Sport-heute: Sailing - VICTORY ON THE 14th ATTEMPT

01. Januar 2012, 16:51

VICTORY ON THE 14th ATTEMPT

Abo-Sieger im Ziel gut drei Minuten geschlagen - Deutsche Fassung

The 2011 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race was notable for an unexpected winner of the coveted line honours trophy, a worthy overall winner and a slow passage home for the smaller boats. The Boxing Day start of the 628 mile race south to Hobart was spectacular, with the 88-strong international fleet setting off from the heart of Sydney Harbour, with its iconic bridge and Opera House as a backdrop. The Heads and shoreline were teeming with spectators as news helicopters flew overhead. Leading the charge on the beat out of the Harbour was Bob Oatley’s maxi Wild Oats XI, the line honours winner in five out of the last six Rolex Sydney Hobarts.INVESTEC LOYAL escorted by spectator craft before crossing the finish line
Finish of INVESTEC LOYAL, Sail No: SYD100, Owner: Anthony Bell, Design: Elliott, LOA (m): 30.5, State: NSW .Photo By: Rolex / Daniel Forster .

Zürich, 1.1.2012 Red. (mk) Weather-wise the start of the race was fairly conventional with some fast running conditions for the afternoon, but with a dramatic 180 degree wind shift into the south forecast for the first evening. A swell from the north generated by the ex-tropical cyclone Fina, combined with this wind shift, created a horrific confused sea on the opening night, as the 30 knots southerly wind kicked in with a punch, gusting up to 40 knots. But it is these brutal, testing conditions competitors expect when they set out on the Rolex Sydney Hobart and give the event its reputation as one of the world’s toughest offshore yacht races.

For the crews it was a case of battening down hatches and muscling through and by the first morning there was an impressively low attrition rate with just two retirements. They were joined later by a third, the 2003 line honours winner Grant Wharington’s Wild Thing, suffering sail damage.

24 hours in and race favourite for line honours, the Mark Richards-skippered Wild Oats XI ,was 11 miles ahead of Anthony Bell’s maxi Investec Loyal, these two having broken away from Peter Millard’s Lahana with singlehanded round the world sailor Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss holding fourth on the water. On IRC handicap Roger Hickman, an old hand in the Rolex Sydney Hobart, competing in his 35th race, had pulled into the lead aboard his 1993 race winner, Wild Rose.

For this Rolex Sydney Hobart Wild Oats XI had been ‘turboed’ with the addition of new twin daggerboards and a larger square-topped mainsail, but her dominance as the fastest boat in the race was called into question when at 20:00 on the second evening of the race she was overtaken by the similarly-sized, but older, Investec Loyal.

With the wind lightening and backing from the southwest into the southeast, so Wild Oats XI was caught in a wind hole. Her co-navigator, Ian Burns explained what happened: “They [Investec Loyal’s crew] were keeping track of how we were doing and the moment we stopped under a cloud with no wind under it, they basically sailed right around the outside of this large hole we were stuck in and came back above us. It was good work on their part.”

The theoretically faster Wild Oats XI managed to catch up and overtook Investec Loyal at 07:30 on the second morning of the race as the two boats were sailing down the east coast of Tasmania. For the rest of the morning followers of the race were on the edge of their seats as the two boats match raced around the remainder of the course.

As they rounded the south side of Tasman Island, so Wild Oats XI was becalmed again and, taking their chance, Investec Loyal once again pounced, sailed around the outside of them to regain the lead. Crossing Storm Bay and sailing up the Derwent River to the finish, the Wild Oats XI crew, sailing with many of Australian yachting’s elder statesmen and women on board, threw all they could at Investec Loyal, but it was not enough. Investec Loyal crossed the finish line at 19:14:18 local time, after 2 days 6 hours 14 minutes and 8 seconds at sea, just 3 minutes and 8 seconds ahead of Wild Oats XI. This was the fourth closest finish in the 67 year history of the Rolex Sydney Hobart.

