Striking new trophy for small yachts in Rolex Sydney Hobart Race

Small boats contesting the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in future will receive special recognition for their efforts with the presentation of a valuable and striking new perpetual trophy to the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

Called the Battery Point Trophy after the historic Hobart landmark that overlooks the finish line for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, the trophy is a sterling silver, one-third replica of yachting’s oldest trophy, the America’s Cup.

The winner each year will be the yacht with the fastest elapsed time in the designated Small Boat category of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

CYCA Director Rod Skellet, owner/skipper of the Young 31, Krakatoa, will present the Battery Point Trophy to Commodore John Messenger at the Club’s Summer Prizegiving Dinner tomorrow evening, 2 May.

The Commodore will then announce that the CYCA has commissioned special Small Boat trophies for its two other annual long ocean races, the Sydney – Gold Coast Race, which will be named the Main Beach Trophy, and the Sydney – Mooloolaba Race, the trophy to be called the Point Cartwright Trophy. Main Beach and Port Cartwright mark the finish for these races to Queensland waters.

Already engraved on the base of the Battery Point Trophy is the name of Krakatoa, her owner/skipper Rod Skellet, and the yacht’s elapsed time of 3 days 07 hours 49 minutes 45 seconds in the 2002 Rolex Sydney Hobart Race. This is the fastest elapsed time by a small yacht since the inception of the race in 1945.

The Battery Point Trophy, the Main Beach Trophy and the Point Trophy will be awarded to the yacht in the Small Boat category with the fastest elapsed time in each race each year, adding prestige to their performances.

The Deed of Gift of the Battery Point Trophy does not specify a constant maximum overall length for a Small Boat. Rather, a special panel will determine what constitutes a Small Boat after assessing entries for each race.

The definition of a ‘small boat’ will thus vary from race to race, season to season, allowing flexibility for race organisers to keep up with changing trends in yacht design.

The Battery Point Trophy sits on a plinth large enough for the name of the fastest small boat and its owner/skipper for the next 25 races, and Rod Skellet has also donated to the CYCA five 16cm replicas of the America’s Cup as the take-home trophy for the winner.

While the name of fastest yacht and its owner/skipper will be engraved on the Battery Point Trophy, the yacht’s time will only be added if it betters the time of the previous fastest Small Boat.