It’s not surprising that Michael, ‘Spiesy’, Spies entered the 2026 Rolex Sydney Hobart days after entries opened. The race would not be the same without him: the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and Southport Yacht Club member has competed in 47 Sydney Hobarts.
Spies on board Maritimo Katwinchar – CYCA/Ashley Dart pic.
What might pique interest is that Spies chose to enter a boat that may not be familiar to his peers: a J/160, Sugar, recently renamed Maritimo 160, launched in 2000.
A legend in the skiff and yachting world, Spies recently competed in the 2024 and 2025 Sydney Hobarts on board the 126-year-old Maritimo Katwinchar (Watney Circa 1904), owned by Bill Barry-Cotter. This time he will cross the Sydney Harbour start line on Boxing Day on board his own boat, which, at 53 feet, is around 20 feet (six metres) longer than the 33 foot Maritimo Katwinchar.
Maritimo Katwinchar leaves Sydney Harbour in the 2024 Bird Island Race – CYCA/Vito Feremans
RSHYR Media caught up with Spies before he ducked out for a swim during a holiday in Thailand.
“It’s the poverty pack, everyone is doing their bit to get Maritimo 160 on the start line,” Spies said. “It’s not a millionaires’ thing, but the boat has good pedigree.”
For Spies, the chance to compete as a boat owner is a dream come true. He admits to having a penchant for J/160s. Only 32 were built and, according to Spies, “they very rarely come on the market. The J/160s are really sought after, well-engineered boat.”
When Maritimo 160 popped up with a for sale sign earlier this year, Spies didn’t waste a moment.
“I saw it there [online] and one thing led to another, and next thing I was on the phone and I did the deal,” Spies said.
Spies flew from Australia to a boatyard in Long Beach, California. The previous owner had Maritimo 160 packed up and ready to ship to the Great Lakes before that plan fell through and the yacht was put on the market. Spies and a team reassembled the boat and had it surveyed for offshore sailing. He was grateful that its former owner kept the yacht, which has a carbon fibre rig, in pristine condition.
Maritimo 160 getting ready for delivery from LA to San Francisco for the start of the Pacific Cup – Maritimo 160 pic.
“It’s perfect,” he said. “We just did a couple of little subtle things to improve it here and there without losing its integrity.”
Now, the yacht will make the journey to Australia, with a few stops along the way. Firstly, Spies will sail the yacht to San Francisco. There, he will compete in the 2,100 nautical mile Pacific Cup, a biennial race from San Francisco, California to Kaneohe, Hawaii.
Spies said his well-balanced crew of around seven, across several nationalities, should be able to get the yacht, which is not light, “through the racecourse in quite a competitive and seeming way — with a bit of luck.”
After the race, Spies will sail Maritimo 160 to Hamilton Island, where he’s a member of the Race Management team for Hamilton Island Race Week in August. The final delivery leg is to Sydney ahead of the 81st Sydney Hobart in December.
Although Maritimo 160 won’t break any speed records, Spies, who won the race on Line Honours in 1999 and on IMS Overall in 2003, is looking forward to racing his “forever boat” south. After the finish, he has his sights set on cruising ‘maybe medium term, the northern circuit in Queensland and then around Asia’.
“Every regatta I’ve done in the last four or five decades — you finish it and you’re on a plane to somewhere else,” Spies said.
“It’d just be nice to actually slow down a bit and enjoy life It’s the sort of boat that you could comfortably live on.”
For more information, visit www.rolexsydneyhobart.com
