The 2004 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, sponsored by Rolex, was the 60th annual running of the "blue water classic" Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. As in past editions of the race, it was hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia based in Sydney, New South Wales. The 2004 race began on Sydney Harbour at 1:10pm on Boxing Day (26 December 2004), before heading south for 630 nautical miles (1,170 km) through the Tasman Sea, past Bass Strait, into Storm Bay and up the River Derwent, to cross the finish line in Hobart, Tasmania.
The 2004 fleet comprised 116 starters of which 59 completed the race and 57 yachts retired. This was the last starting fleet over 100 until the 2014 race. The poor weather, the worst since the deadly 1998 race, forced 42 boats to withdraw from the race by the second day.
â Seriously TEN were given a 60 minutes penalty to be added onto their elapsed time by the International Jury due to failing to maintain a continuous listening watch on the race radio frequencies for the duration of their race as required by Sailing Instruction 40 (Radio Transmissions).<br /> â First National Real Estate were given a 2 minutes redress to be subtracted off their elapsed time under RRS 26 & 29.2 by the International Jury due to an incident where they were delayed due to the Race Committee starting vessel weighing anchor while they were completing a manoeuvre of sailing around to the prestart side of the starting line before the start of the race.