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2:28 AM Wed 24 Dec 2008 GMT
Mark Richards strongly believes that records are only made to be broken and has confidently predicted the present 1 day 18 hour 40 minute 10 second Rolex Sydney Hobart Race record, stands to be challenged.
Richards the principle helmsman on Bob Oatley's 30m sloop Wild Oats Xl has the proven experience to make the statement after completing the physically demanding 628 nautical mile blue water classic with a super fast 14.7knot average in 2005.
He may very well get the chance to prove his prediction with the existing forecast promising to unfold with fast spinnaker sailing North East winds building to 25 knots before a wild westerly gale blasts into Bass Strait late on Saturday.
Wild Oats Xl which has been secretly modified to produce faster speeds in reaching and spinnaker sailing winds, will certainly have her deck drenched with spray when her experienced crew, including Iain Murray, set their race strategy in place to become the first yacht in history to win four consecutive line honours.
Her crew will be totally focused on logging the fast miles but only the time and weather will determine their chance to reach the finish line off Battery Point inside 42 hours 40 minutes 10 seconds.
Racing at breakneck speed for this period of time is possible but it will present the person at the wheel with a supreme test to avoid rig and sail stressing wipe outs on the open water stretch between Green Cape and the North East tip of Tasmania.
Every Sydney Hobart Race crew member is well aware that their reputations and prospects rest with eliminating time consuming broaches and damage.
Wild Oats Xl was on track to complete her 2005 race with a time well below 42 hours when her expensive mainsail was damaged in the strong wind.
However the super maxi Wild Oats Xl remains as a short priced favourite to again claim the line honours trophy forcing the past generation Victorian maxi Grant Wharington's Skandia and Matt Allen's Ichi Ban to hold out the challengers.
The complex nature of the race forecast will have a strong bearing on deciding the overall winner on corrected handicap between the pacesetter Wild Oats Xl and the impressive group of maxi-chasers including the 2008 Brisbane to Gladstone race champion Quantum Racing, Stephen Ainsworth's Loki and Queensland's 'pocket rocket' Black Jack skippered by Mark Bradford.
Both Loki and Black Jack make their debuts in the Hobart Classic while the Ray Roberts owned and skippered Quantum Racing was considered to finish with an unlucky third in 2007.
Their chances rest with hanging on in the expected fresh spinnaker sailing winds and saving their handicap rated time against Wild Oats Xl.
All three yachts, raced by exceptionally talented America's Cup and World championship winning sailors, are more than capable of completing the course with the fastest corrected handicap. However they will need some luck with the wind and avoid being flattened, when the expected cold Westerly Gale blows in to present them with gruelling, heavy winds when the combined fear factor and fatigue sets in late in the race.
by Ian Grant
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