BLACK JACK TURN THE TIDES ON WILD OATS XI
SUPERMAXIS and Sydney to Hobart contenders Wild Oats XI and Black Jack shared line honours bragging rights in major lead up races on Sydney Harbour this weekend.
Wild Oats XI was first across the line with Black Jack second in Saturday’s Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Trophy Series race. The order was reversed yesterday with the Queensland boat finishing ahead of the Hobart eight-time line honours winner.
Both races were contested in relatively light breeze, conditions which are more suited to Black Jack.
“We’ve got the best light air boat by some margin and yesterday we didn’t sail very well, so we didn’t win the race,” Black Jack skipper Mark Bradford said.
“I think we fell into the trap a little bit of just expecting that we’ve got a good light air boat, but they did a good job with the racing, so we never really got in the race. But today we had a little bit different approach and we pushed to get in the race.
“I think we reaped the rewards of that today, but certainly in sub-10 knots that’s kind of our space.”
The Oats camp were happy with their boat’s performance in unfavourable conditions over the weekend.