Before sailing in Australia’s great race, which was to start on Saturday in Sydney and end in Hobart, the competitors and their yachts had to get to Sydney.
Increasingly, that is quite a journey in itself. The Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, once largely an Australian concern, is becoming more global.
Of the 109 entries this year, a record 28 are from outside the country — four more than the previous mark.
“I keep saying to the people around at our club here that we are not just a race between Sydney and Hobart; we are an international event,” said John Cameron, commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, which organizes the annual race from Sydney Harbor across the Bass Strait to Hobart, on the island of Tasmania.