Melbourne to Hobart Westcoaster opens entries for 54th edition

In June, the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria opened entries for the 2026 Melbourne to Hobart Westcoaster. With entries remaining open until early November, yachts are still entering with reknown Spirit of Downunder the latest entry announced.

Spirit of Downunder brings proven offshore experience to the 2026 Melbourne to Hobart Westcoaster. Skipper Rick Whitehouse will draw on that pedigree aboard the 12 metre yacht, designed and built by Cameron De Lange.

Now ten yachts are committed to the 435-nautical-mile Southern Ocean classic.

The race will start from Portsea Pier at 1130 AEDT on 27 December 2026, marking 54 years since the inaugural event in 1972. The course crosses Bass Strait before tracking down Tasmania's exposed west coast, rounding Maatsuyker Island, then turning east past South West Cape and through Storm Bay to the Derwent River finish.

Among earlier entries is Alien (R880), the Lidgard 36 skippered by Justin Brenan. Alien has won overall honours five times, most recently in 2025, with previous victories in 2023, 2017, 2011 and 2009. The smallest of the ten entries is Joel Matthews’ Hick 31 Godzilla. At the other end sits Cyrus Allen’s Beneteau First 50 White Spirit, the fleet’s largest yacht. Most measure between 36 and 45 feet, forming a strong core of medium sized offshore yachts.

The Westcoaster remains the highest-ranked race in the ORCV Offshore Championship and offers divisions for fully crewed, double-handed and four-plus-autohelm entries. The monohull race record stands at 1 day 17 hours 28 minutes 59 seconds, set by Matthew Short's Shortwave in 2008. The multihull record of 1 day 13 hours 31 minutes 50 seconds was established by Drew Carruthers' Rushour in 2024.

The race was conceived by Stan Gibson and Dr Joe Cannon as a challenging alternative to the Sydney to Hobart for Victorian and South Australian sailors. Despite early scepticism about the severity of Tasmania's west coast, the event has maintained a strong safety record with more than 950 yachts and 7500 crew completing the race without major incident.

ORCV training programmes and race management are credited with this record, though the event has seen demanding conditions. In 1999, Nigel Jones' Cadabarra 7 was the sole finisher from 20 starters after a low-pressure system brought 45-knot gusts and 5-metre seas. Light winds have also proven decisive – only four boats finished in 2004, and in 2021 Matt Fahey's Faster Forward won overall by taking the longer route west of King Island.