Alive’s bid for immortality carries real weight this Boxing Day. Two overall victories in the Rolex Sydney Hobart stand alone as one of offshore racing’s rarest feats, yet Tasmanian owner Phillip Turner and skipper Duncan Hine aim to push their 66-foot canting keel into the history books alongside just three other yachts—Freya, Love & War, and Ichi Ban—who have claimed the trophy three times.
The path to Hobart has taken an unusual route this year. Rather than the traditional preparation on home waters, Hine spent 2025 and the first half of 2026 campaigning Alive across Asian racing circuits, a schedule that left barely a pause between events. In March 2025, he and co-skipper Glenn Myler drove the yacht 5,500 nautical miles across the Tasman to win the Melbourne Osaka Cup outright in all divisions. The Hong Kong to Vietnam Race came next in October, followed by the Royal Langkawi Regatta in January where Alive took second overall. The Rolex China Sea Race in March delivered line honours, rounding out a bruising campaign that proved the yacht’s competitive edge remains sharp.
The crew is currently making the 4,000 nautical mile journey back to Brisbane from Asia, enjoying what Hine describes as perfect conditions and stellar sunrises. They’ll have little time to recover before Boxing Day, but that hardly seems to bother them. After two wins in 2018 and 2023, momentum matters more than rest.
LawConnect brings its own story to the start line. Christian Beck’s 100-foot maxi has claimed three Line Honours victories—first as Perpetual Loyal in 2016, then twice under Beck’s ownership in 2023 and 2024. That 2023 win broke a long run of near-misses for Beck, securing victory in a hair-raising duel with Andoo Comanche by just 51 seconds across the Hobart finish. Last year’s race fell away when Master Lock Comanche, the renamed rival, mastered the light and strong wind patterns that confounded the rest of the fleet. Beck and his crew—including offshore veterans Tony Mutter and Ty Oxley—return this year hunting the John H. Illingworth Challenge Cup once more.
Over forty yachts have already registered for the 628 nautical mile blue water classic. Registration closes on Friday 23 October at 1700 hours. For those chasing line honours or overall glory, the challenge starts Boxing Day at dawn in Sydney Harbour.