Unfortunately celebrations were dampened when the line honours winner was protested by the race committee. This was over a conversation between Investec Loyal tactician Michael Coxon and a helicopter pilot on the first morning of the race in which Coxon enquired about whether the mainsail or the trysail was being used on board Wild Oats XI. Investec Loyal’s line honour victory was finally confirmed when, after a three hour long protest hearing, the International Jury concluded that Coxon, in his capacity as Managing Director of North Sails Australia, had made the enquiry about Wild Oats XI’s new 3Di mainsail for professional reasons and this in no way had benefitted Investec Loyal’s performance during the race.
It was one of the great
experiences in my life
Anthony Bell - Investec Loyal

“It was one of the great experiences in my life,” said Anthony Bell, Investec Loyal’s owner and skipper of his win. “The whole thing from the very start, right through to the finish line, was exhilarating. It was a really tough fought out race, but the crew believed in the boat and the cause right from the start and we are so happy to have got past the finish line first.”

Bell’s campaign doubled as a vehicle to raise money for charity (it raised Aus$ 1 million in 2011) on this occasion for the Humpty Dumpty Foundation, which purchases vital medical equipment for 178 children’s hospitals around Australia and East Timor. For this reason among their crew were a number of celebrities including sports stars, such as Australian rugby union internationals Phil Kearns and Phil Waugh.

As the slower boats were becalmed in Storm Bay and up the Derwent River, so it became evident that this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart would be one for the smaller large boats, including the competitive 50ft fleet. However the stand-out boat in this size range was Stephen Ainsworth’s Reichel Pugh 63, Loki. Over the last 18 months this has proved to be one of the most successful campaigns in on the Australian circuit. Under IRC, Loki’s corrected time was 50 minutes faster than that of Michael Hyatt’s Farr 55 Living Doll, with 84 year old Syd Fischer’s modified TP52 Ragamuffin third and the Cookson 50 Jazz of Britain’s Chris Bull, fourth.
It is a fantastic feeling, a
huge thrill to win this race
Stephen Ainsworth - Loki

“We are elated. It is a fantastic feeling, a huge thrill to win this race,” said a jubilant Ainsworth, after being presented with a Rolex Yacht-Master timepiece by Patrick Boutellier of Rolex Australia and the coveted Tattersall’s Cup, for winning IRC handicap honours. “Having done 14 races, I know how hard it is to win this race. So many things have to go right for you and the wind gods were with us. Our race went extremely well. The aim for the navigators was to avoid stopping and we successfully did that, although we came close a couple of times. Look at what happened to Wild Oats XI - that could easily have happened to us.”

Ainsworth’s crew, led by Irish round the world sailor Gordon Maguire, was 18 strong, but of these only one third were professionals. “The handicap win came when the big boats parked up,” said Maguire. At one point the maxis had extended to almost 120 miles in front of them, but as they had slowed, so Loki had managed to reel back 60 miles.

Earlier in the race the competitive 40 and 45ft Beneteaus had been among the most promising on handicap along with Roger Hickman’s Wild Rose. However the progress of the smaller boats was hampered as the wind shut down for them as they manoeuvred around the east coast of Tasmania into Storm Bay and up the Derwent River leading up to Hobart.

Darryl Hodgkinson, skipper of the First 45 Victoire summed it up best: “I thought it was going to be a carbon copy of last year’s race where we sat in the Derwent. This year we actually camped in Derwent! The last miles from the Tasman Light to the finish typically take six to seven hours. On this occasion it took 15.”

A pre-race favourite among the smaller boats was the new Ker 40 AFR Midnight Rambler, but co-owner Ed Psaltis, winner of the race in 1998, said they had made some wrong tactical choices and, entering Bass Strait, ended up in a giant wind hole, entrapping them for six hours.

While there had been a strong turn-out in Hobart’s Constitution Dock to witness the end of the match race marathon between Investec Loyal and Wild Oats XI, this was rivalled when Australian youth solo round the world sailing phenomenon Jessica Watson arrived aboard Ella Baché another Challenge. Watson’s crew have now entered the history books as the youngest to take part in the Rolex Sydney Hobart, but having spent two and a half months training as a team prior to the start Watson was delighted with taking second place in the Sydney 38 class.

“It was really, really good, everything you would expect,” said Watson on her arrival. “We had three quite bouncy nights on the nose. We didn’t see any severe conditions, but there was some pretty uncomfortable stuff for quite a while there.”

