Rolex Sydney to Hobart: super maxi yacht showdown

December 26, 2005 Ocean racing is one of the most exciting and dangerous sports yet conceived by man, and with one of the sport’s flagship events now 21 hours old, we are witnessing one of the most public yacht races ever staged. Normally, ocean racing is not a spectator event, but thanks to an array of technologies, the entire world can watch the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race via the Internet. In addition to the official race web site’s yacht tracker functionality, this year it is possible to watch via Google’s new 3D interface to the planet, Google Earth (Google Earth combines satellite imagery with a model that can be zoomed, spun and tilted - instructions here), with yacht positions and standings updated every ten minutes. Though weather forecasts suggested perfect weather for the 90-plus-foot maxis, the race record of 1 day, 19 hours and 48 minutes now appears safe as light overnight winds have seen the leading supermaxis fall more than 50 km behind schedule to take the record. As expected, the two new Reichel/Pugh 98-footers, Alfa Romeo and Wild Oats XI are leading the race with Wild Oats now 12 nautical miles clear of Alfa Romeo after 21 hours of sailing. Live odds for the race can be found here.

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