Rolex Sydney Hobart - Can Alfa Romeo spoil the party for Wild Oats XI?



11:17 PM Wed 16 Dec 2009 GMT
'Wild Oats XI sailing to 3rd line honours win - Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2007' &copy Rolex/Carlo Borlenghi
The world's biggest and best assembly of maxi yachts in recent times will contest this year's Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Seven of them will be on the start line, and five have a real chance of leading the fleet of 100 entries into Hobart in the 65th running of the Australian 628-nautical mile ocean-racing classic, which starts at 1300 AEST on Boxing Day, December 26.

Race record-holder Bob Oatley's Wild Oats XI, chasing her fifth consecutive line honours win, faces strongest competition from Neville Crichton's near sister Reichel/Pugh designed Alfa Romeo, and Mike Slade's Rolex Fastnet Race record holder ICAP Leopard, a Farr design from the UK.

The Greg Elliott-designed Investec Loyal (Sean Langman) and Etihad Stadium (Grant Wharington), the Don Jones design that formerly raced as Skandia Wild Thing, also have line honours ambitions, although Etihad Stadium's chances of making the start hang in the balance. On the delivery trip from Melbourne to Sydney last week, Etihad Stadium's mast broke and 'never-say-die' Wharington is desperately trying to have a replacement - Alfa Romeo's, spare mast - air freighted from France in time for the race start.

All these maxis are canting-keel powered. Leopard, Wild Oats XI, Alfa Romeo and Loyal have been lengthened from 98ft overall to 100ft, to the new maximum length allowed for the Rolex Fastnet and Rolex Sydney Hobart Races.

The competition between these five boats should help to push one of them, given favourable downwind running conditions, to break the race record which stands at 1 day, 18 hours, 40 minutes, 10 seconds, set by Wild Oats XI in 2005.

The head of the fleet duel between Wild Oats XI and Alfa Romeo has been ongoing and close for four years. At their first meeting, Wild Oats XI beat Alfa Romeo by an hour and 16 minutes in her 2005 Rolex Sydney Hobart line honours win. Their duel continued in the Mediterranean in 2006 where Alfa Romeo won the 2006 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, with Wild Oats third.

Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo charging south in the 2005 Rolex Sydney Hobart - &copy Rolex-Carlo Borlenghi Click Here to view large photo



In the 2007 Med season, the two yachts swapped line honours dominance at the Giraglia Rolex Cup and Superyacht Cup at Palma. Then Alfa Romeo took line honours from Oats by 38sec in the first race of the 2007 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup; but, two minutes after the start of race two, Oats' mast fell down, taking the boat out of the regatta.

While Wild Oats XI returned to Australia, Alfa Romeo stayed on in the Med for the 2008 season. This year, Sydney-based New Zealander Neville Crichton brought Alfa Romeo back to Australia, on the way taking line honours in the 2,225 nm Transpac Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu, with a time of 5 days, 14hrs, 36mins that broke the race record by more than a day.

Prior to the Transpac, Alfa Romeo put in a new, lighter mast and rigging from Southern Spars, that offers less windage, but otherwise there have been no major changes to the boat. Said Crichton, 'There have been little changes that add up to seconds a mile. We tried to pull weight out wherever possible and we have some new sails.'

Crichton sees Alfa Romeo and Wild Oats XI as the most reliable boats of the five line honours favourites. 'In a heavy southerly, Leopard would have the advantage. Heavy air running would suit Etihad Stadium; Wild Oats XI and ourselves are more all-rounders.'

Despite being lengthened to 100ft, Wild Oats XI will sail with fewer crew, 18 instead of last year's 24 which, notes skipper and helmsman Mark Richards, will represent a weight saving of over one ton in crew baggage and body weight. While numbers are reduced, they still sport an all-star lineup with the likes of Volvo winner and ISAF Rolex World Sailor Mike Sanderson, Robbie Naismith, Ian Murray, Adrienne Cahalan, and Ian Burns onboard.

Wild Oats XI and Alfa Romeo were matched equally in speed in the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge; around the 14nm course in Sydney Harbour on Tuesday, the pair were seldom more than two boat lengths apart at each mark rounding in a fair 15-18 knot nor'easter. Alfa Romeo gained the winning lead only when Oats' wine-glassed her spinnaker when hoisting at the last mark.

'There is nothing between the two boats in speed,' said Wild Oats XI Richards. 'In the Hobart it could come down to sail selection and sail changes.'

At the 2007 Rolex Fastnet Race, ICAP Leopard, a powerful Farr design, built by McConaghy in Sydney, in her first major long-distance race, smashed the record by 8 hrs, 50min, while Alfa Romeo was among the retirements in that edition's rough seas and 40 knot winds.

