In what is expected to be one of the best displays of high-speed supermaxi sailing seen on Sydney Harbour, Bob Oatley’s record breaking sailing yacht Wild Oats XI will be racing to win her eighth SOLAS Big Boat challenge tomorrow, on December 9, 2014.
Superyacht Wild Oats XI closes on the finish line – and her seventh win – in the 2013 SOLAS Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour. Image by Andrea Francolini
The race is billed as a scene-setter for the Rolex Sydney Hobart race, which starts on Boxing Day. But, while everyone accepts that the outcome will not be a true indication on form for the classic, there will be some benefit associated with being first across the line.
“I guess there are bragging rights attached to being first home in the Big Boat Challenge,” said Wild Oats XI’s skipper, Mark ‘Ricko’ Richards, “but in reality it has no bearing on the charge for line honours in the Hobart race. Tomorrow’s race is a 14 nautical mile smooth water sprint. The Hobart race is a 628 nautical mile marathon across waters that at times can be little short of heinous.
“Regardless, we will be going all-out to win tomorrow. It promises to be a day of high excitement for the sailors and the spectators.”
Richards and the Wild Oats XI crew will also be working hard to win the race for 86-year-old Bob Oatley AO, who will be in the cockpit alongside Richards. It is likely the veteran sailor will take the helm of his yacht during the event.
The Big Boat Challenge promises a spectacular showdown between three of the five largest contenders for line honours in the Hobart race. To be first home on the harbour Wild Oats XI will have to beat arch rival sailing yacht Perpetual Loyal (Anthony Bell), and the brand new American yacht, Comanche, owned by Jim Clark, and his Australian-born wife, Kristy Hinze.
It will be the first-ever race for the radical superyacht Comanche, which, at 30-metres overall, is the same length as Wild Oats XI and Perpetual Loyal.
A 10 to 15 knot south easterly wind is forecast for when the race starts off Nielsen Park at 12.30pm. The finish line will be off the Opera House.
