Sport-heute: Sailing - MAXI-BOAT MATCH RACE

28. Dezember 2011, 10:22

MAXI-BOAT MATCH RACE

Wild Oats XI’s position as the fastest boat in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race was being severely tested last night when at the 20:00 sched (local time, 09:00 UTC), Anthony Bell’s maxi Investec Loyal overhauled the five time line honours winner.-ELLA BACHE, Jessica Watson
19, ELLA BACHE, Sail No: 19191, Owner: Jessica Watson, Design: Sydney 38, LOA (m): 12.6, State: QLD-Photo By: Rolex / Daniel Forster .

Zürich, 28.12.11 mk (mk) Sydney, 27.12.11 - Overnight the wind the leaders have seen has clocked through 360 degrees.

Crossing the Bass Strait yesterday Investec Loyal’s track south was some 20-30 miles east of Wild Oats XI’s. But early evening, when the wind backed from the southwest into the southeast, both boats tacked southwest, Loyal getting the better of the shift, aggressively bearing away towards her opponent. Making 14 knots compared to Wild Oats XI’s 9 knots, within an hour Investec Loyal had pulled ahead by 6 miles.

Overnight the lead duo in the Rolex Sydney Hobart have continued to round the northwest quadrant of an area of high pressure that, since yesterday, has been shifting east out into the Tasman Sea. With the wind continuing to back into the northeast so the duo at around 01:00 local time this morning on this occasion gybed southwest, allowing them to close on the east coast of Tasmania.

“We've got a yacht race on our hands out here!” came back the succinct report from the Wild Oats XI nav team in the early hours. “We are high speed running - more wind shifts ahead.”

However at around 07:30 local time this morning, Wild Oats XI nosed her way back into the lead.

With another light patch off the southeast coast of Tasmania, so the boats remain still quite offshore, now with the wind back in the southwest, where it was yesterday afternoon. With 72 miles to go to the finish off Hobart for Wild Oats XI at the latest sched, leading Investec Loyal by just 1.5 miles, ETAs into Hobart remain vague. The forecast is now showing the wind dying in Storm Bay and up the Derwent River leading up to Hobart – conditions which have destroyed many a winning yacht’s chances in previous years.

Under IRC handicap, the battle for the Tattersall’s Cup continues to rage, with the best hopes now back to the maxis. In particular Peter Millard’s maxi Lahana (the former Zana/Konica Minolta), holding third place on the water 62 miles astern of Wild Oats XI, is looking very strong. For at present across the race course conditions are generally light, with the exception of where Lahana, Stephen Ainsworth’s Loki and Alex Thomson’s IMOCA 60 Hugo Boss, are located off the east coast of Tasmania, where in 15-20 knot northerlies, Hugo Boss is recording the highest speed in the fleet of 17 knots.

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CADIBARRA, Paul Roberts 23, CADIBARRA 8, Sail No: R420, Owner: Paul Roberts, Design: Jones 42, LOA (m): 12.9, State: Vic Photo By: Rolex / Daniel Forster .

WILD OATS XI, Bob Oatley XI, WILD OATS XI, Sail No: 10001, Owner: Bob Oatley, Design: Reichel/Pugh 30 Mtr, LOA (m): 30.5, State: NSW Photo By: Rolex / Daniel Forster .

WILD OATS XI, Bob Oatley XI, WILD OATS XI, Sail No: 10001, Owner: Bob Oatley, Design: Reichel/Pugh 30 Mtr, LOA (m): 30.5, State: NSW Photo By: Rolex / Daniel Forster .

LOKI, Stephen Ainsworth 60, LOKI, Sail No: AUS60000, Owner: Stephen Ainsworth, Design: Reichel Pugh 63, LOA (m): 19.3, State: NSW.Photo By: Rolex / Daniel Forster .

LAHANA, Millard/ Honan 81, LAHANA, Sail No: 10081, Owner: Millard/ Honan, Design: Bakewell - White 30m, LOA (m): 29.9, State: NSW.Photo By: Rolex / Kurt Arrigo .

JAZZ PLAYER, Andrew Lawrence 39, JAZZ PLAYER, Sail No: S390, Owner: Andrew Lawrence, Design: Bakewell-White Z39, LOA (m): 11.9, State: VIC Photo By: Rolex / Daniel Forster.

CARINA, Rives Potts 31, CARINA, Sail No: USA315, Owner: Rives Potts, Design: Mccurdy & Rhodes 48, LOA (m): 14.6, State: USA .Photo By: Rolex / Daniel Forster .

ONE FOR THE ROAD, Kym Butler and ELEKTRA, Peter Gregory 40, ONE FOR THE ROAD, Sail No: N40, Owner: Kym Butler, Design: A40, LOA (m): 12.0, State: NSW 98, ELEKTRA, Sail No: R2099, Owner: Peter Gregory, Design: Beneteau 47.7, LOA (m): 14.5, State: NSW Photo By: Rolex / Daniel Forster .