Past leads to Kialoa’s return for Hobart bid

AN old titan of the Sydney to Hobart is back in the race a record 46 years after taking line honours, with Kialoa II continuing her latest owners’ campaign to visit the scenes of her former glories.

It’s the longest gap in the event’s history for a former line honours champion’s return to the race.

Built in 1964, the 73-foot yacht Kialoa II took line honours in 1971 and recorded high placings in most of the world’s other great ocean races.

This year, new owners Paddy and Keith Broughton have already taken the boat back to the famed Fastnet race, in which it finished second across the line in 1969.

“The overall plan is to do the old ocean classics that Jim Kilroy did,” Paddy Broughton said.

“He raced her in the Sydney Hobart race in 1971, he did a couple of Fastnet Races, he also did a number of Transpac races, and a number of Newport Bermudas, so our objective is to do all of those four classics.”