Sydney to Hobart yacht race 2022: Andoo Comanche’s near miss with Wild Oats an important lesson
She started fast and finished with speed to burn in the final race between all four Sydney to Hobart supermaxis. But Andoo Comanche’s skipper believes the ocean mauler is very beatable.
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A near-miss between his supermaxi and a Sydney to Hobart rival has put Andoo Comanche skipper John Winning Junior and his team on high alert ahead of the Boxing Day start of the famous ocean race.
While a firm favourite to take line honours in the Sydney to Hobart in the wake of another victory against her rivals in Tuesday’s Big Boat Challenge, Winning said a close call in a race a day earlier was a timely reminder they were not infallible or unbeatable.
Winning said a communication breakdown aboard the 100-footer saw the masts on Andoo Comanche and Wild Oats come within metres of colliding during the Australian maxi championships.
“It was a wakeup call that we are not invincible,’’ he said.
“We came within metres of our two masts hitting.’’
On Tuesday Andoo Comanche, a previous line honours winner of the race under her first American owner Jim Clark, the founder of Netscape, in 2015 and then her Australian owner Jim Cooney in 2017 and 2019, blew her opposition away in a good strength breeze on Sydney Harbour.
Her win was expected but the ability of Christian Beck’s LawConnect to stay within striking distance during the harbour race turned many heads.
Former Olympian and round the world sailor Chris Nicholson said there is no double John Winning and his Andoo Comanche crew are the undisputed favourites for the upcoming Sydney to Hobart.
But that doesn’t mean he and fellow supermaxis sailors rivals have conceded defeat.
“Today was only our fifth day of sailing so we are pretty pleased,’’ he said.
“Very pleased with the way we stayed with them which was a bit surprising.’’
Also pleased was Cooney who took out the Big Boat handicap honours with his former round the world racer, the 70-footer Willow, while watching his old yacht Comanche firm as the Sydney to Hobart line honours favourite.
Willow beat the Tasmanian yacht Alive and the Sydney boat URM Group in this class.
But URM beat Willow for the honours in the mini maxi division of the Australian maxi championships which concluded with the Big Boat race.
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Originally published as Sydney to Hobart yacht race 2022: Andoo Comanche’s near miss with Wild Oats an important lesson
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