Sailing: Near collision at start of Sydney-Hobart yacht race
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[December 26, 2017]
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian
super-maxi Black Jack was first out of the Sydney Heads after two of
the leading contenders for line honors almost collided at the
beginning of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race on Tuesday.
The Mark Bradford-helmed Black Jack, which took line honors in 2009
as Alfa Romeo, was one second ahead of LDV Comanche at the first
mark and kept its slim lead as the boats rounded the Heads at the
harbor entrance and headed south to Tasmania.
Wild Oats XI, seeking a ninth line honors title, was third, about a
minute behind the leading pair, but managed to overhaul Comanche as
they raced along the New South Wales coast.

The trio were within sight of each other about two hours after the
race started at 1 p.m. (0300 GMT).
Thousands of boats provided the perfect viewing positions for
spectators as the 73rd edition of the 630-nautical mile bluewater
classic got underway.
Despite the light conditions there was high drama shortly after the
start when the Mark Richards skippered Wild Oats tacked too closely
to Jim Cooney's Comanche and they almost collided.
Race organizers had predicted steady north-east winds of up to 20
knots as the 102 yachts headed down the New South Wales coast with
the breezes freshening to 25 knots as they approached Bass Strait
between the mainland and Tasmania.
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achts Black Jack and LDV Comanche compete at the start of the annual
630 nautical miles (1166 kilometres) Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race on
Sydney Harbour. REUTERS/Steve Christo

InfoTrack, which is the fourth super-maxi in the fleet, set the race
record of one day, 13 hours, 31 minutes and 20 seconds when they
took line honours last year as Perpetual Loyal.
Skippered by 2012 Olympic Laser class champion and 2013 America's
Cup winner Tom Slingsby, InfoTrack was fifth overall about two hours
after the start of the race.
Covering approximately 630 nautical miles (1,170 km) of the Tasman
Sea and notoriously treacherous Bass Strait, the grueling annual
race is Australia's premier yachting event.
(Reporting by Greg Stutchbury in Wellington; Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
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