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Winner takes all in Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

Winner takes all in Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
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SKANDIA launches off a wave near Tasman Island Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
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SKANDIA launches off a wave near Tasman Island Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
IRC Division E winner and 1968 outright winner, Ray White Koomooloo Photo: Carlo Borlenghi/ Rolex
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IRC Division E winner and 1968 outright winner, Ray White Koomooloo Photo: Carlo Borlenghi/ Rolex
Konica Minolta bashing into it off Tasman Island Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
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Konica Minolta bashing into it off Tasman Island Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
Wild Oats XI's owner Bob Oatley and skipper Mark Richards, proudly displaying the Tattersalls Cup Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
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Wild Oats XI's owner Bob Oatley and skipper Mark Richards, proudly displaying the Tattersalls Cup Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
AAPT sailing along the Tasmanian coast Photo: Carlo Borlengh
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AAPT sailing along the Tasmanian coast Photo: Carlo Borlengh
Wild Oats XI racing up the Derwent River in Hobart, Australia Photo by: Carlo Borlenghi
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Wild Oats XI racing up the Derwent River in Hobart, Australia Photo by: Carlo Borlenghi
Rolex Challenge trophy winner (Australian team) QUANTUM RACING, Raymond Roberts Photo: Daniel Forster
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Rolex Challenge trophy winner (Australian team) QUANTUM RACING, Raymond Roberts Photo: Daniel Forster
LOKI, the Rolex Challenge trophy winner (Australian team w/Quantum Racing) Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
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LOKI, the Rolex Challenge trophy winner (Australian team w/Quantum Racing) Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
AAPT beating towards Hobart, Australia Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
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AAPT beating towards Hobart, Australia Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
WILD OATS XI crossing the finish line and breaking the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race record Photo: Daniel Forster
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WILD OATS XI crossing the finish line and breaking the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race record Photo: Daniel Forster
Hugo Boss at sunrise Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
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Hugo Boss at sunrise Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
ABN AMRO Photo by: Carlo Borlenghi
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ABN AMRO Photo by: Carlo Borlenghi
Hardys Secret Mens Business Photo by: Carlo Borlenghi
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Hardys Secret Mens Business Photo by: Carlo Borlenghi
Hardys Secret Mens Business Photo by: Carlo Borlenghi
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Hardys Secret Mens Business Photo by: Carlo Borlenghi
Mark Richards,Wild Oats XI's skipper with Rolex Yachtmaster for Line Honours victory Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
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Mark Richards,Wild Oats XI's skipper with Rolex Yachtmaster for Line Honours victory Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
WILD OATS XI off Tasman Island Photo: Daniel Forster
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WILD OATS XI off Tasman Island Photo: Daniel Forster
CHALLENGE, IRC Division C & Sydney 38 winner (Lou Abrahams, skipper) Photo by: Daniel Forster
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CHALLENGE, IRC Division C & Sydney 38 winner (Lou Abrahams, skipper) Photo by: Daniel Forster
WEDGETAIL heads for the mouth of the Derwent River (Bill Wild, skipper) Photo: Daniel Forster
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WEDGETAIL heads for the mouth of the Derwent River (Bill Wild, skipper) Photo: Daniel Forster
IRC Division D winner, Wot's Next Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
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IRC Division D winner, Wot's Next Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
IRC Division B winner, Chieftain Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
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IRC Division B winner, Chieftain Photo: Carlo Borlenghi
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January 1, 2006 When Wild Oats XI crossed the finish line on December 27, it became just the sixth boat in the 61 year history of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race to take the line honours and handicap double. It also became only the second boat in history to win the magical treble (the first boat to do it was Rani under Captain John Illingworth in the inaugural race) by setting a new race record too, eclipsing Nokia's 1999 race record by more than an hour for the 628 nautical mile race. It is an enormous irony though, that the boat which was the last in contention to beat the US$10 million super maxi was the oldest boat in the race. The 41-footer Ray White Koomooloo won the race on IRC in 1968 with an elapsed time 4 days, 10 hours, 26 min and 52sec – in her time she was at the very forefront of boating technology with her lightweight four-skin, cold moulded wooden construction. This year she bettered that time by more than eleven hours to finish in 3 days, 22hours, 51min and 39sec but light winds in the final stages cost her any chance of repeating her IRC victory of 37 years ago. The mahogany-constructed Sparkman-Stephens-designed Koomooloo was lovingly restored over seven years and for the last twelve months has been heavily and successfully campaigned by Queenslander Don Freebairn. That's Wild Oats XI on the left and Koomooloo on the right.

