Hobart: American yachts Comanche and Rambler 88 led the Sydney to Hobart fleet into Bass Strait on Sunday in a race with more than 20 retirements due to bad weather, including eight-time and defending champion Wild Oats XI.
Just over 27 hours into the race, the 100-foot super maxi Comanche, skippered by Ken Read and which was forced to make repairs to a damaged rudder after an overnight storm, led Rambler 88 by seven nautical miles.
Both had covered more than half the 628 nautical miles to Hobart on the island state of Tasmania. Rambler 88 had taken the race lead when Comanche had the rudder problems which were serious enough for Read and his crew to consider pulling out and returning to Sydney.
Comanche passed Rambler 88, which is skippered and owned by George David, in easing winds just before the 24-hour mark Sunday. Based on current projections, the leading yachts could cross the finish line at Constitution Dock in Hobart by mid to late afternoon Monday.
The Sydney to Hobart hasn’t had a foreign winner since Swedish boat Assa Abloy in 2001.
Ragamuffin 100, the only other super maxi left in the race, was in third place, followed by Italian yacht Maserati.
Wild Oats XI, also a super maxi, retired late Saturday when its mainsail was torn in half by the storm.
“To fight on, we could have put the crew into real dangerous situations,” Wild Oats skipper Mark Richards said when the yacht returned to Sydney. “We got caught out in the big rain squall and a lot of wind and threaded the mainsail. Game over. It is like blowing an engine in a race car.”
Another potential line honors winner, super maxi Perpetual Loyal, left the race with a broken rudder. It also sailed back to Sydney with a crew that included former Australia cricket captain Michael Clarke and rugby player Kurtley Beale.
The 23 retirements, of 108 starters, by mid-afternoon Sunday were already higher than last year’s 14 for the entire race.
There were 27 international starters, including 12 from the Clipper Round the World Race, who are competing in the Sydney to Hobart as the fifth leg of their series.
Organizers said the overnight conditions were “really nasty” - winds of up to 44 knots (81 kph, 50 mph) off the New South Wales state south coast. All crew members on the retired yachts were reported to be safe.
Sydney-born Jimmy Spithill, the winning skipper in the last America’s Cup aboard Oracle Team USA, is a crew member on Comanche. It was beaten into Hobart a year ago by Wild Oats XI by 55 minutes.
Wild Oats XI, skippered by Mark Richards, is the most prolific winner in the race’s history. Along with its eight line honors wins, it set the race’s fastest time in 2012 of 1 day, 18 hours, 23 minutes, 12 seconds.
