Historic win for Wild Oats XI - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Historic win for Wild Oats XI

By Liam FitzGibbon 03/01/2007 06:29:13 PM Comments (0)

Just days after winning back-to-back Sydney to Hobarts, Wild Oats XI has won the 26th Pittwater to Coffs Harbour event.

The 30-metre maxi yacht blew the rest of the fleet out of the water in the process, coasting home to a massive victory, only for calm, upwind conditions to deny it the race record many tipped it to break.

Wild Oats XI, the largest boat ever to enter the race, sailed into Coffs Harbour at 9.42am, recording a time of 21 hours and 46 minutes, missing the record by just over three hours.

Wild Oats' nearest rival Wild Joe was not due to finish until around 7.30pm, long after the victorious crew had already put its feet up, while no other boats were expected to finish on Wednesday night.

The boat joined 58 others for the start of the race on Monday, just a day after motoring back into Sydney following its second successive Sydney to Hobart win.

It is the first boat to win the two races back-to-back.

Skipper Mark Richards said the crew, although tired and drained from both races, was thrilled with the win.

"It was all upwind again, no spinnakers, so it was pretty hard work but it was good and very enjoyable," Richards said.

"We're very relieved, everyone is exhausted and it's a big effort to do what everyone's done but to be the first boat ever to win line honours in both races is a pretty big thrill.

Richards said the crew didn't encounter any problems over the 226-nautical mile journey and felt the record set by his crew on Wild Oats IX (now Wild Joe) in 2003 could have been broken in better conditions.

"Obviously that was one of aims with this race but the 'on the nose' conditions were always going to pose a challenge," he said.

"Regardless, we had a great race and this is a fantastic end to a big campaign."

Richards said the crew would now take a well-earned rest as the boat returned to Sydney.

The crew has now taken four of the last five Pittwater to Coffs Harbour line honours, winning in 2003 on Wild Oats IX and 2005-2006 on Wild Oats X.

The crew was keeping a keen eye on the progress of its competitors with a strong chance of also claiming the handicap honours to cap off a complete domination of the event.

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