Sydney to Hobart: Race committee protest against Wild Oats XI deemed invalid
Wild Oats XI skipper Mark Richards has welcomed the decision by an international panel to dismiss a complaint against his crew.
Wild Oats XI skipper Mark Richards has welcomed the decision by an international panel to dismiss a complaint against his crew after their nail biting victory in the Sydney to Hobart race yesterday.
The supermaxi’s crew had hailed their line-honours win yesterday as “redemption”, but had to wait until the race committee’s protest lodged last night was heard today before they could start celebrations.
Wild Oats XI will now retain her ninth line honours win after a five person panel dismissed deemed the complaint invalid.
Runner-up Black Jack claimed after the race ended that Wild Oats XI did not have its Automatic Identification System (AIS) switched on and that they were disadvantaged because they did not know where the yacht was sailing. However because the protest itself was lodged by the race committee, it was dismissed as invalid because it had to be filed by a competitor.
Wild Oats skipper Richards welcomed the panel’s decision. “We do the utmost to sail by the rules,” he said. “It’s just a shame this came about. We totally respect the decision. We just want to move on and celebrate the win.”
The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia completed hearing the panel’s protest in Hobart shortly after 2pm today. The dispute boiled down to the claim that Wild Oats XI knew where Black Jack was at all times but Black Jack did not know the position of Wild Oats XI.
Wild Oats XI finished just 28 minutes ahead of Black Jack on Friday morning in one of the closest contests in race history.
The supermaxi could have beeen hit by a time penalty or even disqualification if the protest is upheld.
Cruising Yacht Club of Australia commodore Paul Billingham said last night there may have been a breach of the rules. “The Race Committee is independent of the organising authority of the race to assure objectivity is maintained and seen to be maintained in circumstances such as this,” he said.
Black Jack skipper Peter Harburg said: “The rules say the (AIS) has got to be on all the time, so we didn’t know where they were and they knew where we were all the time, and that has disadvantaged us.” However, Harburg had suggested he would not lodge a protest.
Wild Oats XI dismissed the charge, suggesting the identifier was switched on for the entire race. Richards said it was not mandatory and could not have influenced the result.
“We were in sight of each other for the whole race,” he said. “It’s a storm in a teacup.”
Skippered by Mark “Ricko” Richards, Wild Oats XI triumphed in a titanic struggle to the finish with rivals Black Jack and Comanche, in one of the tightest contests in the history of the 628 nautical mile bluewater classic.
Wild Oats XI crossed Hobart’s Castray Esplanade finish line at 8.07am, after snatching a lead from then-nearest rival Comanche just before dawn, Richards describing the nerve-racking contest as the “most spectacular” yet. Richards earlier said the boat’s ninth line-honours win was the sweetest for the Wild Oats XI crew, who infamously crossed the line first last year only to cede victory to Comanche after a protest for a rule breach was upheld and Wild Oats XI was penalised. “It’s a day of redemption for us, that’s for sure, after last year’s result, which was just so disappointing,” Richards said after raucous celebrations and a traditional dip in the Derwent, courtesy of his elated crewmates.
“Today, whether people like it or not, was Wild Oats’ 10th time over that line first, regardless of whatever anyone says. We are just so happy with the result.
“It was an amazing, amazing contest all the way to the end. I take my hat off to all four of the maxi boats. All teams did an awesome job. We all came into the Derwent together, so what more can you ask for?”
Other competitors were reluctant to buy into the AIS row.
All four supermaxis finished within 43 minutes of each other. Black Jack chased down Comanche in the Derwent to take second place by 63 seconds. A triumphant Richards declared his Oatley family-owned 14-year-old vessel to be an “Australian icon” on a par with Phar Lap.
Wild Oats XI sailed wide to steal a lead over Comanche near Tasman Island, in pre-dawn darkness, in what Richards described as a “game-winning manoeuvre”.
Even so, until 6.30am, the four supermaxis were within four nautical miles of each other, before Wild Oats XI broke from the pack to finish ahead of Black Jack, which arrived at 8.35am. Comanche, skippered by Jim Cooney, finished third at 8.36am.
Wild Oats XI’s race time of one day, 19 hours, seven minutes and 21 seconds was well outside Comanche’s race record set last year (1 day, 9 hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds).
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