Celestial wins brutal 75th Brisbane to Gladstone race

Celestial has claimed line honours in what observers are already calling one of the harshest Brisbane to Gladstone races on record. The winning yacht, skippered by 2022 Sydney to Hobart champion Dr Sam Haynes, crossed the finish line in Gladstone Harbour in the early hours of the weekend after battling relentless northerly winds, violent storm cells and waterspouts that transformed the overnight dash into a grinding endurance contest.

The numbers tell the story: Celestial took 1 day, 19 hours and 30 minutes to complete the course in this 75th edition of the classic. That's more than double the record-breaking time the same yacht set just 12 months earlier, when it finished in under 20 hours. The slowdown wasn't due to any lack of speed—it was pure brutality of the conditions.

"It was like a washing machine out there," Haynes said as he stepped ashore, where an ambulance stood ready. One crew member was treated for suspected shoulder and rib injuries sustained while working on the mainsail halyard high above the deck—a vivid illustration of how physically punishing these races can become.

Celestial's crew were hardly alone in facing crisis. The yacht Celeste was struck by lightning on Good Friday evening, destroying all electronic systems in an instant. Yet rather than abandon the race, the crew pressed on with only backup radio and navigation. Elsewhere, nine yachts retired from the fleet—eight after the first night when two severe storm cells scattered the fleet, and one more, Indigo II, just before the finish with a torn mainsail.

Such trials speak to something deeper than mere competition. Ocean Crusaders J-Bird III, crewed by Annika Thomson as helm, achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first electric-powered yacht to complete the race. While Celestial won the raw race-time honours, smaller boats in the fleet positioned themselves to claim the corrected-time title—a calculation that accounts for yacht class handicaps and often produces surprises.

Queensland Cruising Yacht Club Commodore Ian Gidlow reflected on the historic nature of the event: "This year's race fleet will go down in history for having had to overcome everything from the calm to the storm and everything in between." That full spectrum of conditions—from light winds to furious squalls—tested every aspect of the vessels and crews on the water.

The Brisbane to Gladstone race carries a reputation for unpredictability, but this edition cemented it. For Haynes and Celestial, the victory feels heavier than its time might suggest: winning the Sydney to Hobart in 2022 and then claiming line honours in one of the decade's toughest ocean races speaks to the calibre of both skipper and vessel. As the rest of the fleet crossed the finish line and corrected-time results began to emerge, the 75th edition was being remembered not for records set, but for the remarkable seamanship it demanded and the crews who chose to fight through rather than retreat.