Four New Zealand boats. Four completely different designs, histories and paths to the start line. Yet each one carries the same competitive instinct that has drawn Kiwi sailors to Sydney Hobart since the race was barely out of its infancy.
*The long wake to 2025*
New Zealand's relationship with this race runs deep. In 1946, the second time the event was ever held, Wellingtonian Norman Thomas sailed the 1903 Logan 52 Ilex across the Tasman to compete. She retired at Cape Raoul before the turn into Storm Bay and then made the voyage home to Wellington, a round trip of nearly 4,000 nautical miles. That willingness to go anyway, go hard and go far has defined the Kiwi relationship with this race ever since.
It showed again in 1971, one of the most commanding years New Zealand has had in the event. Nine Kiwi boats started, and Pathfinder, Runaway and Wai-Awiwa crossed the line first, second and third. John Spencer's freshly launched Whispers II also competed, a plywood sloop barely out of the shed yet quick enough to place 10th on line. New Zealand boats have been winning line honours, overall titles and respect in this race ever since.
This year, four New Zealand-identified entries contest the 80th edition: Callisto, V5, Rum Bucket and Vixen Racing. A PAC52, a modified TP52, a More 55 cruiser-racer and a Verdier 40. No two share a design philosophy or a history, and all four are making their Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race debut. Their crews bring ocean miles and hard-won experience, but the boats themselves are new to this course, giving the Kiwi contingent a rare clean slate in a fleet stacked with legacy.
What each boat does share is something less tangible. Every one of them reflects the character of the person driving her.
**Callisto — the polished Pacific contender**
Owner: James Murray | Type: PAC52 | Launch year: 2017 | Sail number: USA5202
Callisto arrives in Sydney with a record that commands respect. The PAC52 has won California Offshore Race Week, claimed divisional podiums in both the Transpac and the Newport Bermuda Race, and lifted the 2023 Pineapple Cup. Her sistership Warrior Won finished fourth overall in the 2022 Sydney Hobart, one place behind Max Klink's Caro, a result that confirms how well this platform handles Bass Strait and the Tasman.
James Murray is no stranger to New Zealand sailing. His other Callisto, a Custom Botin IRC 42, represented the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron alongside Caro at the 2025 Admiral's Cup, winning the opening race and finishing second in class. The boat he has brought to Sydney this year is the PAC52, a longer, more powerful machine with a higher righting moment and the range to stretch out offshore rather than round buoys.
She has already shown her pace locally. At the 2025 PIC Coastal Classic, Callisto finished second on line, beaten only by Byron Ehrhart's Juan K design Lucky. Her campaign has been calm, deliberate and built on thorough preparation. Murray has not brought a boat this capable across the Pacific simply to make up numbers. He is here to race, and to race properly.
**V5 — the Kiwi battler with teeth**
Owner: Brian Petersen | Type: TP52 (modified) | Launch year: 2001 | Sail number: NZL55555
Where Callisto is polished precision, V5 is a South Pacific brawler. Launched in 2001 as Victoria 5, she passed through a succession of committed Kiwi owners, each adding refinements to keep her competitive. The most significant transformation came with the fitting of a milled steel canting keel and EC6 rigging, delivering power that goes well beyond what her age might suggest.
Brian Petersen took ownership in 2020, only 18 months after losing his previous yacht, Ran Tan II, at sea during a delivery for the 2019 Transpac. That Elliott 50 had finished 16th on line, 24th in IRC and ninth in Division 0 at the 2017 Sydney Hobart. Losing her was shattering. Taking on V5 was a way forward.
Under Petersen, V5 has built a formidable regional record.
- 2025 Groupama Race (New Caledonia): Line honours - 2025 Noakes Sydney to Gold Coast Race: Fourth on line, third in IRC Division 0 - 2022 PIC Coastal Classic: Line honours and overall PHRF win
V5's real strength is continuity. The core crew race together regularly, know each other's rhythms and refine the boat through accumulated time on the water. The programme is practical and hand-built, and fundamentally Kiwi in character. Petersen has built a culture grounded in trust and clean communication rather than constant roster changes. In the right breeze, V5 can punch well above expectations.
**Rum Bucket — the odyssey boat with a stubborn heartbeat**
Owner: Quintin Fowler | Type: More 55 | Launch year: 2019 | Sail number: NZL9674
No Kiwi entry has taken a stranger road to the start line than Rum Bucket.
Ordered in 2017, she made her way through Europe, crossed the Atlantic and was pointing toward Panama in early 2020 when the world locked down. The Canal closed, borders tightened and the crew had no option but to leave her at Shelter Bay and fly home. Rum Bucket waited behind.
She was eventually loaded onto a freighter, only for the ship to be seized in a drug investigation in Mexico. Months passed before she was released, transferred onto another transport and finally delivered to Auckland. Lightning or static had fried her electronics during the journey, adding yet another layer of cost and delay. By the time she was recommissioned, the boat had already endured more than most vessels see in a lifetime.
Racing sharpened her again. At the 2025 PIC Coastal Classic, Rum Bucket finished 23rd on line in Division 1b with a corrected mid-fleet placing. She comes alive in a breeze, holds her lane when conditions build and rewards patience and good seamanship.
Quintin Fowler has been to Hobart before. He sailed aboard Outrageous Fortune in 2011 and it did not go to plan, finishing 58th on line and 48th in IRC. "We went the wrong way," he says. This time the preparation has been harder, the crew more experienced and the ambition sharper. For Rum Bucket, making the start line is already a victory. Everything beyond that is racing.
**Vixen Racing — the disruptor with purpose**
Skipper: Sharon Ferris-Choat | Type: Verdier 40 (modified Class 40) | Launch year: 2008 | Sail number: NZL076
Vixen Racing is the wildcard of the Kiwi group, light, punchy and driven by clear intent. Launched in 2008 as Desafio Cabo de Horno, she won the Global Ocean Race before moving through several owners to arrive in the hands of a new team led by double Olympian Sharon Ferris-Choat. A Canadian-born New Zealander, Ferris-Choat brings three round-the-world campaigns and a world speed record to the role.
Ferris-Choat raced the IMOCA 60 Awen in the 2024 Sydney Hobart, finishing 14th on line and eighth in PHS Division 1, before turning her attention to Vixen. The boat has been modified for a broader offshore range and races with a mixed crew whose mission is straightforward: build capability through opportunity.
Vixen is quick in light air, stable at the right heel angle and well positioned for the 40-foot battle that will develop this year against boats such as First Light. She brings new faces, new voices and a well-defined purpose to the fleet.
*Four boats, four ambitions, one Kiwi thread*
What connects Callisto, V5, Rum Bucket and Vixen Racing is not design, budget or pedigree. It is intent. All four have crossed the Tasman to win their class, whether on handicap or on the water. Nobody made this journey for a comfortable ride.
Callisto brings precision. V5 brings grit. Rum Bucket brings resilience. Vixen brings disruption. Four Kiwi boats, four completely different journeys to the start line, and every one of them pointed south.
In the 80th Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, the New Zealand story feels right on cue.
