After almost two days on the water, Obsession and her crew took line honours in the 2026 Fremantle to Albany yacht race, coming home in a thrilling finish ahead of Sirene early on Sunday morning.
The fleet left Fremantle at 10am on Friday, sailing 350 nautical miles through the Indian and Southern oceans to arrive in Albany before dawn on Sunday morning.
In what has been labelled the closest finish of the offshore race to date, three yachts entered King George Sound together, setting up a nail-biting final match race to the finish line.
A small crew from Royal Perth Yacht Club went out on the water to meet them, relying heavily on the instruction of online trackers and navigation instruments to find the three approaching yachts in the darkness.
Sitting in a small boat in the dark expanse of King George Sound, squinting into the distance to find the yachts’ blinking red navigation lights gave some insight into the challenges the crews faced on their two-day journey as they navigated towards their final port of Albany sometimes in complete darkness.
Sirene and Obsession, who had been travelling close together for most of the race, entered the sound first about 4am, with Al Fresco close behind.
The trio had been the early leaders, moving ahead of the pack as they approached Cape Naturaliste late on Friday night, with Sirene and Obsession getting ahead of Al Fresco around Cape Leeuwin to lead the charge into the final leg of the race.
Al Fresco tried to take the inside line, sailing on the inside of Eclipse Island while the others went around but the move didn’t quite give them the edge they needed, and Sirene was still the leader as they rounded Bald Head.
At first it looked like Sirene’s early advantage would win the day but as the yachts drew closer to land and the breeze dropped away, Obsession, the lighter and smaller of the pair, made its move, overtaking the race leader as they entered the narrow channel into Princess Royal Harbour with less than one kilometre to go.
Obsession and her skipper Paul Arns kept their lead, even though it was slow going once inside the protected harbour, crossing the finish line just before 6am to record a winning race time of 43 hours and 53 minutes.
Sirene, skippered by Bill Henson, finished only four minutes behind the winners with a time of 43:57.
Jubilant cheers could be heard across the harbour as the Obsession crew celebrated their hard-fought victory, and sponsors Wilson’s Brewing Co. provided plenty of cold beer for the teams to enjoy after they tied up inside Albany Marina.
Ken Court was also at the marina to welcome the winners home, the owner of Great Southern Lime and new sponsor of the race able to keep his 37-hour race record for another year as well as his $10,000 prize, which was offered up for anyone who broke it.
Mr Court said he intended to offer the prize again the next time the race was run and compound it each year until it was won.
Al Fresco took third with 44 hours and three minutes, followed five hours later by Lithium and Wyuna at about 11.30am, then 2UP, The Edge, and Sagacious IV, with the last yacht crossing the line at about 9pm on Sunday.
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