Fixed keel Skandia takes third on line honours

• NEWS
• 28 Dec, 2005 09:17:00 PM

Fixed keel Skandia takes third on line honours

"We had a typical sort of Volvo Ocean Race injury where two guys were washed down the deck on a big wave," said Konica Minolta's helmsman Gavin Brady.

The moment Skandia crossed the finish line of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Grant Wharington's 30 metre maxi required assistance to make it safely into Constitution Dock.

The yacht's engine had failed, which normally isn't too much of a problem for a sailing boat, but in the world of hydraulically-powered canting-keel boats, it means you can't cant your keel.

Not easily anyway.  When Skandia's engine broke down about 24 hours into the race, Wharington must have wondered if he was heading for a repeat of last year's disastrous race.  "We have the option of moving the keel from one side to the other with a small electric motor but it takes about 8 minutes, whereas the engine takes 30 seconds," he explained.  "We think we turned the engine off at one stage and it gulped water back in through the exhaust."

"The biggest problem was that while we were trying to fix the keel, we were sailing the wrong gybe for about three hours, and that lost us a lot of time, perhaps 20 miles," he said.  For a while the engine did its work, and Wharington estimates they gybed about 15 or 20 times.  But when it failed for a second time, that was the end of it, and Skandia was forced to sail with the keel locked on the centreline."

With the two leaders long gone and a good gap back to Konica Minolta in 4th, Wharington didn't need to take any risks and he brought Skandia into Hobart at 14:46 hours this afternoon.  A year ago, this performance would have been good enough to win the Rolex Sydney Hobart, but how things have changed with the arrival of the supercharged maxis, Wild Oats XI and Alfa Romeo.

They represent the next generation of canting-keel technology. Wharington praised Bob Oatley and the Wild Oats team for winning the race and setting a new course record, but he also wondered what things might have been like in last year's much nastier race.  "The Rolex Sydney Hobart Race is known for being tough, but this year it certainly wasn't that" he added.  "I'm pretty sure that if the boats that were first and second this year were racing last year, they'd now be parked back in the dock in Sydney," said Wharington.  "They wouldn't be here now. I don't know if they would be able to make it in those sort of conditions. They had the race that suited them perfectly.  They're very fast downwind, and that's what they got."

Apart from engine trouble, Wharington described the 628 miles as "a bit of a cruise really.  A lot of the time downwind it was shorts and T-shirt.  I think there was one guy who spent the whole race in shorts and thongs, never put his wet weather gear on, even when it was blowing 40 knots.  I think he might have been skulking around downstairs trying to get the engine fixed."

Stewart Thwaites, owner of Konica Minolta, was also very happy with his race.  "It's probably the nicest Hobart I've done.  Being out of the running for line honours made it more relaxing.  To come in fourth, being the first non-canting keel boat makes me pretty happy."

Thwaites has now done the past three Rolex Sydney Hobart Races, but for him this was the most enjoyable.  "The first time losing by 14 minutes was hard [in 2003, when Thwaites just missed out on line honours to Skandia], then we pulled out last year when we were well ahead [structural problems forced Konica out of the race].  That was more of a relief that nobody got hurt.  This time there was no pressure, and it was such a nice race to do. It was beautiful sailing."

There were a couple of hairy moments, however, as helmsman Gavin Brady recalls.  "We had a typical sort of Volvo Ocean Race injury where two guys were washed down the deck on a big wave," he said.  "Our plan was to push hard on the second night.  We probably gybed eight or nine times, and I don't think the others gybed that often.  To gybe a conventional maxi in 30 knots of wind is always challenging, and we asked a lot of the guys."

Next to arrive was AAPT, the 27 metre boat which won line honours last year under the name of Nicorette.  Sean Langman chartered the boat off last year's skipper Ludde Ingvall, but he has a bit of boatwork to do before he can return the boat to her owner.  The boom was broken in two and AAPT arrived in Hobart under jib and storm trysail.

Out at sea, conditions are getting tougher and tougher for the bulk of the fleet.  Brian Northcote's report from the DK46 Quantum Racing gives some indication of the sort of challenges the sailors are facing.  "Last night we finally had water over the deck and managed to do a 360-degree turn while doing 18 knots boat speed with the spinnaker up, which ended up torn to bits, and it took 15 minutes to recover.  It was very dark last night with a massive seaway."

In the race for IRC handicap, some of the mid-sized challengers have fallen down the rankings, making it increasingly likely for Wild Oats XI to win an historic treble of line honours, race record and handicap honours.  Closest challenger is currently Bill Wild's new 42-footer Wedgetail, although the crew will need very favourable winds to make up the time they need to beat Wild Oats on handicap.