39 Footer
Mark Twain is a Sparkman & Stephens 39-footer with one of the most enduring records in Sydney–Hobart Yacht Race history. Across five decades and multiple custodians, she has kept returning to the blue water classic — not just as a yacht, but as a living thread in Australian offshore sailing.
26 Starts
• 26 Sydney–Hobart starts/completions (record-holder, now tied)
• First yacht to reach 25 Sydney–Hobarts (2002) — earning a special medallion in Hobart
• Achieved 5 divisional podiums total (three 2nd places and two 3rd places)
• Survived the infamous 1998 race — one of the most punishing in race history
• Won the 1979 Sydney–Nouméa Race
• Appeared on magazine covers (including Offshore, March 1980)
5 Decades
Every era added a chapter — and every crew wrote lines of it at sea:
• Ron J. Langman (1971–late 1970s)
• Peter Rowsthorn / syndicates (mid-1980s)
• Hugh O’Neill (1990s–2002)
• Michael Spies (restored + raced in 2018)
• Rob Payne (current custodian)
Across those decades, “hundreds of men and women” have sailed aboard — from the early Victoria crews of the 1970s to the teams aiming to bring her back again.