WILD Oats XI has laid down the challenge from the outset of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race with a formidable early performance, leading the fleet out of Sydney Harbour and down the NSW coast.
Last night Wild Oats was ahead of its maxi rivals with a two-nautical-mile lead on Maximus and Skandia, ABN AMRO and Ichi Ban a further four miles behind.
Blue skies and a 15 to 20-knot south-to-south-easterly wind set the stage for a quick run to the Heads but onlookers missed out on a full-fleet spinnaker start, with the big boats choosing to keep their kites stowed. The fleet of 78 yachts enjoyed a clean getaway with no one jumping the starter's gun, but BSG 'On Tap' somehow missed rounding the seaward mark at the Heads and was forced to loop back &http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/maxi-pack-in-pursuit-of-wild-oats/2006/12/26/#151; by which point it was last out to sea.
Two-and-a-half hours into the race and a leading pack of five had already passed Port Hacking and established a handy break over the chasing pack, with Wild Oats a little over one nautical mile ahead of a neck-and-neck Maximus and ABN AMRO, with Skandia and Ichi Ban in hot pursuit.
Late yesterday, ABN AMRO skipper Mike Sanderson said he was pleased with the race start and enjoying the balmy weather out at sea, but said conditions certainly favoured the maxis and not his Volvo 70.
"(I'm) really happy how we got out of the Heads; at one stage we were second behind Wild Oats," he said.
"It was good fun, we were right down in the action &http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/maxi-pack-in-pursuit-of-wild-oats/2006/12/26/#151; we were pretty keen on getting a tow down the harbour from Skandia and Wild Oats so it meant we had to mix it up with them but it worked pretty well.
"I think it was the good end to be for us, we were all pretty conservative not putting chutes on at the end but it was good fun."
Four hours into the race, Sanderson still had his main rivals for line honours in his sights. "We've got the three maxis out to leeward and Ichi Ban just aft of the beam &http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/maxi-pack-in-pursuit-of-wild-oats/2006/12/26/#133; We're really happy how we're hanging on," he said.
On board Skandia, skipper Grant Wharington said he was also enjoying the conditions and was keeping a close eye on the competition. "ABN AMRO has set itself up as the most easterly boat and basically the other four are all in a line now," he said. "Maximus is a little low. We're straight on the course so we're starting to work a little seaward of them. They're about 200 metres off our starboard bow and Wild Oats XI is 2&http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/maxi-pack-in-pursuit-of-wild-oats/2006/12/26/#189; miles straight ahead."
Wharington, who won line honours in 2003 and led the race in 2004 before having to abandon ship in Bass Strait, said he did not expect conditions to get too bad overnight and was confident Skandia would continue to mix it with the frontrunners.
Almost five hours into the race Quantum Racing was 21 miles off Wollongong and sitting among a bunch of fellow handicap favourites, with navigator Brian Northcote anticipating a wind shift about 10pm and waves building as the night progressed.
"Overnight is going to be interesting, we're all out here in a 1&http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/maxi-pack-in-pursuit-of-wild-oats/2006/12/26/#189; to two knot southerly set which is why everyone came offshore," Northcote said.
"It's very funny, we're all like peas in a pod &http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/maxi-pack-in-pursuit-of-wild-oats/2006/12/26/#151; all doing about the same boat speed and in the same direction &http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/maxi-pack-in-pursuit-of-wild-oats/2006/12/26/#151; so there's no one making any real, major tactical manoeuvres because you can't.
"When the sun goes down and we get a wind shift, which we know will happen &http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/maxi-pack-in-pursuit-of-wild-oats/2006/12/26/#133; we'll get waves of six to eight metres &http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/maxi-pack-in-pursuit-of-wild-oats/2006/12/26/#151; that's the average which means it's pretty big," he said.
