From the chaos of the Gold Coast Race to URM’s iron grip on IRC, this season delivered a collision of giants, grinders, and dark horses across Australia’s biggest offshore stages.
A season that refused to settle early
The 2025 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore began with the kind of unpredictability that offshore sailors know too well. Weather battered the opening race. Damage rewrote the fleet list. Some programmes hit their stride. Others limped into repairs. The Australian Maxi Championship, running alongside the wider series, added another dimension as the biggest boats in the country sharpened their campaigns ahead of the Sydney to Hobart.
Two storylines ran through the season. One belonged to the entire Blue Water fleet, stretching from thirty foot racers to one hundred foot machines. The other belonged to the maxis, where small margins and sharp crew work turned every start into a scoreboard event. And woven through the middle sat a handful of New Zealand boats that added texture to the story, none more consistent than the TP52 V5.
By the time the fleet reached December, the patterns were clear. The season demanded resilience more than reputation.
Noakes Gold Coast chaos creates early fractures in late July
The Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race sends the fleet on a 384 nautical mile run from Sydney Harbour to Main Beach on the Gold Coast, finishing directly opposite the Radio Room in the De Ville Apartments.
Saturday 26 July – The Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race set the tone. Wild Thing 100 blasted north for line honours at 1 day 9 minutes 4 minutes 12 seconds, but the real shock came from the damage list. Moneypenny retired with a hull issue. Highly Sprung broke stanchions. KD1 tore a main. Denali came out of the race without a rig. Before the second act of the season, several top programmes were already on the back foot.
Smuggler put together a calm, confident performance to win IRC in a corrected time of 2 days 10 hours 4 minutes 55 seconds, backing it up with second on line in 1 day 18 hours 14 minutes. Antipodes pressed hard, finishing just half a minute behind Bacchanal on corrected time in 2 days 12 hours 54 minutes 39 seconds and taking third on line in 1 day 20 hours 16 minutes.
V5 followed with her own early marker, crossing fourth on line in 1 day 20 hours 35 minutes and placing fifth on IRC with a corrected time of 2 days 14 hours 26 minutes, a result that planted the New Zealand boat firmly inside the competitive bracket.
The opener said something important. The Blue Water Pointscore would not be controlled by the usual suspects alone. The path through the season was now wide open.
Noakes Line Honours results
- 1st, Wild Thing 100
- 2nd, Smuggler
- 3rd, Antipodes
Noakes IRC results
- 1st, Smuggler
- 2nd, Bacchanel
- 3rd, Antipodes
Flinders Islet brings the first real shape in September
The Flinders Islet Race covers 88 nautical miles, starting near Point Piper in Sydney Harbour. The fleet heads out through Sydney Heads, turns south down the coast and rounds Flinders Islet, a small rock sitting about a mile east of Port Kembla Harbour, before racing back to finish in Sydney Harbour.
Saturday 20 September – The Flinders Islet Race finally brought some order back to the season. The breeze steadied, the fleet compressed, and the real contenders stepped into view. URM Group struck first, taking line honours in 6 hours 15 minutes and 44 seconds, a sharp and confident display that hinted at the pace to come. Moneypenny followed less than ten minutes later, crossing in 6 hours 24 minutes before flipping the script on corrected time. She bounced back from her Gold Coast setback to claim the IRC win in 10 hours and 31 seconds, a tidy, well judged performance. URM Group finished four minutes adrift on handicap, taking second with a corrected time of 10 hours and 4 minutes.
Behind the front pair sat the season long grinders. Smuggler again was in the mix (fourth on line honours and third on IRC), playing tag with No Limit (third on line honours and fourth on IRC), with Highly Sprung (fifth on line honours and IRC) hanging in there.
Flinders Line Honours results
- 1st, URM Group
- 2nd, Moneypenny
- 3rd, No Limit
Flinders IRC results
- 1st, Moneypenny
- 2nd, URM Group
- 3rd, Smuggler
After Flinders, the shape of the year became clearer. URM and Moneypenny would set the IRC pace. The sixty to eighty footers would control the front of the pack. And the fleet’s middle order would not lose contact.
Tollgate Islands confirms the contenders in October
The 258 nautical mile Tollgate Islands Race replaces the Newcastle Bass Island Race in the Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore. Starting at 1700 hours, the fleet heads south to round the Tollgate Islands off Batemans Bay before turning north again to finish off Watsons Bay.
