Sydney Hobart, Wild Oats wins for the seventh time! The other boats in the storm

Dec. 29-The storm arrived during the night, with southwesterly winds of more than 40 knots for the rest of the fleet, with dismastings and retreats, such as that of the 55-foot Clipper Henri Lloyd, which dismasted east of Cape Barren Island in the Tasman Sea. She was considered one of the favored boats to win on plywood. There are currently 65 boats still in the race: 19 have already arrived, 10 have withdrawn. One waits to know who won in plywood this Sydney Hobart #69.

Dec. 28-The 100-foot super maxi Wild Oats XI won the Sydney-Hobart for the seventh time, equaling the record of success held by Kurrewa IV. The yacht led by skipper Mark Richards finished the race (628 miles long) in two days, six hours and seven minutes, a far cry from the record it set last year of one day, 18 hours and 23 minutes. The supermaxi Perpetual Loyal, heavier than Wild Oats XI and therefore damaged by the unusually weak winds on the notoriously turbulent course, chases at about thirty miles, while Ragamuffin 100 is third even further behind. Most of the 91 boats that left Sydney are still at sea, and the last ones are in danger of being hit by sharply worsening weather conditions. Wild Oats XI, which is owned by Australian billionaire Bob Oatley, has already won the Sydney-Hobart continuously between 2005 and 2008 and then in 2010 and 2012

Dec. 27-During the night, Perpetual Loyal stayed further offshore than the 100-footer Wild Oats-a choice that paid off as Bell and co. gained 14 miles on Oatley, a six-time winner of the race. A substantial advantage when you consider that the Perpetual is a boat that performs best in high wind conditions, which as yet there have not been.

But around noon local time, Wild Oats recovered by taking the lead, albeit by a small margin. Now it will be all about the weather. Near Bass Strait there are still light winds, but by Dec. 28 a change is expected with increasing northwesterly winds as the fleet moves down south. Indeed, winds of 20 to 30 knots are forecast for Saturday afternoon, and there the tables will certainly turn.

In third place was Raggamuffin 100, with Syd Fischer aboard, in his 45th Sydney-Hobart. Syd Fischer is a true sailing legend, he has participated in five America’s Cup editions equaling Sir Thomas Lipton’s record and has raced 42 editions of the Sydney-Hobart winning twice in real time (1988/1990) and once in compensated time in 1992 with his marvelous maxi designed by German Frers.

Dec. 26-A no fewer than 94 boats have shown up on the starting line of this Rolex Sydney Hobart number 69: the great international offshore classic, spanning 628 miles from Sydney to Hobart, Tasmania, organized by the Cruising Yacht Club of Autralia. A real spectacle in the waters off the Australian capital: the 12-15 knot sirocco wind was just what was needed for a spectacular start but without “messing up.”

At 3 a.m. Italian time on Dec. 26, the fleet crossed the starting line to begin the descent of the New South Wales coast. It seemed that Wild Oats XI from wine magnate and America’s Cup challenger of choice for the next America’s Cup Robert “Bob” Oatley was destined to win easy, given its new configuration complete with DSS, but instead Anthony Bell’s Perpetual Loyal, with multiple-medalist (and America’s Cup winner) laserist Tom Slingsby aboard, immediately took the lead.

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