Sydney to Hobart yacht race: Oli the cat news, Jessica Watson, man overboard, torrential rain
Celebrity sailing cat Oli the moggy is loving life at sea but unlike his rivals on other yachts in the Sydney to Hobart is more than a little hesitant to go up on deck to chop in as the weather worsens.
Celebrity sailing cat Oli the moggy is loving life at sea but unlike his rivals on other Sydney to Hobart yachts is more than a little hesitant to go up on deck as the weather worsens.
Oli, believed to be first cat to race in a Sydney to Hobart, has been elevated to “chief in charge of morale” as his crewmates Bob Williams and Chris Warren battle their way south near the rear of the fleet in the little two-hander Sylph.
“We are all good. We are sailing upwind and Oli has found a nice place in a corner,’’ Warren reported as the 63-year-old yacht battled escalating upwind conditions on Thursday while LawConnect and Andoo Comanche crews enjoy a drink after securing first and second place in the ocean classic.
Warren said Oli has made it up onto deck on occasion but is clearly a fair weather sailor.
And there’s not much of that ahead for the majority of the fleet with just six boats expected to be safely docked in Hobart overnight.
“Things are a little easier tomorrow but still windy and very lumpy,’’ said meteorologist Roger Badham.
“There’s wind between 15-20 but that will build later and get back up to 25 or more.’’
URM, Moneypenny, Alive and Wild Things were the next yachts on track to finish the race before a big gap to the next cluster sometime on Friday,
Wild Thing skipper Grant Wharington reported they were sailing in “an absolute deluge of rain’’ yesterday as they headed for home.
“Who knew rain could be so wet,’’ he said.
Jessica Watson reported in from the 34-fooetr Azzurro that she and her crewmate were all well but she had forgotten how hard life can be at sea when going upwind.
“Everything becomes a struggle, just moving around the boat,’’ she said.
“So far so good with seasickness. We are all trying to stay hydrated a such a possible.’’
Both LawConnect and Andoo Comanche had stories to tell of the vile conditions at sea the first night with another yacht now revealing they had a man overboard on day two of the race.
The New Zealand yacht Silver Fern said at around 6am on December 27 off Wollongong they had a man overboard incident.
It was the second of the race with another sailor going overboard the two-handed Rum Rebellion the first afternoon at sea but also quickly recovered.
Crewman Ross Glare was retrieved from the water without incident, accessed and deemed to be OK so the yacht has continued to race on.
On Thursday the little yacht Bacardi became the 12th retirement of the race, forced to the sidelines with rigging damage.
She is now on her way back to Eden.
This is only the second time in 29 assaults on the race Bacardi has been unable to finish, with a dismasting back in 2010 her only other retirement.
The yacht She was also headed to Eden to access sail damage but said it has not retired to date.
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