ICAP Leopard finished 27 minutes behind Wild Oats XI in the 2007 Rolex Sydney Hobart after applying pressure all the way, and won line honours again this year in both the Rolex Fastnet and the Rolex Middle Sea Races.

In 2007, she was lengthened to 100ft and fitted with twin rudders - and for Hobart the boat has a new sail wardrobe. 'Ninety per cent of the sails we will be using in this race are brand-new,' says boat captain Chris Sherlock.

The crew includes strong afterguard professionals from Volvo Ocean Race and America's Cup teams: navigator Jules Salter, watch captains Brad Jackson and Rob Greenhalgh, and tactician Ray Davies. All were aboard for this year's Rolex Fastnet and Rolex Middle Sea Races.

The fleet - the second strongest in a decade - includes 12 overseas yachts. Among them is another maxi the 100ft Rapture, a Farr-designed performance cruiser owned by American Brook Lenfest. The Sparkman & Stephens 41 Pinta-M, (Atse Blei) from the Netherlands remained in Australia since the 2008 race (where she finished third in IRC division 4), and will have another crack at the Tattersalls' Cup.

The Rolex Sydney Hobart fleet will have crews representing the USA, UK, New Zealand, Spain, the Netherlands, and New Caledonia as well as every Australian state. .

Here is the Line Honours Results table from 2009.


Ragtime - redress granted of 1 hour 55 minutes for standing by Georgia
Telcoinabox Merit - redress granted of 18 hours for assisting in the rescue of the crew of Georgia
Helsal III - rudder damage
Inner Circle - generator failed
Leukaemia Foundation - rudder damage
Sanyo Maris - broken gooseneck
Somoya - broken furler
Georgia - broken rudder - boat lost - crew rescued
Shogun - disqualified for breaches of RRS 11, 12 and 13