Having previously sailed solo, Watson was full of praise for her crew. “The crew were awesome. It was the best sailing we’ve ever seen them do. It’s what we have been training for and they did exactly that. Everyone did an amazing job. All credit to them – I just held on for the ride.”

The last boat to arrive, crossing the line late in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve, was that of Sydney boatyard owner Sean Langman. Langman is best known for his attempts to win line honours in previous races, but on this occasion was sailing the wooden 1932 coastal cruiser/fishing boat, Maluka of Kermandie as crew for his 18 year old son Peter.

This year’s race once again proved that to earn victory in the Rolex Sydney Hobart is something that takes persistence. As Gordon Maguire concluded: “I won this race in 1991 on an IOR 2 tonner Atara with Harold Cudmore. It was my second Hobart race and I thought ‘easy’. It has been 20 years since I won it again. I have won an awful lot of regattas in between and I do this race almost every year, so it is not an easy race to win. You can’t just come down here with the best boat in the world and win it. You have to come down here with the best boat in the world and have all the luck in the world – all that has to happen in the same race. It is a very unusual beast.”

Deutsche Fassung
Abo-Sieger im Ziel gut drei Minuten geschlagen

Hobart. Es war einer der spannendsten Zieleinläufe in der Geschichte des Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race und der knappste seit 29 Jahren. Um ganze drei Minuten und acht Sekunden nach 628 Seemeilen entthronte die „Investec Loyal“ von Sean Langman und Anthony Bell die Abonnement-Sieger von Bob Oatleys „Wild Oats XI“ (beide Australien) und machte die am Zweiten Weihnachtstag in Sydney gestartete Hochseesegelregatta um eine Legende reicher. Schon fünfmal Erster in Hobart/Tasmanien blieb dem diesmal Geschlagenen immerhin der Streckenrekord von 2005 erhalten. Mit zwei Tagen und mehr als sechs Stunden brauchten die beiden 100 Fuß (30,5 Meter) langen Yachten aufgrund mäßiger Winde für eine neue Bestmarke einen halben Tag zu lang. Auch für den Gesamtsieg nach berechneter Zeit langte es nicht. Den holte sich im 14. Anlauf die ebenfalls einheimische Reichel Pugh 63 „Loki“ von Stephen Ainsworth, nachdem aussichtsreichen, kleineren Booten die Zeit weggelaufen war.

Der atemberaubende Zweikampf der beiden Maxi-Yachten aber blieb am Constitution Dock von Hobart und in den Hafenkneipen zum Jahreswechsel das Gesprächsthema Nummer eins. Kaum jemand konnte sich erinnern, die beiden schnellsten Schiffe der traditionsreichen Regatta so dicht beieinander den Derwent River hinauf segeln gesehen zu haben, wie nun bei der 67. Auflage. Das Grande Finale war – wenn auch weiträumig – von klassischer Matchracetaktik geprägt. Auf den letzten 100 Seemeilen hatte der Abstand zueinander nie mehr als zwei Seemeilen betragen, beste Sichtweite also.

In der ersten Hälfte des Kurses hatte zumeist die Vorjahressiegerin vorne gelegen. Lange Zeit sah es danach aus, als sollte die Topfavoritin ihrer Rolle erneut gerecht werden. Doch gerade bei leichter Brise lief die „Investec Loyal“ sehr gut. Und war stets auf der Hut. „Die Crew hat uns zu jeder Zeit genau beobachtet, auch als wir unter einer Wolke in der Flaute liegen blieben“, erklärte der unterlegene Skipper Mark Richards, warum er die Führung das erste Mal abgeben musste. Das war am zweiten Abend auf See, als die Verfolgerin taktisch brillant im großen Bogen an der Falle vorbeisegelte.

Doch Richards Mannen gaben sich nicht geschlagen, kämpften um jeden Meter und eroberten die Führung in den Morgenstunden des 28. Dezembers zurück. Als der Streckenrekord längst außer Reichweite geriet und die Windbedingungen mit einer Drehung einmal um die Kompassrose herum um insgesamt 360 Grad immer wechselhafter wurden, kam es bei Tasman Island eingangs der Storm Bay erneut zum Einparken der Führenden in einem Flautenloch – und erneut einem erfolgreichen Überholmanöver. Beim Endspurt dann verteidigte die „Investec Loyal“ ihren knappen Vorsprung bis ins Ziel zäh.

