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  • Champagne conditions go flat

Champagne conditions go flat

Champagne conditions go flat
The crew of Investec Loyal going through final preparations 8 minutes before the start Protected by Copyright

Champagne conditions go flat

After four hours of vintage downwind racing in flat seas and a 12 knot north-easterly breeze, the frontrunners in the Rolex Sydney Hobart have hunkered down for the long grind to windward that will probably get worse before it gets better.

After four hours of vintage downwind racing in flat seas and a 12 knot north-easterly breeze, the frontrunners in the Rolex Sydney Hobart have hunkered down for the long grind to windward that will probably get worse before it gets better.

At around 5.30pm this afternoon Adrienne Cahalan, navigator of Wild Oats XI, reported that the yacht was off Kiama, beating into a 20 knot south-easterly, which Cahalan anticipated would strengthen to 30-35 knots from the south-west by the time the supermaxi left the New South Wales coast and launched into Bass Strait tomorrow morning.

Wild Oats XI was holding a narrow lead over Wild Thing and Investec Loyal, which have been hard on her heels since the start of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia hosted race.

“It’s been a good race between us and Wild Thing and Investec Loyal,” Cahalan said.  “We’re all evenly matched.”

The arrival of the southerly will most likely bunch the fleet up as the maxis slow down and enter boat preservation mode.  Cahalan said that she expected all the big boats to head closer inshore during the night, to take what respite there is from the strengthening winds.

Certainly Grant Wharington and Sean Langman, the skippers of Wild Thing and Investec Loyal, will be delighted with this first stage of the race.  The flat seas have suited Wild Oats XI. 

Like Mark Richards, skipper of Wild Oats XI, Langman will now nurse his big baby through the rough stuff so he can attack the line honours favourite in the flukier winds off the Tasmanian coast.

With some 45 miles separating Wild Oats XI and the tail-enders, the southerly front will work its way through the remainder of the fleet over the next few hours. 

The fleet can be tracked on Yacht Tracker at: www.rolexsydneyhobart.com

By Jim Gale, Rolex Sydney Hobart media team