Rolex Sydney Hobart - Wild Oats XI closing - but is it too late?

by Rolex Sydney Hobart Media Team on 28 Dec 2009
Should Neville Crichton get his hands on the highly prized Tattersall’s Cup, his New Zealand supermaxi would be only the seventh boat in the history of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race to take the double of line honours and the overall winner on corrected time.

Alfa Romeo continues to lead the race half way down the Tasmanian east coast, 13 nautical miles ahead of four-time winner Wild Oats XI, which has gathered in the British maxi ICAP Leopard and opened up a gap of 19 nautical miles for second place. All three are making about 11 knots.

The problem for all three, but particularly the frontrunner, is that there are light, variable winds as they close on Tasman Island. If Alfa Romeo falls into a hole, the Mark Richards skippered Wild Oats Xl will be forewarned.

A short time ago, Alfa Romeo lost the handicap lead to the British yacht RÂN, which is going for the Rolex Fastnet and Rolex Sydney Hobart corrected time double.

The bulk of the fleet is experiencing light west to south-westerly winds of 10-15 knots as they cross Bass Strait with winds expected to pick up to 20 knots and stronger as the yachts approach Flinders Island. But overnight, further south, the winds off the coast will be light and variable and yachts will be greeted with early sea breezes from the south-east.

The bad news for the frontrunners is that the forecast for the Derwent estuary tonight are
north-westerly winds at 10-15 knots, which are expected to fade.

The experience of Englishman Mike Slade’s ICAP Leopard is symptomatic of the frustrations of the fleet.

'We’re all going through this north easterly/south easterly transfer area off Cape Forestier,' Slade said a short time ago.

'At the moment we have 3.3 knots of wind speed and 3 and a half knots of boats speed, but it goes up and down. I’ve seen two knots and I’ve seen six knots of both wind speed and boat speed. It is very hard work.'

ICAP Leopard is further out to sea than her two rivals, and intends to stay that way.

'Both Alfa and I can lay Tasman Island, but it is going to take a long time and I suspect there are more funny things going to be thrown at us by the wind gods before we get there,' Slade said.

Slade thinks it will be midnight or 1am before ICAP Leopard gets to Tasman, not an ideal time to arrive.

'Most people in Hobart go to bed early, and they do that mainly because there is no wind,' he quips.

While Alfa Romeo has got the jump on the other maxis, ICAP Leopard has had an enthralling dual with Wild Oats XI all the way from Sydney, the British yacht getting the better of it for most of the time.

'We are thrilled at how well the boat has gone in very, very light air conditions,' Slade says. 'We did work hard on the boat after losing out to Wild Oats XI in light air in 2007, but this has been stop start all the way.

'Working in light air like this for three or four or five days, as some of the other boats will do, is tough enough, it really is. We’ve done five sail changes in the last hour and a half, and that’s pretty exhausting,' he said.


Fleet positions are available via Yacht Tracker at: www.rolexsydneyhobart.com