YACHT NAME LAT LONG DTG SOG COG TIME & SPEED

LINE HONOURS Overall
1 Wild Oats XI Finished 01:20:34:14 14.1
M Richards (4) NSW 28 Dec, 9:34am
2 Skandia Finished 01:21:41:17 13.8
Grant Wharington (2) VIC 28 Dec, 10:41am
3 Ichi Ban Finished 01:22:28:10 13.5
Matt Allen (19) NSW 28 Dec, 11:28am
4 ASM Shockwave 5 Finished 01:22:57:30 13.4
Andrew Short (15) NSW 28 Dec, 11:57am
5 Limit Finished 01:23:05:58 13.3
Alan Brierty (5) WA 28 Dec, 12:05pm
6 Black Jack Finished 01:23:19:31 13.3
Mark Bradford (3) QLD 28 Dec, 12:19pm
7 Loki Finished 01:23:29:50 13.2
Stephen Ainsworth (11) NSW 28 Dec, 12:29pm
8 Yendys Finished 02:00:57:05 12.8
Geoff Ross (13) NSW 28 Dec, 1:57pm
9 Quest Finished 02:01:00:37 12.8
Bob Steel (17) NSW 28 Dec, 2:00pm
10 Wot Now Finished 02:01:10:26 12.8
Graeme Wood (3) NSW 28 Dec, 2:10pm
11 Cougar II Finished 02:01:12:29 12.8
Alan Whiteley (2) VIC 28 Dec, 2:12pm
12 Ragamuffin Finished 02:01:46:37 12.6
Syd Fischer (39) NSW 28 Dec, 2:46pm
13 Quantum Racing Finished 02:02:30:26 12.4
Ray Roberts (16) NSW 28 Dec, 3:30pm
14 Secret Mens Business 3 Finished 02:07:10:28 11.4
Geoff Boettcher (19) SA 28 Dec, 8:10pm
15 Getaway-Sailing.com Finished 02:07:47:13 11.3
S Price (4) NSW 28 Dec, 8:47pm
16 Wot Yot Finished 02:08:57:31 11.0
Bill Sykes (20) NSW 28 Dec, 9:57pm
17 ASM Brindabella Finished 02:11:00:29 10.6
P Baker NSW 29 Dec, 12:00am
18 Ragtime * Finished 02:12:33:15 10.4 Redress
Chris Welsh USA 29 Dec, 1:33am
19 Audi Centre Melbourne Finished 02:12:53:42 10.3
Chris Dare (7) VIC 29 Dec, 1:53am
20 Chutzpah Finished 02:15:22:20 9.9
Bruce Taylor (27) VIC 29 Dec, 4:22am
21 Wedgetail Finished 02:15:37:30 9.9
Bill Wild (4) QLD 29 Dec, 4:37am
22 Goldfinger Finished 02:15:44:20 9.9
Peter Blake (6) VIC 29 Dec, 4:44am
23 Pirelli Finished 02:16:39:43 9.7
Les Goodridge (4) NSW 29 Dec, 5:39am
24 Pale Ale Rager Finished 02:16:42:56 9.7
Gary Shanks (8) SA 29 Dec, 5:42am
25 Sailors With Disabilities Finished 02:22:11:48 9.0
David Pescud (17) NSW 29 Dec, 11:11am
26 Optimus Prime Finished 02:23:43:21 8.8
Trevor Taylor (2) WA 29 Dec, 12:43pm
27 Rush Finished 03:00:28:32 8.7
John Paterson (8) VIC 29 Dec, 1:28pm
28 Telcoinabox Merit * Finished 03:01:58:58 8.5 Redress
Leo Rodriguez QLD 29 Dec, 2:58pm
29 Krakatoa II Finished 03:02:34:44 8.4
Rod Skellet NSW 29 Dec, 3:34pm
30 Tow Truck Finished 03:03:52:33 8.3
Anthony Paterson (7) NSW 29 Dec, 4:52pm
31 Terra Firma Finished 03:05:48:02 8.1
Nicholas Bartels (6) VIC 29 Dec, 6:48pm
32 AFR Midnight Rambler Finished 03:06:30:38 8.0
Ed Psaltis (27) NSW 29 Dec, 7:30pm
33 Valheru Finished 03:06:39:36 8.0
Anthony Lyall (6) TAS 29 Dec, 7:39pm
34 Balance Finished 03:12:24:35 7.4
Paul Clitheroe (2) NSW 30 Dec, 1:24am
35 Lady Courrier Finished 03:12:51:33 7.4
Gery Trentesaux France 30 Dec, 1:51am
36 Pla Loma IV Finished 03:12:59:45 7.4
Rob Reynolds (5) NSW 30 Dec, 1:59am
37 Strewth Finished 03:13:09:02 7.4
Geoff Hill (9) NSW 30 Dec, 2:09am
38 Mr Beaks Ribs Finished 03:13:30:58 7.3
David Beak (5) NSW 30 Dec, 2:30am
39 St Jude Finished 03:14:16:26 7.3
Noel Cornish (1) NSW 30 Dec, 3:16am
40 Mahligai Finished 03:15:02:02 7.2
Murray Owen (2) NSW 30 Dec, 4:02am
41 Dream Lover Finished 03:15:06:44 7.2
Rick Morgan QLD 30 Dec, 4:06am
42 Morris Finance Cinquante Finished 03:15:33:56 7.2
Ian Murray VIC 30 Dec, 4:33am
43 Walross 4 Finished 03:15:40:25 7.2
Chrisitian Masilge Germany 30 Dec, 4:40am
44 The SubZero Goat Finished 03:16:01:28 7.1
Mitchell Gordon NSW 30 Dec, 5:01am
45 Eleni Finished 03:16:10:21 7.1
Tony Levett (4) NSW 30 Dec, 5:10am
46 Broadsword Finished 03:16:13:28 7.1
Simon Wood NSW 30 Dec, 5:13am
47 Ray White Spirit of Koomooloo Finished 03:16:13:40 7.1
Mike Freebairn (5) QLD 30 Dec, 5:13am
48 J Steel (Yeah Baby) Finished 03:16:17:53 7.1
Marc Ryckmans (4) NSW 30 Dec, 5:17am
49 Quetzalcoatl Finished 03:16:32:24 7.1
Antony Sweetapple (6) NSW 30 Dec, 5:32am