„Dieser Sieg schmeckt besonders süß“, sagte Anthony Bell nach dem dramatischen Zieleinlauf, „wir waren schon so oft Zweite hinter der ‚Wild Oats‘ nicht nur beim vorigen Rolex Sydney-Hobart, sondern bei vielen Rennen“. Doch der Eigner musste noch einen Tag bangen, ehe er die JH Illingworth Trophäe und eine Rolex Yacht-Master sein eigen nennen durfte. Denn ein Protest der Regattaleitung stand noch im Raum. Es ging um unerlaubte Hilfe von außen. Ausgerechnet Navigator Michael Coxon, dem der siegbringende Schachzug gebührte, hatte einen Helikopterpiloten am Rande eines Interviews gefragt, welche Besegelung die direkte Gegnerin gerade gesetzt habe. Vor der internationalen Jury konnte der Segelmacher jedoch glaubhaft machen, dass er sich nach einer stürmischen Nacht nur ernsthaft um das von seiner Firma produzierte Großsegel der „Wild Oats XI“ Sorgen gemacht hatte.

Bis 8.12 Uhr Ortszeit am Freitagmorgen (22.12 Uhr deutscher Zeit am Donnerstag) hatte Stephen Ainsworth warten müssen. Bis dahin hätte Roger Hickmans Farr 43 „Wild Rose“ ankommen müssen, um den Bug vorn zu haben. Doch das Team hatte bei schwachen Winden noch rund 40 Seemeilen nach. Also gehörten der begehrte Tattersall’s Cup für den Gesamtsieg nach IRC-berechneter Zeit und ebenfalls ein edles Chronometer des Rolex Modells Yacht-Master der „Loki“. Obwohl von den vorausgegangenen Regattastrapazen völlig übermüdet hatte der Eigner in der Nacht erneut kaum schlafen können, so sehr fieberte er dem Ausgang des Klassikers entgegen. Er bedeutet das i-Tüpfelchen auf eine großartige Saison, für die Ainsworth bereits vom Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, dem Veranstalter des Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, als Hochseesegler des Jahres gewählt und ausgezeichnet wurde. „Dieser Sieg ist phantastisch und durch nichts aufzuwiegen“, freute sich Ainsworth nach der Verkündung, „wir hatten ein gutes Rennen und wurden am Ende höchstmöglich entlohnt.“

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New Year's fireworks in front of the docks in Hobart New Year's Eve Fireworks Hobart.Photo By: Rolex / Daniel Forster .

Line Honours Winner INVESTEC LOYAL crossing the finish line 100, INVESTEC LOYAL, Sail No: SYD100, Owner: Anthony Bell, Design: Elliott, LOA (m): 30.5, State: NSW .Photo By: Rolex / Kurt Arrigo .

Start of the race Fleet Start .Photo By: Rolex / Daniel Forster

Rolex Yacht-Master timepiece for Overall Handicap winner, Stephen Ainsworth, LOKI, with Patrick Boutellier, Rolex Australia Stephen Ainsworth, LOKI and Patrick Boutellier, Rolex Australia Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2011 Prizegiving .Photo By: Rolex / Daniel Forster .

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Sydney/Hobart, Australia December 26, 2011 - January 1, 2012 Line Honours Winner INVESTEC LOYAL's crew INVESTEC LOYAL Line Honours Winner of the 2011 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2011 .

WILD OATS XI charges out of the harbour XI, WILD OATS XI, Sail No: 10001, Owner: Bob Oatley, Skipper: Mark Richards, Design: Reichel/Pugh, LOA (m): 30.5, State: NSW .Photo By: Rolex / Kurt Arrigo .

Start of the race in Sydney Harbour Fleet .Photo By: Rolex / Daniel Forster .

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Sydney/Hobart, Australia December 26, 2011 - January 1, 2012 Start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Start fleet Photo By: Rolex / Kurt Arrigo -

Start of the race in Sydney Harbour Fleet Start .Photo By: Rolex / Daniel Forster .

SHOGUN sails past the Organ Pipes 69, SHOGUN, Sail No: AUS6952, Owner: Robert Hanna, Design: Jv Tp 52, LOA (m): 15.9, State: VIC .Photo By: Rolex / Kurt Arrigo .