Why is the race for handicap so darn exciting?

My son is two.  He says the funniest things. 

Son: It's not Christmas yet.
Me: It's not Christmas day, but it is Christmas time.
Son: No, its not Christmas yet.

Apparently Christmas means the day after the night that Santa comes, when he gets to open up all of his presents.  We put the tree up in early December and put some presents under the tree.  He hasn't opened any of them yet, the anticipation has to be almost unbearable. 

Anyway, last night we were having this argument again and in frustration I blurt out "No, its not Christmas yet, it's almost Boxing Day eve".  My passion for the Sydney to Hobart is so great that it almost eclipses Christmas Day itself.

If you're an average punter, you are probably asking, "Why is a bunch of rich guys sailing their egos around for bragging rights against other rich guys so exciting?".  For one thing, generally only the owners are rich - the crew on the line honours hopefuls are paid athletes,  most people who are rich don't need to work.  Second, a lot of the handicap hopefuls are family and friends who are giving it a shot, and hoping and praying that the winds favour them this year and they walk away with the cup.

This morning Sailing World published this article on the race for the Rolex Sydney to Hobart Handicap:
http://www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?Nid=104759&refre=y&ntid=0&rid=1

I'm not going to reproduce it here, but among other things, the article highlights that:

• it is very rare for a boat to both win line honours and come first (win overall). Wild Oats XI was the last to do it when she famously took line honours, won the race and broke the record in 2005
• Love & War, the 39 year-old wooden boat [...] won the Rolex Sydney Hobart for the third time in 2006

The Sydney to Hobart race for the overall win can be won by just about any boat in the race.  The handicap race is the great equaliser, even though it is ignored by most spectators and most of the media. 

Once Wild Oats XI (or similarly familiarly named yacht) wins the Sydney to Hobart I encourage you to stick around and watch as the countdown to handicap honours unfolds - that's where the real action is!


I'm hoping that within a few days an initial weather report will be available.  A report came out on the weekend which indicated a cold and slow race to Hobart, which matches PredictWind's prediction, but it is still early days, and as I keep saying, the weather is one of the greatest variables in this race.

 - Evan