The Southern Cross event was a 1967 tack-on to the annual 630 mile Sydney to Hobart race and grew out of Australia's victory in the 1967 Admiral's Cup. Australian yachties believed it was time for a Southern Hemisphere equivalent of the Admiral's Cup and the Southern Cross Cup was the outcome. The arrival of the Southern Cross added a new edge of competition to the Sydney-Hobart.
New Zealand 1987 40c sg 1417, scott? (the yacht depict is unknown.)
Source: New Zealand Post