RSHYR: Wild Oats XI still hopeful, but time and opportunities are running out

Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo, line honours leader in 65th Rolex Sydney Hobart. Image copyright ROLEX/Daniel Forster.

This copy was written at 5pm, Alfa Romeo has since rounded Tasman Island and has given an ETA of 8.30pm to cross the finish line. Computer calculations put them at the finish closer to 10pm.

by Jim Gale

Alfa Romeo leads Wild Oats XI by 17 miles as the race leaders close on Tasman Island for the turn across Storm Bay and then the final leg up the Derwent River. With each mile Neville Crichton, Alfa Romeo’s skipper seems to be tightening his grip on line honours, but Wild Oats XI’s tactician Iain Murray says that they still may have one more chance to get past their rival.

“There are still 70 or 80 miles to go in this race and the trickiest part of the race is still to come. Getting around Tasman, across the Bay and up the Derwent is always very tricky,” he said a short time ago, “We need another transition. A weak spot for him to sail into and hopefully we can sail around him.

“We’re sailing in a nor-easterly, and we know there is a south westerly around the corner so there will be a transition zone. We’re still running on the theory that they might run out of speed at the corner of Tasman Light.

“Right now our game plan is to stay in wind and keep moving fast, and he’s [Neville] doing everything he can to stay between us and the finish.”

Murray said that the race has been a very challenging, tactical one. “It’s the flattest I’ve ever seen Bass Strait and that shows you that it’s been very tricky. We’ve had lots of easterlies, westerlies, no wind at all, so it’s been very challenging keeping the boat moving the whole time. Lots of tacking and gybing, changing sails. It keeps everyone on their toes.”

Murray says that the first night of the race was pivotal. “We’ve seen (weather) troughs and ridges across the course and there have been periods when we have had to sail through very little breeze. Alfa Romeo sailed through the first without trouble. We were sitting doing 2 knots and they popped out the other side doing 11. They put 20 miles on us and we have been playing catch up ever since.”

Murray says that nevertheless his team has stuck to its game plan, and it paid off this morning when they were finally able to overtake Mike Slade’s ICAP Leopard and take some distance out of Alfa Romeo.

“We have to hope that our plan is a good plan and better than their plan.”

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race