Ellison looks back on the horrors of the Sydney/Hobart yacht race

More bad weather on telly tonight

By Lucy Sherriff • Get more from this author

Posted in Business, 30th October 2000 17:32 GMT

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Channel 4 is showing a report tonight of the 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race which claimed the lives of at least five sailors and caused Oracle boss, Larry
Ellison to swear off sailing.

The programme, called "To the Ends of the Earth: Hell on High Water" chronicles the 630 nautical mile journey from Sydney Harbour to Hobart's Constitution
dock in Tasmania. Ellison talks about the horrors of the race in the programme.

One hundred and fifteen yachts started the race in 1998, but only 45 made it. Te storms that hit the race have been called the worst to hit sailing since the 1979 Fastnet disaster.

At the time Ellison said "I've never experienced anything remotely like this. It's been a very emotional experience to get here. This is not what this is supposed to be about. A lot of us are upset."

Ellison's yacht, the Sayonara led for almost the whole race and was the first to encounter the freak low depression system off Australia's southeast coast. The
storm battered the racers with 70-plus knot gales and high waves.

Despite the storms and the deaths the race was completed. Prior to the 1998 race only two deaths had
been recorded in the race history. The first race was
in 1945.

The programme is showing on Channel 4, tonight at
8pm.