Wild Oats XI to return for a historic fourth line honours attempt

• NEWS
• 29 Dec, 2007 01:23:00 PM

Wild Oats XI to return for a historic fourth line honours attempt

“If you’re going to win four Hobarts you first have to win three,” he told them, “and we’ve done that.” Then, to boisterous cheering and applause he said: “We’re coming back next year, but only if this crew, which I consider to be the best in the world, is there.”

It took Bob Oatley just four hours to decide if he would go for a historic fourth consecutive line honours in the Rolex Sydney Hobart.

After being pressured with the question from the moment he stepped ashore, having watched his 30 metre long maxi Wild Oats XI, claim her third line honours win in the classic, he made an announcement to his 24-man crew.

“If you’re going to win four Hobarts you first have to win three,” he told them, “and we’ve done that.” Then, to boisterous cheering and applause he said: “We’re coming back next year, but only if this crew, which I consider to be the best in the world, is there.”

Oatley’s desire to have his yacht go one better than the legendary thoroughbred Makybe Diva, the winner of three straight Melbourne Cups, was influenced by the exceptional effort that had gone into achieving this year’s victory. In early September, when Wild Oats XI was dismasted while racing off Porto Cervo, in the Mediterranean, he had made what most experts considered to be an impossible pledge to his team. He promised that the yacht would be ready to race to Hobart.

Soon after 10.30am yesterday Oatley was fighting back tears as he watched his yacht from the deck of a spectator boat and saw his yacht achieve that impossible dream. Then, the moment the finishing signal sounded off Battery Point amid thunderous applause, his tears were released. At the same time he responded to the accolades from his crew who were recognising his belief in them and the boat.

"This finish was very emotional, especially after the broken mast," he said dockside, "There was a time when we thought we wouldn't get her ready for this race. We had to get her back to Australia and repaired and at the same time organise a new mast from New Zealand and new sails and rigging from America.

“We not only achieved all that, we won."

Oatley, who has a condition similar to deep vein thrombosis and was under doctor’s orders not to be aboard for the race, said that he was so anxious while following his yacht’s progress that he felt he was there.

"We do everything there is to do to make sure the boat is right, but sometimes that's not enough. You don’t know what you might have missed.”

With that effort in mind, and confronted by the temptation to have Wild Oats XI become the first yacht in the 64 year history of the classic to be first home four times straight, he made his announcement.

More than ten thousand people – one of the biggest ever crowds – were out on the water and lining the shore in bitterly cold conditions to watch Wild Oats XI earn her place in Hobart race history. This was the first time a yacht had scored tree consecutive line honours since Claude Plowman’s famous 19.5 metre long cutter, Morna, which was first to Hobart in 1946, ‘47 and ‘48.

While the majority of the 628 nautical mile course featured champagne sailing conditions the Derwent River threw every obstacle at Wild Oats XI. As if to mock Oatley’s predictions of the previous day, where he said that the final 12nm up the river to the finish could decide the outcome, the crew was forced to make more sail changes over the distance than they had at any other time.

And all the time they were looking over their shoulders as their arch rival from England, Mike Slade’s new maxi City Index Leopard, came at them from beyond the horizon. After being more than 20nm astern at sunrise the English invader made good use of better sailing conditions and closed to within 3nm at the line.

Back at the dock, when Oatley and his team went aboard Leopard to salute that crew for making it a great race, Slade paid high tribute to Wild Oats XI, which was skippered by Mark Richards.

“If you can do something like this three years running in what I consider to be the world’s best ocean race then you are looking at a great boat and a great team,” Slade said. “We couldn’t have done any better. They deserve this victory.”

Oatley smiled and toasted Slade while at the same time considering the opportunity he now faced. In what is yachting’s equivalent of the Melbourne Cup he could go one better than Makybe Diva and make it four straight. - Rob Mundle