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their enthusiasm for the cruise to Hobart was soon replaced with the realisation that it was now a race. They would not be going along for the ride.
    The first time the general public became aware of the event was via a printed addendum to a small article in theOctober, 1945 edition of Australian Power Boat and Yachting Monthly Magazine. It was so small it could easily have gone unnoticed.
“Yacht Race to Tasmania; it is expected that an Ocean Yacht Race may take place from Sydney to Hobart probably starting on December 26, 1945. Yachtsmen desirous of competing should contact Vice President Mr P. Luke, 62 Castlereagh Street, Sydney, for information. Entries close December 1, 1945.”
    The article preceding the addendum announced the results of a race conducted by “the Cruising Yacht Club of NSW” over 17 nautical miles from Sydney Harbour to Palm Beach. The sturdy 35-foot cutter Maharani (later abbreviated to Rani ) and skippered by Captain J. Illingworth, was the winner.
    The Notice of Race for the Sydney to Hobart was soon issued. It reminded competitors that “the setting of spinnakers is not permitted” – something in keeping with the cruising attitudes of those first entrants. A method of measuring and handicapping yachts was devised and a starting line chosen “ from Flagstaff Point, off Quarantine Bay, 200 yards in length, with the starter’s boat identified by a white CYC flag.” The practice of the white CYC flag remains a club tradition to this day. The line was actually just inside the entrance to Sydney Harbour – to the north. In later years the race would start on the south side, closer to the CBD.
    Contacted by the CYC, the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, in Hobart, agreed to manage the finish line while the Royal Australian Air Force agreed to schedule “flying exercises” for Catalina flyingboats over the course so they could report the position of any yacht sighted.
    Word of the race was greeted with great enthusiasm by the daily press. The Australian public, still weary after five years of war, was in need of fresh excitement and adventure. This was it – a perfect panacea in the form of a daring 630-nautical mile voyage from NSW to Tasmania. Brave men, and at least one woman, would be fighting unpredictable and often tempestuous seas aboard small boats all in the name of fun.
    As the start date approached there were 10 yachts registered to compete. At the last minute the Livingston brothers advised that their yacht, Warrana , was unable to get away from Melbourne in time to reach Sydney. In years to come, though, the Livingstons would leave an indelible mark on the history of the classic. They raced the famous yachts carrying the name Kurrewa with considerable success and they also donated a magnificent perpetual trophy, the F. & J. Livingston Trophy, for the first yacht to be positioned south of Tasman Island at the entrance to Tasmania’s Storm Bay.
    The first race provided the avid Australian newspaper readers and radio listeners with all the high drama and exhilaration they wanted. Front-page news headlines told of the fleet’s plunge into the face of a fast-approaching southerly gale and the possibility that the storm had claimed Rani , Captain Illingworth and his crew. The Catalina flyingboats could only locate the 56-footer Winston Churchill at the head of the fleet. There was no sign of Rani. The flight crew didn’t realise that Captain Illingworth had pushed on into the jaws of the storm while his rivals had slowed or even stopped. Lashed to the mast by ropes when on deck, Illingworth and his crew pressed on and sailed out of the blue into Storm Bay, 44 miles from the finish. They reached Hobart unscathed and received a tumultuous welcome from the people ofthe city. Rani claimed both the line honours trophy and the prize for being first on handicap.
    Jack Earl, in his biography, saw that first race this way:
    “We had a wonderful sail down the coast until we got to Montagu Island