Friday 17 October – If Flinders suggested a hierarchy, Tollgate confirmed it. URM Group again took line honours in 1 day 3 hours 17 minutes, with Moneypenny arriving soon after in 1 day 3 hours 30 minutes. Moneypenny again won IRC in 1 day 18 hours 54 minutes, with URM Group second on IRC with 1 day 19 hours 39 minutes. The duel at the heart of the season was now undeniable.
Bacchanal, KD1 and Highly Sprung all delivered strong results. Smuggler retired during the race with hull damage. The season continued to favour consistency over flashes of brilliance.
At this point, the Blue Water Pointscore felt settled. The front belonged to URM Group. The major IRC pressure came from Moneypenny. The season’s backbone came from the persistent mid fleet.
Tollgate Line Honours results
- 1st, URM Group
- 2nd, Moneypenny
- 3rd, Highly Sprung
Tollgate IRC results
- 1st, Moneypenny
- 2nd, URM Group
- 3rd, Bacchanel
Bird Island Race — a long slog north, a fast slide home, and a leaderboard that tightened the whole season
The 83 nautical mile Bird Island Race sends the fleet racing north to Bird Island, about three miles northeast of Norah Head, before turning back to finish in the harbour.
Saturday 15 November – The Bird Island Race delivered its usual mix of punishment and pace. The uphill slog out of Sydney and the quick slide home exposed the true mid-season form across the fleet.
URM Group produced the standout performance, winning IRC in 11 hours 33 minutes, a sharp, controlled run that signalled she was hitting her stride. Master Lock Comanche followed just under 10 minutes behind on corrected time 11 hours 41 minutes, converting raw speed into a clean handicap result, with Highly Sprung third in 11 hours 50 minutes.
On line honours, Comanche dominated as expected, beating URM Group and Moneypenny to the finish.
The mid-sized boats delivered the tightest racing of the day. Smuggler and Koa were separated by barely a minute, while Antipodes and No Limit reinforced their season-long consistency.
Four retirements underlined how tough the upwind leg had been.
Compact as it was, Bird Island compressed the entire season. The frontrunners tightened, the mid-fleet closed up, and for many the final run toward Cabbage Tree Island and Hobart shifted into a higher gear.
Bird Island Line Honours results
- 1st, Master Lock Comanche
- 2nd, URM Group
- 3rd, Moneypenny
Bird Island IRC results
- 1st, URM Group
- 2nd, Comanche
- 3rd, Highly Sprung
December would shift the focus to the giants.
The Maxi Championship begins: two scoreboards, one fleet
Once the maxi fleet entered its own championship, the split in the racing became dramatic. The hundred footers — Law Connect, Master Lock Comanche, Moneypenny, No Limit, Scallywag, URM Group, Wild Thing 100 —chased line honours. The sixty to eighty footers chased corrected time. Every race became a dual narrative.
Race 1 – Cabbage Tree
The 172 nautical mile Cabbage Tree Island Race is part of the Maxi Championship and the Blue Water Pointscore, and used by many Sydney Hobart crews as a final qualifier and training run, as it is the last major offshore race before the Rolex Sydney Hobart.
Friday 5 December – The Cabbage Tree Island Race is where the season sharpens. For most of the fleet it is a stand alone offshore qualifier, the last big test before Hobart. For the maxis it carries even more weight, opening the 2025 Australian Maxi Championship and instantly putting points on the board.
A warm breeze carried the fleet cleanly out of the Heads, giving the middle order room to show their hand. Celestial (not in the Maxi Championship) delivered the defining performance of the race, winning IRC outright in a corrected time of 01 day 04 hours 49 minutes 50 seconds, a crisp, disciplined run that reaffirmed her place as one of Australia’s most reliable IRC contenders. Behind her, Bacchanal took second with 01 day 05 hours 27 minutes, and Love & War followed just over a minute later on 01 day 05 hours 28 minutes.
Further down the order, the steady hands were easy to spot. KD1, settled nicely finishing in 01 day 05 hours 43 minutes. Highly Sprung added a composed outing at 01 day 06 hours 45 minutes, while Smuggler—so often the quiet achiever—placed mid-fleet on a corrected 01 day 07 hours 01 minutes. These weren’t headline performances, but they were confidence builders, the kind of offshore miles that matter in December.
Three New Zealand boats threaded into the story as well. Gizmo, tackling her first major qualifier under Marc Michel, finished fourth in the IRC Corinthian division with a corrected time of 01 day 06 hours 42 seconds, beating sisterships Wyuna and Beautemps on line and corrected. Vixen Racing completed the course cleanly on 34th on line honours in 01 day 03 hours 56 minutes, a steady result in a deep fleet.
