December 26, 2007

The Sydney maxi Wild Oats XI took round one in the battle of the maxis at the start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race today. From a good start, and with smart tactics, she was able to slow her British rival City Index Leopard on the short beat to windward to the first turning mark inside Sydney Heads and then extend that lead on the leg out to the second turning mark.

Next came the American fixed-keel 65-footer Rosebud, another good starter, two minutes 20 seconds behind Skandia. Rosebud is the first of the new "box rule" Storm Trysail Transpac (STP) 65 class to be launched.

As the yachts rounded the second mark, about 2.5 nautical miles from the start, to set reaching headsails and spinnakers on track for Hobart, Wild Oats XI led by a morale-boosting 40 seconds from City Index Leopard with another 50 seconds to Skandia, the third 98 foot canting-keeled maxi in the race.

The 82-yacht fleet started simultaneously from two starting lines set 0.2 nautical miles apart about 1.5 nm inside Sydney Harbour.

Mark Richards, who skippers the Reichel/Pugh 98 for owner Bob Oatley, steered Wild Oats XI into one of his trademark winning starts at the pin end of the line.

The forward line was biased to slightly favour the leeward end in the 8-10 knot northeasterly breeze. Mike Slade's Farr-designed City Index Leopard started well a third of the way up the line and was able to lay the first turning mark on one starboard tack.

But Wild Oats XI had enough leverage to leeward to tack over onto port and cross ahead of Leopard. Wild Oats XI then tacked back onto starboard, ahead and to windward of Leopard, then bore down to slow Leopard with disturbed air.

by Herb McCormick, Sailing World

In what has mostly been a drab, dreary start to the Australian summer, the sun made a brief cameo appearance last week, and the lunchtime scene at Sydney's Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) was hopping. As barmen poured "middies" and "schooners" of Victoria Bitter, the business crowd in their natty attire lounged like lizards beneath the rays on the back patio.

On the docks, however, there was an entirely different sort of buzz. There, crewmen in T-shirts and sailing shorts tended to sails, hardware, and other matters on the gathering fleet of race boats in preparation for an annual Aussie holiday rite: the Boxing Day (December 26) start of the 628-mile Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race. -- Read on: SW Forum

CYCA Offical "Sydney-Hobart" Website

"I found it interesting that five of the top 10 boats overall in the recent Sydney Hobart race were built in the 1970s or earlier.
Just goes to show, it is hard to beat a well-sailed boat on handicap. There has been much said in Scuttlebutt bout how to increase participation in our sport of sailing. How about getting out there in a bunch of inexpensive, well-preparred old boats with a decent crew and knocking the socks off a
bunch of expensive, high tech boats?"
- Dennis Palmer
Scuttlebutt 2256, 01/09/07

Wild Oats XI, her exhausted crew of 23 along with owner Bob Oatley, gybed their way under spinnaker in the dark up Hobart's Derwent River to secure her second consecutive line honours win in the Rolex Sydney Hobart..., Full ~ story

Hourly reports from Sail-World ~ link

Helicopter rescues Sydney-Hobart injured
December 27, 2006 08:41am
Three crewmen have been winched by helicopter from the maxi yacht Maximus after it was dismasted in the middle of the night... Full ~ story