The entry list for the 80th Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is finalised, and the fleet taking shape for Boxing Day makes for compelling reading. A total of 142 yachts will contest the 628-nautical-mile passage from Rushcutters Bay in Sydney Harbour to Constitution Dock in Hobart. Among them, four Kiwi entries are confirmed and will be featured separately. One boat, however, has already captured the imagination of the racing world: a multiple Line Honours champion returning from a two-year absence under an entirely new identity.
A legend reborn
Few yachts carry the weight of history that Wild Oats XI does. Nine Line Honours victories and two Overall wins have cemented her place as the most decorated Supermaxi in the race's long history. Now, for the 80th edition, she returns as Palm Beach XI, renamed and substantially reconfigured following a significant refit.
Mark Richards, who has skippered Wild Oats XI since her launch in 2005 and now serves as CEO of Palm Beach Motor Yachts, confirmed the yacht's return to offshore competition. After missing the past two editions, the 100-footer will line up once more on Boxing Day, carrying a new name, upgraded appendages, and a purpose that stretches well beyond finishing first.
The transformation was announced at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show on 24 October 2025. Palm Beach Motor Yachts revealed the renamed yacht and confirmed her entry, stating that Wild Oats XI "will relaunch with major modifications for the 80th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race this December 2025." The yacht's role has been recast as a live testing platform, with every lesson drawn from the Southern Ocean feeding directly back into the brand's motor yacht designs.
Engineering the evolution
Central to the refit is the adoption of C-foils, curved lifting daggerboards that generate both vertical and lateral lift as the yacht heels and builds speed. Think of them as underwater wings with a deliberate bend. At lower speeds or in lighter conditions, they function much like conventional boards, resisting leeway and keeping the hull on track. As heel angle increases and velocity climbs, the curvature begins producing lift that effectively unloads the hull, reducing wetted surface area and improving efficiency. Across Bass Strait's long reaching legs, where sustained speed and structural endurance count for everything, even a modest gain in efficiency can prove decisive.
The broader appendage package has also been reworked. Palm Beach XI now carries a deeper keel fin and bulb, new upwind daggerboards, and a refined overall foil arrangement, a combination built to push performance without sacrificing the reliability demanded by a 628-nautical-mile offshore race.
The intended use of C-foils raises genuine technical questions. The current Notice of Race does not specifically address lifting foils, and any such appendage must comply with IRC rating requirements alongside Australian Sailing Category 2 safety standards, which impose strict stability criteria. Go Boating NZ has contacted the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia for clarification on how those measurement and stability rules apply to this type of appendage.
From Fort Lauderdale to Hobart
Richards framed the project in terms of Palm Beach Motor Yachts' broader engineering philosophy, describing the racecourse as a real-world laboratory. The company's press release, titled "Palm Beach Motor Yachts Takes the Helm of the Iconic Wild Oats XI" and published on 31 October 2025, made that intent explicit: "Every insight earned on the racecourse flows directly into the company's motor yacht range, ensuring Palm Beach Motor Yachts are not only stronger, faster, and more fuel efficient, but also carry forward the relentless spirit of improvement that defines the brand."
The approach deliberately collapses the boundary between grand prix ocean racing and high-end motor yacht construction, treating one of the world's most demanding ocean classics as a full-scale research and development exercise.
A powerhouse fleet
Richards' return adds further intrigue to an already formidable line-up. The 2025 race features six 100-foot Supermaxis and five past Overall winners, ensuring competition at the front of the fleet will be fierce from the moment the gun fires.
LawConnect, campaigned by Christian Beck, arrives as back-to-back Line Honours champion from 2023 and 2024, having also finished second in 2022. Master Lock Comanche, co-skippered by Matt Allen and James Mayo, has gone through several name changes over the years, but the boat itself won in 2017, 2019, and 2022. Wild Thing 100 will be steered by Grant Wharington and Adrian Seiffert, while Bill Barry-Cotter campaigns Maritimo 100 as a luxury racer-cruiser. The Hong Kong-based SHK Scallywag rounds out the international representation at the top of the fleet, and Palm Beach XI completes the Supermaxi contingent, bringing with her a Line Honours record spanning victories in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2018, along with the triple crown of line honours, race record, and overall win in 2005.
Last year's Overall winner Celestial V70, skippered by CYCA Commodore Dr Sam Haynes, will be looking to defend her title. Enduring campaigners Love & War and Unicoin also feature, and the combination of proven champions, modern challengers, and returning legends gives the 80th edition a depth of talent befitting its milestone status.
The return of Mark Richards
Richards' confirmation arrived just an hour before the entry list closed, a last-minute move that immediately generated conversation throughout the sailing community. After two years on the sidelines, his return under the Palm Beach banner is not driven by sentiment alone. It signals that competitive ocean racing remains inseparable from the company's design identity, and that the most effective way to validate engineering decisions is to subject them to full race pressure in the Southern Ocean.
Very few brands can credibly claim to stress-test future design concepts at 30 knots somewhere between Sydney and Hobart.
Foil technology and the future
Palm Beach XI appears to be the only confirmed 2025 entrant fitted with C-foils, but the technology represents a logical progression in a wider movement toward foil-assist systems in offshore racing. One of the earlier examples of that trend was the Maverick 49, a British-built performance cruiser designed by Hugh Welbourn and launched by Infiniti Yachts. That boat, which competed in several Sydney to Hobart events, carried Dynamic Stability System foils: retractable horizontal foils extending from the hull to increase righting moment and generate lift at speed.
Palm Beach XI's curved foils share a similar philosophy with the DSS concept, prioritising a balance of lift and control over full flight. Both approaches illustrate how grand prix design thinking continues to influence offshore racing within the constraints of IRC rules. The Sydney to Hobart has historically served as a proving ground for technical advancement, from canting keels to carbon spars, and C-foils may well represent the next chapter in that progression. How far foil-assist technology can develop within the boundaries of offshore racing regulations remains an open question, and the 80th edition will provide a meaningful data point.
Informing the future
When the Boxing Day starting gun fires, Palm Beach XI will carry more than a fresh coat of paint and a new name. She will bring together performance heritage, engineering ambition, and trans-Tasman craftsmanship in a single package. The goal is not simply Line Honours, though that remains very much within reach. It is to demonstrate that the qualities demanded by elite ocean racing, strength, speed, efficiency, and endurance, can be translated directly into the next generation of high-speed cruisers built by Palm Beach Motor Yachts.
If the modifications perform as intended, the knowledge gained between Sydney Heads and Constitution Dock could prove as valuable in a design studio as it is on the racecourse itself.
