Callisto leads NZ fleet home with IRC Division 1 win in Sydney to Hobart

What a race the 2025 Sydney to Hobart has turned out to be. With the last finisher, Matthew Harvey's WindShift, still days from Hobart as these words are written, this edition has already delivered everything the race is known for: depth, drama, and hard lessons earned offshore. Every crew leaves the start line chasing a win, whether that means crossing the finish first or correcting out on top of the handicap standings. The big 100-footers draw the cameras and the headlines, but their story accounts for only a fraction of what this race is actually about.

Over a course this long and this unforgiving, what crews carry home matters as much as where they finish.

Four boats flew the New Zealand flag at the start: Callisto, V5, Rum Bucket, and Vixen Racing. Gizmo came in as a late entry, bringing with it strong Kiwi talent. Beyond those official New Zealand entries, Kiwi sailors were woven through international campaigns across the fleet. Phil Jameson raced aboard line honours winner Master Lock Comanche, Tony Mutter sailed with second-on-line-honours LawConnect, Brad Butterworth was part of the crew on fourth-placed Lucky, and Jenny Armstrong joined Veloce. That list is only a partial picture, because New Zealand involvement runs considerably deeper throughout the fleet. The influence extended to design as well, with Pacman, a Kevin Dibley modified Young 11, making its way steadily through the finishing train among the mid-fleet boats.

Three of the New Zealand-entered yachts completed the race. Callisto, Rum Bucket, and Gizmo all made it to Hobart, while Vixen Racing and V5 both withdrew on safety grounds. Conversations with Jim Murray from Callisto and the Vixen Racing team made the picture plain: in a race marked by heavy attrition and relentless pressure, the New Zealand story this year was not primarily about outright speed. It was about judgement, preparation, and knowing when to keep pushing, and when to stop. That lesson was not uniquely Kiwi. Crews across the fleet, including both Maritimo entries, came away with similar reflections.

When it comes to outright results, Callisto delivered the standout New Zealand performance of the race. Jim Murray's well-prepared campaign produced the most complete Kiwi showing of the fleet, with the boat finishing eighth on line honours and first in IRC Division 1. Callisto crossed the Hobart finish line on Monday 29 December at 4.42pm AEDT, recording an elapsed time of 3 days, 3 hours, 42 minutes, and 47 seconds. In a year when attrition relentlessly reshaped leaderboards across multiple divisions, Callisto combined genuine pace with careful control, never needing to push into extremes to stay in contention.

As the field thinned around her, Callisto remained consistently well placed, and Murray was straightforward when talking about where the result came from. It was not simply speed. Disciplined race management, an experienced crew, measured sail choices, and a boat that had been properly prepared for what it was about to face all played their part.

Rum Bucket and Gizmo both showed they belonged in this race. Rum Bucket crossed the line on Tuesday 30 December at 7.29am AEDT, finishing 30th on line honours with an elapsed time of 3 days, 18 hours, 29 minutes, and 04 seconds. Her campaign was defined by steady, disciplined progress through difficult conditions. While other boats slowed or stopped due to damage and fatigue, Rum Bucket kept moving and quietly climbed the standings, finishing ahead of many yachts that were faster or newer on paper.

Gizmo was the last New Zealand boat to finish, crossing on Tuesday 30 December at 4.02pm AEDT with an elapsed time of 4 days, 3 hours, 2 minutes, and 10 seconds. She placed 64th on line honours, but on corrected time she ranked 15th overall on IRC, making her the highest-placed New Zealand boat in the handicap standings. The next New Zealand-flagged finisher on IRC, Callisto, sits 35th overall.

Vixen Racing retired at 5.20pm AEDT on Saturday 27 December, at the time positioned 48 nautical miles east of Montague Island. The retirement came after crew member Deb Steele suffered fractured ribs in heavy seas, and skipper Sharon Ferris Choat made the call with crew safety as the priority. V5 also withdrew on Saturday 27 December, having sustained keel damage. Rather than continuing offshore with a boat in a compromised state, the team chose to retire and make for Eden. Structural failures drove a number of retirements throughout the fleet, and V5 were by no means alone in making that decision.

With boats still working their way south toward the finish, the character of this Sydney to Hobart is already settled. It rewarded those who prepared thoroughly, punished those who left anything to chance, and asked every crew to make sound decisions under pressure.

Standings

Callisto

Rum Bucket

Gizmo