Sydney to Hobart: Wild Oats XI making ground on leader SHK Scallywag
Sydney to Hobart colossus Wild Oats XI is making up ground on her rival supermaxis in a compelling battle for line honours, with the overseas big boats leading the fleet.
The nine-time line honours winner was at one stage on Friday morning languishing in ninth spot, 35 nautical miles off the lead, as she struggled in the light winds the fleet had to contend with overnight.
“The last 10 to 12 hours have been pretty tough going for us and a few boats, including Wild Oats XI who got pretty badly parked,” said Naval Group skipper Sean Langman.
But Wild Oats XI, which was built in 2005 and recently underwent extensive repairs after suffering damage in a race last month, has since made significant inroads. By midday (AEDT) on Friday, she had climbed to sixth and was 15 nautical miles behind Hong Kong’s fleet-leading supermaxi, SHK Scallywag.
Black Jack, which is representing Monaco, was two and a half miles away in second with InfoTrack a further one and a half astern in third. Comanche is another five back in fourth, with 72-foot URM rounding out the top five. Northerly
winds forecast for Friday afternoon were set to add another twist to the 75th edition of the race.
Tom Slingsby, the 2012 Olympic Laser gold medalist and senior member of InfoTrack’s 2016 line-honours winning crew when the boat was called Perpetual LOYAL, said the windier it got the better it looked for Comanche.
“But if it stays pretty light from the northeast, Comanche will have a tough time with Scallywag and Black Jack,” Slingsby said. “Light VMG running is not its strong point for sure. How much pressure they have for the next bit will determine who is going to win.
“If it stays light, it seems like Scallywag and Black Jack are going to be pretty hard to beat. And if the breeze comes in, I think Comanche is going to be hard to beat.”
Two previous overall winners, Ichi Ban and Quest, were showing up well in the early stages of the battle for handicap honours. With 23 hours racing completed the fleet remained at 155, with no additions on Friday to the retirements of Hollywood Boulevard and Faster Forward on Thursday afternoon.