Bell rings in Hobart honours

THE annual Rolex Sydney to Hobart Race is never all about one yacht winning, it is about each and every yacht and crew in the race battling against everything that nature throws in their path as they slog for anything between 40 and 100 hours to complete the 628 nautical mile course down the east coast of Australia to finish in the Derwent River in the Tasmanian capital Hobart.

The 72nd edition of this classic maritime race, which traditionally starts in Sydney Harbour at 1pm on Boxing Day, might well have been a dream come true for owner/ skipper Anthony Bell of the supermaxi Perpetual Loyal, the eventual line honours winner, but it was not all achieved according to the script.

Bell’s Perpetual Loyal had won the bragging rights as it led the imposing 92-yacht sail past between the Sydney Heads and was soon unravelling its spinnaker after rounding the last buoy in a clean getaway.

Astern of him was Wild Oats XI helmsman Mark Richards, who had found himself boxed in by several smaller yachts on the start line and, having lost his right of way, was forced to tack and gibe his way wildly past them to remain in touch with Perpetual Loyal and the two other super maxis, Scallywag and CQS and the Botin 80, Beau Geste.

This was an embarrassing start for the eight-time line honours race winner in full view of the estimated crowd of more than a million spectators gathered on the many vantage points around Sydney Harbour.

However, Richards immediately set about putting matters right from his point of view and by the time the fleet leaders sailed into the Bass Strait which separates mainland Australia from the island of Tasmania, Wild Oats XI had not only moved into the lead but was more than 15 nautical miles ahead of Perpetual Loyal and back on track to smash its 2012 race record by several hours. Disaster struck early on Tuesday morning when it was forced to officially abort the race because of a broken hydraulic ram.

It was the second consecutive year that Wild Oats XI had to retire from the race having set a record in 2012 when it crossed the finishing line in one day, 18 hours, 23 minutes and 12 seconds.

But for Bell, his patience appeared to have been rewarded, having been also forced to retire from the last two (2014 and 2015) races with hull or sail damage.

But as the high tech yacht raced at high speed south parallel to the New South Wales coastline, running repairs to the mechanism that furls the headsails was called for in extreme conditions and it was bowman John Flannery whose death-defying tactics enabled Bell to keep the racing machine in the race.

Perpetual Loyal took the line honours in a record time of 1 day, 13 hours, 31 minutes and 20 seconds (1:13:31:20), finishing 1:55:45 ahead of the second-placed New Zealand Volvo 70, Giacomo