Bondi terror attack victims to be honored as Sydney-Hobart yacht race sets sail

Skippers of 129 yachts set sail on a “bumpy” Sydney-Hobart ocean race, with many planning to scatter rose petals as they venture into rolling seas to honor the victims of the deadly terror shooting targeting a Jewish event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on December 14.

On a cool, grey summer’s day at Sydney Harbour, crowds gather around the shore or watch from scores of boats as a starting cannon sets the fleet on its way for the race’s 80th edition.

Crews can expect waves of up to four meters (13 feet) and 25-knot winds on the first day of the 628-nautical-mile race from Sydney to the Tasmanian capital Hobart, a meteorologist warned in a final weather briefing.

“It’s going to be cold. It’s going to be wet. It’s going to be bumpy,” race committee chairman Lee Goddard says ahead of the race.

“People are going to get seasick, and there will be incidents, and there probably will be injuries.”

In last year’s edition, two sailors died in separate incidents as gale-force winds and big seas pummelled the fleet.

This year, scores of sailors will make a special tribute to those who died when terrorists attacked a Jewish festival on Bondi Beach, killing 15 people and wounding scores more.

As yachts pass the beach, they will spread rose petals on the ocean “out of respect for the tragic loss of life,” says Sam Haynes, commodore of the race organizer, the Cruising Yacht Club of Sydney.