Drama follows ‘Wild Oats’ win
HOBART: Controversy over the failure of the electronic tracker aboard Wild Oats XI has marred the supermaxi’s ninth Sydney to Hobart line honours win.
The Mark Richardsskippered yacht crossed the line in Hobart at 8.07am yesterday (10.07am NZT), outpacing three supermaxis in one of the closest races in the event’s history.
But the owner of secondplaced Black Jack, Peter Harburg, says the Wild Oats XI
Automatic Identification System (AIS) was off towards the end of the race.
Wild Oats navigator Juan Vila told the Daily Telegraph he had turned the AIS on and believed the system had been on for the entire race, which could point to a malfunction. However, Harburg said Black
Jack was left disadvantaged because the crew did not know where Wild Oats XI was sailing.
‘‘The rules say it’s got to be on all the time,’’ he told the ABC.
‘‘They knew where we were all the time, so that has disadvantaged us and
Comanche and we are very disappointed in that.’’
Harburg, however, does not intend to lodge a protest but believes the Sydney to Hobart race committee should look into it.
Boats have up to six hours after finishing to lodge an official protest.
Wild Oats XI was first past the post last year but was stripped of line honours after a rule breach at the race’s start, and a subsequent time penalty handed victory to Comanche.
Wild Oats XI finished this year in a time of one day, 19 hours, seven minutes and 21 seconds.
‘‘It’s a day of redemption for us that’s for sure. We’re so happy with the result,’’ Richards said.
Black Jack was just 28 minutes behind, followed narrowly by Comanche and Infotrack.
All four supermaxis were in the River Derwent at the same time after sailing within sight of one another down Tasmania’s east coast on Thursday.
Wild Oats XI made an overnight gamble to sail a wider route near Tasman Island, which paid off.
‘‘We basically sailed around the opposition and got ourselves into a position where the breeze filled in from the southwest — this morning we were in the right spot,’’ Richards said.
‘‘That was a gamewinning manoeuvre right there.’’
Richards had a traditional dip in the River Derwent and Champagne celebration at the conclusion of the 74th race.
‘‘It was an amazing contest all the way until the end and I take my hat off to all of the maxi boats,’’ he said.
Tasmanianowned yacht Alive was leading the race for handicap honours.
This year’s fleet has been reduced to 80 yachts, after Calypso retired with steering issues late on Thursday night.