3 minute read

Two boats have retired from the 75th Sydney to Hobart with race stalwart Ray Roberts suffering another dose of bad fortune.

Respected sailor Ray Roberts has added another hard luck chapter to his Sydney to Hobart tale of woes, with his boat forced retire just a few hours into this year's race.

His Farr 55 Hollywood Boulevard, which finished 10th overall last year and 13th in 2017, suffered a broken rudder.

The starting fleet of 157 was reduced to 155, with Victorian 38-footer Faster Forward retiring with steering problems.

Sydneysider Roberts, who has had great success sailing in Australia and Asia, had assembled a star-studded crew for this year's race.

New Zealand's recently crowned Finn world champion Josh Junior was among those on board.

Roberts has had several near misses on handicap in his long quest for Sydney to Hobart honours, which has spanned 24 races.

He has led on handicap only to be thwarted by different factors, including unfavourable wind shifts and responding to a flare signal.

Roberts is no stranger to retiring from the race having been forced out of the 2015 event with hull damage.

One of his past boats, Evolution Racing, went on to win Sydney to Hobart handicap honours as Victoire under Darryl Hodgkinson in 2013 and was second overall in 2010 as Jazz, after Roberts sold it to Chris Bull.

"I've had probably half a dozen hard luck stories," Roberts told AAP in 2016.