Perpetual Loyal smashes Sydney-Hobart record
SYDNEY: Australian supermaxi Perpetual Loyal smashed the Sydney to Hobart record by almost five hours to take line honours Wednesday after “one hell of a race” that saw eight-time winner Wild Oats XI retire.
Loyal, long-time rival of favourite Wild Oats, put to bed its failure to finish the past two races when the 100-footer arrived at Hobart’s Constitution Dock in a record time of 1 day 13hr 31min 20sec.
“This is one for the true believers,” owner and skipper Anthony Bell told reporters at Hobart’s Constitution Dock after powering to the finish line at 20 knots.
“I don’t think anyone expected us to do well ... the bookies certainly didn’t.
“We raced one hell of a race,” he told reporters. “It’s an awesome thing to break the race record.”
Perpetual Loyal boat manager Brad Kellet told the organisers the supermaxi had pushed Wild Oats to its limits.
“Someone had to crack,” he said. “That’s not our weather, it’s Wild Oats’ weather, but we put ourselves in a great position, so that when Oats retired, we had enough of a lead over the V70s and Scallywag to win.”
The new time for the 628-nauticalmile (1,163-kilometre) event was four hours and 51 minutes faster than the previous record of 1 day 18hr 23min 12sec set in 2012 by Wild Oats.
New Zealand’s Volvo 70 Giacomo, which hopes to be crowned overall winner in the handicap honours for the vessel that performs best according to size, came in second with a time of 1 day 15hr 27min 5sec.
“It was a bit of a downwind race, so it suited us,” said owner and winemaker Jim Delegat.
“Still, we’re pretty surprised, it’s not often that a 70-footer can do this, get second over the line.”
Hong Kong businessman Seng Huang Lee’s supermaxi Scallywag crossed the finish line about two minutes later, also easily beating the old record. Loyal had benefited from favourable northeasterly winds that saw the f leet tear down Australia’s east coast after departing Sydney Harbour on Monday.
The yacht was first into the open ocean but Wild Oats soon edged into the lead and looked well set to break its own record for the race. — AFP