Sydney to Hobart 2019: Damaged Wild Oat XI racing to make start
There are doubts the damaged supermaxi Wild Oats XI will be repaired in time for the 2019 Sydney to Hobart race. But there is a cunning back up plan if it isn’t.
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The Wild Oats crew will be on start line of the 2019 Sydney to Hobart but their mode of transport could be dramatically downsized from the record-breaking supermaxi they had planned to race in the 75th anniversary race.
The defending line honours champion is still undergoing major repairs after potentially race-ending damage in a rough lead-up race which saw 23 yachts retire from a starting fleet if 57 with various degrees of damage when hit by a howling southerly off the NSW coast.
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Tactician Iain Murray said the crew, who mostly hail from northern beaches, are working overtime to have the 100-footer back in race mode for the December 26 start on Sydney Harbour but there is a back-up plan if they fail.
Materials are being sourced from around the world as the team rushes to repair damage to the mast, deck and rigging sustained the mast on the yacht compressed on itself during the Cabbage Tree Island race.
“We are trying to get back on the water,’’ said Murray, aboard for all of Wild Oats XI past nine line honours wins.
“But if we don’t with Wild Oats XI then it will be the smaller boat, Wild Oats X.
“We will be there on the start in some form or another.’’
In either boat Murray and his crewmates would have a good change of nabbing major silverware in the 75th anniversary race.
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Under the guidance of round the world sailor Stacey Jackson and her all female professional Ocean Respect Racing crew raced the 66-foot Wild Oats X to second place in the race for the coveted overall honours won by the Tasmanian yacht Alive.
With Wild Oats XI in the 628 nautical mile race which starts at 1pm on Boxing Day, there will be five 100-footers on the start line of the 7th anniversary race.
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The fleet, still to be confirmed but which will be in excess of 150 yachts, is the fourth largest in the history of the race which started when nine yachts set sail for Hobart back in 1945.