Rolex Sydney Hobart- Wild Oats XI scores comfortable 8th win

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com/nz on 28 Dec 2014 Wild Oats XI (Oatley family) has crossed the finish line for the Rolex Sydney Hobart race to take her eighth win in the offshore classic.

She crossed the finish line in the Derwent River sailing on port tack at 15-16kts with a big asymmetrical headsail flying, and accompanied by a bevy of spectator craft as she tacked and crossed the finish line at 3.03pm local time.

She crossed the finish line approximately 10nm ahead of the US supermaxi Comanche (Jim and Kristy Clark) which was enjoying her first offshore race.

The radical US yacht stepped out on the first day of the race after bolting down Sydney harbour in record time, but Wild Oats XI worked her way through on the second day, and was never headed.

In the end it was the beam and wetted surface of Comanche against the narrower beam and less wetted surface of Wild oats XI which determined the outcome, with Wild Oats XI being less sticky in the light winds on the morning of Day 2, allowing her to build a 40nm lead.

Comanche flew down the latter stages of the race to Tasman Island, and while the US flyer could eat into Wild Oats XI substantial lead it was too much for her to overcome. She finished at approximately 5.10pm.

The third finisher is expected to be the Bakewell-White 100, Rio100 (Manouch Moyashayedi, USA) she had about 114nm to sail when Comanche finished, but was hitting speeds of 20kts in a strong northerly breeze. She is expected to have a tussle with the three following boats, Black Jack, Alive and Ragamuffin, which are all canting keelboats and were closely grouped over a spread of 5nm.

The latter was hitting speeds of 25kts, and would wind in all four boats if she was able to maintain that differential.