50 Patrice Six Finished 03:16:32:56 7.1
Tony Kirby (26) NSW 30 Dec, 5:32am
51 Typhoon Finished 03:16:33:40 7.1
Barry Kelly NSW 30 Dec, 5:33am
52 She's The Culprit Finished 03:16:35:21 7.1
Todd Leary TAS 30 Dec, 5:35am
53 Jus' do it 3 Finished 03:16:38:04 7.1
Ian Darby Scotland, UK 30 Dec, 5:38am
54 Obsession Finished 03:16:45:28 7.1
Andrew Lygo (6) NSW 30 Dec, 5:45am
55 41 SUD Finished 03:16:46:58 7.1
Jean-Luc Esplaas New Caledonia 30 Dec, 5:46am
56 True North Finished 03:16:47:54 7.1
Andrew Saies (3) SA 30 Dec, 5:47am
57 Mustang Sally Finished 03:17:04:38 7.1
Warren Batt New Zealand 30 Dec, 6:04am
58 Pisces Finished 03:17:09:44 7.0
David Taylor (11) TAS 30 Dec, 6:09am
59 Dormit INSX Finished 03:17:13:24 7.0
Robert Sill (14) VIC 30 Dec, 6:13am
60 Time Lord Finished 03:17:15:03 7.0
Donald Munro New Zealand 30 Dec, 6:15am
61 Wild Side Finished 03:17:18:09 7.0
Martin Vaughan (2) VIC 30 Dec, 6:18am
62 Secret Men's Business 1 Finished 03:17:49:58 7.0
Ross Trembath (12) / Rob Curtis (3) NSW 30 Dec, 6:49am
63 Abracadabra Finished 03:17:56:39 7.0
James Murchison (5) NSW 30 Dec, 6:56am
64 Kioni - Global Yacht Racing Finished 03:18:06:43 7.0
Andy Middleton NSW 30 Dec, 7:06am
65 Copernicus Finished 03:18:11:48 7.0
Greg Zyner (1) NSW 30 Dec, 7:11am
66 Papillon Finished 03:18:16:12 7.0
Phil Molony (19) NSW 30 Dec, 7:16am
67 Helsal IV Finished 03:18:21:37 7.0
Sally Smith TAS 30 Dec, 7:21am
68 Flying Fish Arctos Finished 03:18:23:46 7.0
J Dobie (1) / A Fairclough (3) NSW 30 Dec, 7:23am
69 Winsome Finished 03:18:54:51 6.9
Harry J Heijst The Netherlands 30 Dec, 7:54am
70 Lloyds Brokers - Too Impetuous Finished 03:19:53:23 6.8
Rudy Weber QLD 30 Dec, 8:53am
71 Jazz Player Finished 03:21:01:05 6.8
Mark Lawrence (3) VIC 30 Dec, 10:01am
72 Pinta - M Finished 03:22:27:51 6.7
Atse Blei Netherlands 30 Dec, 11:27am
73 Audacious Finished 03:22:43:55 6.6
Greg Clinnick (1) VIC 30 Dec, 11:43am
74 Aurora Finished 03:23:46:00 6.6
Jim Holley (20) NSW 30 Dec, 12:46pm
75 One For The Road Finished 03:23:47:23 6.6
Kym Butler (1) NSW 30 Dec, 12:47pm
76 CHorse Finished 04:00:10:23 6.5
John Smith NSW 30 Dec, 1:10pm
77 Salona Finished 04:00:14:45 6.5
Phillip King (8) NSW 30 Dec, 1:14pm
78 Impeccable Finished 04:00:45:58 6.5
John Walker (24) NSW 30 Dec, 1:45pm
79 Chance of Shenval Finished 04:00:48:01 6.5
Robert Green (24) VIC 30 Dec, 1:48pm
80 Finistere Finished 04:00:59:38 6.5
Robert Thomas WA 30 Dec, 1:59pm
81 Bacardi Finished 04:03:34:54 6.3
Martin Power (6) VIC 30 Dec, 4:34pm
82 Pippin Finished 04:04:21:06 6.3
Roger Sayers (5) QLD 30 Dec, 5:21pm
83 Seahold Perie Banou II Finished 04:04:48:14 6.2
Jon Sanders (5) WA 30 Dec, 5:48pm
84 Chancellor Finished 04:04:49:21 6.2
Ted Tooher (3) NSW 30 Dec, 5:49pm
85 Isabella Finished 04:05:28:16 6.2
J Nolan (2) NSW 30 Dec, 6:28pm
86 Charlie's Dream Finished 04:05:28:58 6.2
Peter Lewis QLD 30 Dec, 6:28pm
87 She Finished 04:05:46:56 6.2
Peter Rodgers (12) NSW 30 Dec, 6:46pm
88 Inca Finished 04:09:32:15 6.0
Noel Sneddon (4)/ Rob Saunders (6) ACT 30 Dec, 10:32pm
89 Maluka of Kermandie Finished 04:13:49:05 5.7
Sean Langman (17) NSW 31 Dec, 2:49am
90 Getaway Sailing 2 Finished 04:15:05:00 5.7
J Pettifer NSW 31 Dec, 4:05am
91 Polaris of Belmont Finished 04:21:19:23 5.4
Chrs Dawe (4) NSW 31 Dec, 10:19am
92 Nest Property Finished 05:03:42:52 5.1
Murray Wilkes TAS 31 Dec, 4:42pm
Helsal III * Retired - at Port
Rob Fisher (15) TAS
Inner Circle * Retired - at Port
Ken Robinson (3), D Cooney NSW
Leukaemia Foundation * Retired - at Port
R Holstein (9) /S Kellie (2) NSW
Pachamama: Swiss TOP to TOP Global Climate Expedition Retired - at Port
Dario Schwoerer Switzerland
Sanyo Maris * Retired - at Port
Ian Kiernan (12) NSW
Somoya * Retired - at Port
Garry Rose VIC
Georgia * Other
VIC
Shogun * Disqualified
Rob Hanna (3) VIC

Notes




by Susan Maffei Plowden




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