yacht designed not just to chase Line Honours, but to shape the next generation of high-speed cruisers.
If the modifications deliver as expected, the lessons learned on the racecourse could ripple well beyond Hobart, informing the way Palm Beach Motor Yachts continues to refine strength, efficiency, and beauty at sea.
