Troubled waters

Scallywag crew facing tough race against time

THE hopes of one of the favourites for this year’s Sydney to Hobart yacht race are hanging by a thread after two crucial sails “shredded like tissue paper” yesterday, just two weeks from the start of the bluewater classic.

The team of supermaxi Scallywag are in a race against time to either buy or borrow sails from one of their rivals, but skipper David Witt warned that even if they were successful the sails may not actually fit the Hong Kong 100-foot yacht.

“I think we may be screwed,” Witt said.

The major setback unfolded during yesterday’s SOLAS Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour, won by Wild Oats XI for the seventh time.

Despite the sail damage, Witt and his team managed to finish yesterday’s race.

Once back on the dock, they immediately started looking for solutions to help get them on to the starting line for the Sydney to Hobart, where they are the $5 third favourite.

Witt believed the issue started when the boat docked at its last port of call before arriving in Australia.

“We think the glue [on the sail] has melted in the heat in the Philippines,” Witt said.

“They have also been in a container aboard a ship for six weeks so that hasn’t helped. I don’t know if we are going to be able to do the Hobart race right now.

“We’re making calls to see if we can borrow or buy sails, but even then they may not fit.

“We have a whole boat of new sails, these were the only two old ones left.

“They just disintegrated like tissue paper.”

Witt and his team missed last year’s Sydney to Hobart as they were racing in the Volvo round-the-world race.

“This is a nightmare,” the skipper added.

Yesterday was a dream finish for Wild Oats XI, whose crew celebrated victory over the Mark Bradford-skippered Black Jack in their last race before the Boxing Day start of the Sydney to Hobart.

“They [Big Boat and Sydney to Hobart] are two different races, but we always go out there to win,” skipper Mark Richards said.

“This is about confidence, going round the corners and doing a good job, putting the guys through the paces.”

Wild Oats XI, an eight-time line honours winner, is chasing Sydney to Hobart success after incurring a time penalty a year ago which delivered the line honours win and race record into the hands of Jim Cooney and his Comanche crew.