Gizmo vs the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race: the Kiwi battler with a big heart
V5 is one of New Zealand’s heavy hitter. She finished in twelfth position on line honours in 01 day 07 minutes, but well-down the charts on IRC and PHS.
Cabbage Tree Line Honours results
- 1st, Comanche
- 2nd, Law Connect
- 3rd, Scallywag
Cabbage Tree IRC results
- 1st, Celestial
- 2nd, Bacchanel
- 3rd, Love & War
Up front, the maxis shifted the tone entirely. Master Lock Comanche stormed to line honours and first in IRC in 14 hours 34 minutes 21 seconds, with LawConnect second on line honours with 15 hours 42 minutes, followed by Scallywag and URM Group. Moneypenny and No Limit kept the pressure on, the line honours pecking order of the Maxi Championship beginning to harden. In IRC URM Group came in second followed by Moneypenny, Law Connect, Scallywag, and No Limit.
Maxi Championship Scratch results
- 1st, Comanche
- 2nd, Law Connect
- 3rd, Scallywag
Maxi Championship IRC results
- 1st, Comanche
- 2nd, URM Group
- 3rd, Moneypenny
By the finish, Cabbage Tree Island had done its job: it revealed who was sharp, who was settling, and who would reach Hobart carrying real belief.
Race 2 – Passage Race
Sunday 7 December – Master Lock Comanche claimed the first passage race with raw power, while URM Group led the IRC standings with a clean, efficient run. No Limit and Moneypenny both held their form in IRC, proving they would not fade under pressure.
Race 2 Maxi Championship Scratch results
- 1st, Comanche
- 2nd, Law Connect
- 3rd, Scallywag
Race 2 Maxi Championship IRC results
- 1st, URM Group
- 2nd, No Limit
- 3rd, Moneypenny
The next two passage races reinforced the theme. Comanche took another line honours win. URM Group won every IRC outing.
Races 3 and 4 – Passage Race
Monday 8 December
Race 3 Maxi Championship Scratch results
- 1st, Comanche
- 2nd, Law Connect
- 3rd, Scallywag
Race 3 Maxi Championship IRC results
- 1st, URM Group
- 2nd, Moneypenny
- 3rd, No Limit
LawConnect landed a key victory in the final passage race, beating Comanche on the water and reminding everyone that even the biggest boat can be caught when the angles land just right.
Race 4 Maxi Championship Scratch results
- 1st, Law Connect
- 2nd, Comanche
- 3rd, Scallywag
Race 4 Maxi Championship IRC results
- 1st, URM Group
- 2nd, No Limit
- 3rd, Law Connect
Race 5 – SOLAS Big Boat Challenge seals the season’s patterns
Tuesday 9 December – The SOLAS Big Boat Challenge turned Sydney Harbour into a gallery of raw power. Comanche stormed around the track to take line honours in 01 hour 21 minutes 26 seconds. URM Group once again did the business on corrected time in 02 hours 26 minutes 15 seconds, sealing an undefeated IRC run across the maxi series. The pattern could not have been clearer.
The giants owned the skyline. URM owned the numbers. No Limit piled on points with professional calm. Moneypenny stayed sharp. The maxi championship delivered the contrast that defined the year.
Race 5 Maxi Championship Scratch results
- 1st, Comanche
- 2nd, Law Connect
- 3rd, Scallywag
Race 5 Maxi Championship IRC results
- 1st, URM Group
- 2nd, No Limit
- 3rd, Moneypenny
What it all means heading into the Rolex Sydney to Hobart
Three broad groups now shape the road to Hobart.
Potential line honours leaders
- Comanche, LawConnect, Scallywag, Celestial
Potential IRC contenders
- URM Group, Moneypenny, No Limit, Smuggler, Bacchanal
Potential dark horses
- KD1, Highly Sprung, V5, and several of the mid fleet boats that have shown flashes of speed.
The Blue Water Pointscore highlighted resilience as much as speed. The Maxi Championship sharpened the front of the fleet. The late season qualifiers, including Gizmo, added final depth before the dash to Hobart.
The season made one thing clear. Offshore racing is rarely won by reputation alone. It is shaped by the boats that show up, absorb the punches and keep moving. Hobart will decide the silverware, but the year has already left its mark.
