Two turns ‘could have avoided a protest’

WILD Oats XI could have avoided the protest hearing that cost them Sydney to Hobart line honours, says the skipper of new race winner LDV Comanche, Jim Cooney.

Wild Oats XI was sensationally hit with a one-hour time penalty on Thursday over a near collision between the two supermaxis early in the race.

After a three-hour hearing, an international jury ruled Wild Oats XI breached the rules during a tacking manoeuvre in Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day.

Wild Oats XI had come from behind to finish 26 minutes and 34 seconds ahead of LDV Comanche on Wednesday night.

But the added one hour meant their standings were switched.

Cooney said Wild Oats XI could have completed two penalty turns when his crew flew a red flag on the water, signalling their intent to lodge a protest at the race’s end.

“There was an immediate resolution available to Wild Oats, which was to just do penalty turns clear of the rest of the fleet,” he told RSN radio’s Breakfast Club yesterday.

“They would have exonerated themselves of their mistake.”

Cooney said they could have then completed the race comfortable in the knowledge there would be no protest.

“I didn’t pursue the protest expecting it would overturn the race result,” he said.

“That wasn’t why I lodged the protest at all.

“We are talking about the two most significant supermaxis in the world ... boats at that level and crews at that level should understand, respect and abide by the rules.

“I think my action was purely to highlight that we all have obligations to keep ourselves and others in the race safe.

“It wasn’t a race-winning tactic to go into the protest room. It was something that I adopted as a matter of principle.”

It’s just the third time in the race’s 73-year history a yacht has lost line honours because of a penalty.