In a 20-25 knot sou’east breeze, CYCA Commodore Matt Allen’s Jones 70 Ichi Ban had its Rolex Trophy Passage Race to Botany Bay cut short after sustaining damage to one dagger board just six days out from the start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

Ichi Ban, which was leading the Passage Series fleet at the time, is now on its way to the super yacht marina at Rozelle where it will be hauled out of the water so the damage can be properly assessed.

“We tacked and heard a big crack as a block exploded, then one of the (dagger)boards went down too far, beyond its stopper,” said Allen this afternoon.

“We started taking water, it was just a trickle, nothing a couple of buckets won’t fix,” he added while motoring back to the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia following their race retirement.

“We’ll have to take the boat out of the water, dry it and grind out the cracks. We have a guy ready to fix the board and the centreboard casing and hopefully tomorrow we can put the carbon in.

“I don’t think there is any major damage to the hull, but we’ll know more when we get her out of the water,” Allen added.
During last year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Ichi Ban’s port rudder blade snapped however they managed to nurse the 70 footer to the finish line and hold onto third over the line.

In the 2006 Rolex Sydney Hobart Ichi Ban finished second to Wild Oats XI.