|
 The 100-foot supermaxi overhauled Perpetual Loyal early on Friday
afternoon after losing the lead in stormy weather late in the night
on the opening day of the race before romping to the Tasmanian
capital on favorable northeasterly winds.
Having claimed line honors in all but two of its nine attempts to
win the 628 nautical-mile (1,163km) race, Wild Oats equals the
record of Morna, later renamed Kurrewa IV, which won seven times
between 1946 and 1960.
Light winds for much of the race meant Wild Oats was not able to
come close to beating the race record of one day, 18 hours, 23
minutes and 12 seconds, which it set in winning last year.
The supermaxi crossed the line a shade over 54 hours after the
race's traditional start in Sydney harbor on Boxing Day with
second-placed Perpetual Loyal still some two hours away from Hobart.
[to top of second column] |
The smaller boats in the remainder of the fleet are forecast
to face winds of 40-60 knots and waves of up to 12 meters
overnight in the volatile Bass Strait.
A repeat of the major storm that sank five yachts and killed six
sailors in 1998 is unlikely, however.
(Writing by Nick Mulvenney; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
[© 2013 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2013 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