A few days before the start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, skipper of the brand-new maxi Wild Oats XI, Mark Richards, commented that winning the race on handicap was the real prize. “It's a bigger thrill for a boat to win on handicap than to get line honours,” he said. “Line honours this year is between four or five boats really. Handicap is between the whole fleet. That is the goal that everyone aspires to. All the guys up in the CYCA clubhouse with their photos on the wall, they are the handicap winners. From the sailors' point of view, that is the real trophy, to win the Tattersalls Cup.”

Little could Richards have realised that less than a week later, he would become the first skipper since Rani's victory in the inaugural race of 1945 to win 'the treble' - not just line honours, but the handicap victory and a new course record to boot. Many experts believed Bob Oatley's brand new maxi would get to Hobart at all. It was not an unreasonable assumption. You don't launch the world's most hi-tech and technically complex racing yacht just three weeks before an ocean race that takes you into some of the most treacherous seas in the world - and expect to get away with it, let alone win the race.

For that reason Alfa Romeo, a virtual twin of Wild Oats XI, was the bookies' favourite to win the race because owner/skipper Neville Crichton had spent five months working his Reichel/Pugh design up to speed. And when the two sisterships squared up to each other in the inshore series a week before the Hobart start, Alfa Romeo beat Wild Oats in almost every race.

Even then, despite Crichton's preparation, Alfa Romeo was considered touch and go for making it the full 628 miles to Hobart. Only if the 85-boat fleet received an uncharacteristically kind forecast did pundits believe the two newest maxis capable of going the distance. Waiting in the wings were the three leading contenders of last year's race - Konica Minolta, Skandia and the 2004 race winner Nicorette, now rebranded and repainted in the colours of the telecom company AAPT.

But the weather gods decided to be lenient and dealt one of the kindest weather forecasts seen for many years. Sean Langman, skipper of AAPT, said it was a dream scenario for the leading maxis. “There is a fantastic opportunity for the treble with this forecast. The treble of winning line honours, handicap and the race record, which we haven't seen for some time.”

In front of thousands of spectators crowding the shores of Sydney Harbour for the Boxing Day start, along with hundreds of spectator boats and a swarm of TV choppers buzzing overhead, first blood went to Mark Richards, when he helmed Wild Oats out through the famous Sydney Heads two boat lengths ahead of Alfa Romeo.

Just behind the maxis, Alex Thomson and the crew on Hugo Boss were getting all the attention of the TV cameras and photographers as they started the race wearing suits and ties. Nick Moloney, the famous Aussie round-the-world sailor, was on board as well.

Further back in the fleet, the crew of Quest honoured their skipper, John Bennetto, who had died the week before, by throwing a wreath into the water next to the Rolex marker buoy, before continuing south towards Bennetto's birthplace of Hobart. The great sailor known to many as “The Fish” holds the record of 44 Rolex Sydney Hobarts, a remarkable testament to his tenacity and dedication to the race.

Not long after the start, Alfa Romeo had overhauled Wild Oats by switching headsails earlier. It seemed that Alfa's crews' greater familiarity with their boat was paying off, while the Wild Oats crew were learning as they went along. Mark Richards and the crew had sailed little more than 300 miles aboard Wild Oats XI before the start - not even half a Hobart of experience to their name.

By the following morning, however, Wild Oats had turned the tables after a bold move inshore by the boat's co-navigators, Adrienne Cahalan and David Dickson. “We went inshore, and that's where it made the difference for us,” commented Cahalan on satellite phone. “We got a bit further down into the rhumb line down south and that's where the wind came in for us. We got a nice windshift off Gabo Island and I think that's where we took a step forward. “We had a little more wind than we expected. We got the better case scenario where we kept some wind all night, whereas I don't think some of the others did.”

