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The final yacht arrived in Hobart this morning, marking the end of the Sydney to Hobart race.

Twelve of the yachts are taking part in the Clipper Round the World Race so they head out again tomorrow. These 70 foot yachts are the most colourful in the harbour. As we strolled around yesterday their crews were busy repacking sales and preparing for the next leg of their 40,000 nautical mile race.

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The organisers supply a fleet of twelve identical racing yachts, each with a fully qualified skipper to safely guide the crew. Anyone can apply to join this race, whether you have sailing experience or not. The current race left UK on 30th August 2015 and are expected to finish July 2016.

London, UK > Rio de Janeiro, Brazil > Cape Town, South Africa > Albany, Australia > Sydney, Australia > Hobart, Australia > Airlie Beach, Australia > Da Nang, Vietnam > Qingdao, China > Seattle, USA > Panama > New York, USA > Londonderry, Northern Ireland > Den Helder, Netherlands > London, UK.

We often walk past the judges box that sets the start / finish line for these races. Also a sculpture relating to the Sydney Hobart race distance and Tasmania’s association with Antartica.

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The atmosphere in Hobart has been amazing these past few days. Sunny skies, crowds of friendly people, music and marques along the waterfront. Everyone enjoying food and drinks along the piers cheered and clapped as each yacht finished the race and entered the moorings. Such a warm welcome to the crews after several days of hard sailing.

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It was the end of one year and the beginning of another. Hobart put on firework shows at 9.30pm for families and again at midnight. It wasn’t London or Sydney but we enjoyed the fireworks from our balcony.

Happy New Year everyone.