Rudder Cup 2026: Melbourne to Devonport

This year, the Melbourne to Devonport, The Rudder Cup, Australia's oldest ocean race, will be honoured as the ORCV race that runs on the "Melbourne Cup" long weekend. With a start off Queenscliff, the fleet will race to Devonport to be greeted and kindly hosted by the Mersey Yacht Club.

The Devonport race is a qualifying event for the Melbourne to Hobart "Westcoaster" and is expected to attract another large fleet. Devonport has always been a popular destination for ORCV and is a great place to visit.

The 195nm Devonport race starts off Queenscliff and proceeds across the Bass Strait to the finish line at the entrance of the Mersey River. Finishing yachts may proceed up the Mersey to the marina at the Mersey Yacht Club.

The race forms part of the ORCV Offshore Championship and is open to yachts racing fully crewed, "autohelm plus 4" or double-handed.

This is a Category 2 event, as amended by the ORCV Special Regulations, which allows for using Satellite Phones instead of HF radios by suitably equipped yachts.

For a short time, around 2000 - 2007, the Rudder Cup race ran to Low Point at Launceston before moving back to Devonport, where it had been for 50 years or so before that.

Melbourne to Devonport Race - The Rudder Cup
Ocean Race distance: 195 nautical miles
Safety Category: 2
Start Location: Queenscliff
Start Time: 1645 AEDT (Australian Eastern Daylight Time)
Start Date: 30 October 2026
Race Record: 19h 32m 56s by PROWLER skippered by Joe Westerlo in 1998
Race History 2026 marks 119 years since the first race in 1907
Race Tracker Follow the race on Blue Water Tracks

Time: 14.30 AEDT (Australian Eastern Daylight Time)


→ www.orcv.org.au

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