Winning the Sydney to Hobart- A Case Study in Project Management

Lynn Crawford, University of Technology, Sydney PMI Proceedings, 1993, pp. 53-59 INTRODUCTION Campaigning for an ocean classic yacht race is a project. The campaign has a starting point, which can be defined, and the end of the race is the end of the project (1). It involves a process, which requires management if the objectives are to be defined and achieved. Unlike many other projects where success may be open to debate and achievement of objectives may be unclear this is a project in which project success or failure is as clear as the race results. As an interesting and atypical project type, it provides excellent opportunities to illustrate, examine, and question the application and operation of the project management framework. The project was successful. The objectives were achieved; the races were won. This paper will briefly present, as a project, the campaign, which culminated in the winning of both the 1992 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and the 1992 Kodak Asia Pacific Ocean Racing Championship. The phases of the project life-cycle-concept, development, execution, and finishing (2); the four basic project management functions-management of scope, quality, time, and cost; and the other essential project management functions-human resource management, communications management, contract/procurement management, and risk management-will be discussed in relation to the project.
As a case study, a project management framework is applied to the project, in retrospect. Many project managers tackle their tasks without conscious reference to the various project management frameworks developed by theorists. This project was carried out by a project initiator with many years of experience, and a reputation for success in leading projects in the corporate and financial