Home
'
Sails : February March 2011
Contents
rolex sydney hobart 027 Organisers of the rolex sydney Hobart Yacht race 2010 were left going through the rule book with a fine tooth comb after line honours winner Wild Oats XI, led by star skipper Mark richards, was found to have technically breached race safety regulations when the crew used a mobile phone to make a routine position report. richards almost missed out on his fifth winner’s rolex watch after a malfunctioning radio forced his crew to resort to the mobile phone for make the mandatory position report from Green Cape, the last port of call before entering bass strait. race Committee Chairman tim Cox explained that Wild Oats XI (along with Niklas Zennstrom’s british entry Ran) had breached clauses 44.1a and 44.2 of the race rules, which require racers to report via HF radio. the regulation was introduced in the wake of the storm-ravaged 1998 race, in which six sailors lost their lives. there was an agonizing wait while the international race jury, chaired by australian John Kirkjian, heard evidence from the crews of both yachts, but eventually sanity prevailed and Wild Oats XI’s winning time of two days, seven hours, 37 minutes, 20 seconds was given the official blessing. the famous bob Oatley-owned 100-foot reichel/Pugh was well outside her 2005 record of 1 day 18hr 40min 10secs, but the win with nonetheless impressive. she finished nearly four hours ahead of her nearest rival Investec Loyal, a 100 footer owned and skippered by sean langman and anthony bell, with a crew of well-known australian sports stars raising funds for charity. the 66th edition of the annual ocean classic was seen as the most physically demanding since 2004, when 56 boats retired after being overcome by the conditions. the 2010 fleet withstood battering headwinds and gale-force conditions all down the coast and through the notorious bass strait. “it was a tough race, no doubt about that,” admitted an exhausted Mark richards, who was visibly relieved when his win was finally confirmed. “We’re back and we’re just very happy to be here,” he said. ian ‘Fresh’ burns represented Wild Oats XI at the protest, with world record navigator adrienne Cahalan and richards himself called as witnesses. it was just as long a wait for the overall winner, south australian Geoff boettcher and his Secret Mens Business 3.5 crew. they staged an all- night vigil waiting on tenterhooks to see if Darryl Hodgkinson’s Victoire and Peter Moseley’s Local Hero would make it up the Derwent in time to knock them out of contention. pole posItIon Wild Thing (left) powers through big seas under a reefed sail, while Investec Loyal (above) takes one on the nose. “in a decade of covering the race i’ve never seen seas like those.” carlo borlenghi Rolex Official Photographer rolex/carloborlenghi
Links
Archive
December January 2010
April May 2011
Navigation
Previous Page
Next Page
