Rolex Sydney Hobart: Off record pace but the battle rages

• NEWS
• 27 Dec, 2014 06:00:00 AM

Rolex Sydney Hobart: Off record pace but the battle rages

The super maxis might be off record pace early this morning, but the race is well and truly on; Jim Clark’s Comanche is leading Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI by a whisper.

Comanche, skippered by Ken Read and Oats, skippered by Mark Richards, are north-east of Green Cape on the NSW south coast, off Pambula, some 25 nautical miles off the record.

Eight miles astern of the race leaders, Ragamuffin 100 and Perpetual Loyal are engaged in a similar neck-and-neck struggle. Andrew Crowe reported from Ragamuffin just after 6.00am: “We’ve just caught up with Perpetual Loyal. We’ve had a backwards and forwards night; we probably went a little too close to shore. We’re in good shape though, and keeping a good eye on them.

“The sea is still a little lumpy, we’re getting 10-12 knots from the south, and it’s starting to go west and light as predicted.

“Through the night it was stronger away from the coast – 9 to 10 knots, but the sea was better closer in,” Crowe said.

Only a couple of hundred metres separate Ragamuffin 100 (Syd Fischer) and Perpetual Loyal (Anthony Bell) while five and eight miles astern of them are the two V70s, Black Jack (Peter Harburg) and Giacomo, Jim Delegat’s New Zealand entry respectively, fighting out round two of their own private duel after Black Jack won round one narrowly last year.

Five and six miles away, Manouch Moshayedi’s RIO 100 is toughing it out with Philip Turner’s RP66, Alive.

It is early days to look at overall contenders, but this morning Roger Hickman had his 29 year-old Farr 43 Wild Rose in the lead. Ariel, Ron Forster’s Beneteau 40 was in second place, Imagination, Robin and Annette Hawthorn’s  Beneteau 47.7 was third and three-time overall winner, Love & War, the S&S47 owned by Simon Kurts was in fourth place.      

With conditions easing throughout the night, there were no further retirements since Brindabella and Last Tango last evening, leaving 110 of the original 117 still racing.

The Bureau of Meteorology forecast suggests winds will ease further today; the fleet can expect about a 10 knot east to south-easterly becoming north-easterly at 10-15 knots in the late afternoon.

By Di Pearson, RSHYR media