2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race: The accidental nautical nudist

Tom Robinson, ahead of the start of his first Rolex Sydney Hobart © RSHYR | Ashley Dart

Few if any sailors in the 2024 Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race have a nautical story as dramatic as that of Tom Robinson.

The first time Sydney to Hobart sailor was attempting to row across the Pacific in October 2023, when one night his custom-made boat was flipped by a freak wave.

But that was just the beginning of his troubles.

As the boat bobbed in the Pacific five days west of Vanuatu, his clothes were swept into the abyss.

Asked why, he responded: "Well, I was naked for most of the trip.

"There wasn't a scrap of cotton on me there," he said.

"So the thing is that when you're rowing, salt sores are a real issue. Chafing is a real issue. All that stuff can be pretty serious, actually.

"The easiest thing to do is just to row nude. And you're wet all the time anyway, so there's no way you can keep clothes dry, and you're out there, not for days or weeks, but months. And so that the safest bet is to be in the nude," Robinson said.

Tom Robinson on his quest of rowing across The Pacific - photo © Tom Robinson

Where it became an issue is when he was eventually rescued.

After spending a cold 14-hours desperately clinging to the upturned hull of his boat, daylight eventually revealed a ship on the horizon.

"As it got closer, I assumed it was some sort of cargo ship and I thought I was going to be on route to China or something like that," he said.

"But then as it approached, I realised it wasn't any ship... it was a cruise ship.

"It was only then that I really became aware of my nudity as I saw the hundreds of passengers along the decks with their photo lenses and their binoculars."

He said as he clambered up a rope ladder, the crew protected his modesty with some well appreciated towels.

Robinson's adventure started with a boyhood dream to be the youngest person ever to row across the Pacific Ocean from Peru to Australia in a boat that he had built. The Guinness Book of Records recognised that achievement and the Australian Geographic recently named him Young Adventurer of the Year.

His epic adventure lasted about 14 months, 265 days at sea in total, and about six months spent in the islands, rowing 7,500 nautical miles across the Pacific until that fateful wave.

Four months later he was contacted by someone from Papua New Guinea, alerting him that his boat had washed up on the island of Panawina. While he did make the trek to examine it, there it still remains, as a memorial to his voyage.

And now Tom has turned his attention to the Sydney Hobart, where he is a crew aboard Fruit Salid 3.

"No more rowing adventures. I've done enough rowing. I think sailing is the thing for me now," he said from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

As to whether he plans to finish this race fully clothed?

"Well, I'll be fully clothed over the finish line, but who knows what's going to happen after that?"