Final run home

Wild Oats XI expected to take second consecutive Rolex Sydney Hobart race line honours win later tonight

At 1500 local time this morning Bob Oatley's Wild Oats XI had 84 miles to go to reach the finish line off Hobart's Constitution Dock where local experts are predicting she will arrive after midnight tonight. The latest update shows her having extended her lead to 20 miles lead over her other 30m rival, Grant Wharington's 2003 line honours winner, Skandia and 26 miles over Matt Allen's Volvo Open 70 Ichi Ban. The boats are now just over half way down the east coast of Tasmania.

Wild Oats XI looks to be in good shape to secure her second consecutive line honours win, but this is the Rolex Sydney Hobart and making predictions is always dangerous. Before reaching the finish line, Wild Oats XI has still to round Tasman Island at the southeast corner of Tasmania where she will pass first Cape Pillar and then Cape Raoul, known for its famous vertical columns of rock known locally as the 'organ pipes'. From there the race leader must turn northwest and negotiate Storm Bay. Here in previous races, boats have been becalmed enabling those astern simply to sail around them although this is unlikely to occur this time with a southerly breeze forecast. Through Storm Bay the boats head for the mouth of the Derwent River leading up to Hobart where there is even greater chance of gusts, sudden wind shifts and calms.



"It is going to be pretty tough to catch them from here, but obviously we're hoping the wind will shut down in the river tonight and it will give us another chance," said Skandia skipper Grant Wharington this morning of his chances of catching Oats.

While yesterday afternoon Skandia broke her daggerboard and was expected to be overtaken by Ichi Ban overnight, so Wharington and his crew have done an admirable job of hanging on to their position. This may have partly been due to the conditions overnight which at one stage saw the big blue and white maxi becalmed. "We just had a complete shut down on the breeze," stated Wharington. "When the boat speed reads 00.0 you know that that's three lemons and that its all going bad for you."

Subsequently, for around two hours, the wind filled in from the east due to some thunderstorm activity associated with the weak cold front that was passing over them, allowing them to make up ground sailing downwind. However at this time Wharington reported they managed to split their jib top. Fortunately they don't need this sail at present as the wind has returned to the south-southeast and they are once again hard on the wind.

The wind is forecast to be southerly all the way to the points on the south side of Tasman Island, and if this proves true then Wharington reckons they will have to put in another losing tack off to the east. This is not helped by their broken daggerboard. "We have about half the righting moment we would otherwise have, so that makes the boat quite tippy and obviously we go a bit sideways as well. So not really ideal." Given this situation Wharington believes there is a good chance they will be caught by his old Volvo Open 70, now Matt Allen's Ichi Ban. "Everything is great. The boys are in good spirits. But they are very wary at this stage that the fat lady hasn't been sighted yet," he concluded.

Further offshore this morning, the wind went light overnight for Ichi Ban, but they were not becalmed, although the wind also clocked right around. They were also able to hoist their downwind sails in the early hours this morning, but by dawn the wind had backed to the south-southeast blowing 14 knots.

Crewman and sail maker Michael Coxon, reported that this morning Skandia was still in sight. "I think we must have been coming down on different pressure because we were catching both her and Wild Oats until we got into the same wind pattern. We think that Skandia even with her damaged rudder is fast enough to hold us off."

Despite being further offshore than Skandia with a better angle into the coast, even Ichi Ban wasn't able to lay the southern end of Tasman Island this morning, reported Coxon.

After a dramatic 24 hours of dismastings and a sinking, last night was quiet with no additional problems reported among the 69 boats that are still racing.

On IRC handicap the lead has reverted to the smaller boats with Graeme Ainley and John Williams' Petersen 44 Bacardi less than an hour ahead of Simon Kurts' venerable 1974 and 1978 overall winner Love & War. Lou Abrahams, a veteran of 43 previous Hobarts races, now sailing his Sydney 38 Challenge, is third.

In the battle of the 50 footers, Geoff Ross' brand new Reichel Pugh 55 Yendys is leading on the water and on handicap in Division B, while Ray Roberts' Cookson 50 Quantum Racing is on top in the larger Division A.

Injured skipper of Illusion Graham Jackson is heading back to Sydney this afternoon after receiving treatment at Pambula Hospital last night for a fractured wrist, broken hand and a cracked sternum after he was thrown across the deck of his yacht early yesterday morning in heavy seas. Jackson was taken from his yacht by police launch yesterday afternoon.

Jackson today described what happened in the darkness and huge seas yesterday morning. “I was steering the boat when it launched off a huge wave. The boat became airborne. When it crashed back down I was catapulted onto the deck hardware,” he said. “We have a titanium tiller extension that snapped like a twig. I’m surprised the boat didn’t break.” Illusion continued racing and Jackson plans to be reunited with his crew when they reach Hobart.

Injured Maximus crewman Glen Attrill remains in Moruya Hospital in a stable condition. He will be discharged in the next few days. Maximus motored overnight from Ulladulla and arrived in Sydney Harbour this morning. They went straight to Woolwich Dock where the broken mast was craned off the boat. She is now tied up at the CYCA in Rushcutters Bay where the tired crew has started cleaning up the boat in preparation for it being shipped back to Auckland in a couple of weeks’ time.

Ray White Koomooloo skipper Mike Freebairn and one of his crew are currently in Melbourne awaiting a flight to Hobart. Their insurance company sent a plane out yesterday afternoon to search for the stricken vessel but was unable to find it. The boat is presumed to have sunk.