Surely it would simply be a matter of time before the greater experience and firepower of Crichton's crew - which numbered Ben Ainslie and Adrian Stead among the afterguard - would grind down the leader. But position reports showed Wild Oats gradually trickling away from Alfa Romeo. But as is so often the case, there was a sting in the tail as Wild Oats entered the final phase of the race. With just 40 miles to go, sailing into Stormy Bay, the vang wrenched away from the mast. And then just 10 miles from the finish, as the maxi entered the Derwent River in 30 knots breeze, a wayward running backstay caught the top batten pocket and wrenched the batten out of the sail. The mainsail was now beginning to flog, and the crew were forced to lower the sail and limp to the line under jib alone. In fact, such is the efficiency of this amazing boat, that 'limp' was scarcely the word to describe her majestic progress, as Wild Oats continued to make 12 knots into the wind with just one sail flying.

Helmsman Mark Richards raised his fist aloft in victory as he helmed the Reichel/Pugh 98-foot maxi across the Hobart finish line just 10 seconds past 8 o'clock in the morning. Not only had Bob Oatley's team taken line honours, but they had set a new time of 1 day, 18 hours and 10 minutes for the 628-mile course. They had shattered the Volvo Ocean 60 Nokia's longstanding record by more than an hour.

“Huge, huge relief,” was Richards' breathless reaction to winning line honours. “We sailed a pretty flawless race. The fact that we had problems in the last 10 miles is a shame, but that's ocean racing.” Alfa Romeo reached Hobart just over an hour behind Wild Oats, and Neville Crichton couldn't disguise his anguish at missing line honours. “They outsmarted us,” he admitted dockside. “We gave it our best shot. We've beaten them in six out of seven races so far, they've beaten us one. But this was the important one.”

Some hours later, the other three maxis reached Hobart. Skandia was third across the line, despite having suffered an engine breakdown and being forced to lock her canting keel in the centre. Konica Minolta was next, and had had a trouble-free race. AAPT broke her boom and sailed the last hundred miles without it. Whatever problems they may have had, however, the wind was at least playing in favour of the big boats. The maxis escaped the worst of a light patch, which was slowing the progress of the small and mid-sized boats in Bass Strait. As the fleet moved further south, they would then encounter winds up to 40 knots.

Quantum Racing is a DK46 that in a 'normal' Rolex Sydney Hobart Race would be expected to do well on handicap. Despite impeccable boat preparation, along with victory in the Rolex Trophy during the build-up to this race, Ray Roberts could not get close to Wild Oats's handicap time. “I don't think we could have sailed a much better course than we did,” said Roberts, “but the hard reaching and running doesn't suit this boat and that's why we weren't up in the money for this race.”

Like nearly every boat, Quantum Racing had her moments of trouble. “One of our steering cables broke, and we did a few 360-degree circles in the middle of Bass Strait while we tried to set up some temporary steering. We laid the boat over and trashed a spinnaker while we tried to fix it. That incident dampened our spirits a bit, but the boys did a good job of getting things up and working again.”

For the most part, the conditions were kinder than the average Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, evidenced by the fact that only five boats retired from the 85-boat fleet. Some were still saying 'never again' when they reached dry land, but some you just don't believe. Having completed his 37th race to Hobart, race legend Syd Fischer was again wondering why he continues to come back. “Must be stupid,” he shrugged. “I think it's like women having a baby, they forget after a while.”

This was Lou Abrahams' 43rd Hobart, and the twice winner of the race had lost none of his competitive spark, sailing his Sydney 38 Challenge into first place in IRC Division C. The 78-year-old said he wanted to come back just one more time. This would bring him level with the 44 Hobarts sailed by the late John Bennetto. “I wouldn't mind equaling John's record,” Abrahams said. “I don't want to beat his record. It was never one of my targets to set a race number. It just happened that way. John did a great job and I don't want to surpass it.”

Penultimate boat to reach Hobart this year was Berrimilla. Her arrival marked the end of an extraordinary adventure for Alex Whitworth and Peter Crozier who, both in their early 60s, had just completed more than 30,000 miles of traversing the world' oceans in a modest 33-foot cruiser. Their adventure began last year when they raced in a very windy and wavy Rolex Sydney Hobart. No sooner had they completed that race but they were on their way to England to compete in the Rolex Fastnet Race, considered the sister race of the Hobart. Having completed and excelled in a predominantly light-wind Fastnet, the duo turned Berrimilla around for the homeward journey and reached Sydney with just days to spare before the beginning of this year's race.

It wasn't the kindest of endings to such a great adventure, as the Derwent River turned glassy calm, making Berrimilla struggle for hours to cover the final 10 miles. But they made it by the afternoon of New Year's Eve, leaving just one boat out there to finish in 2006, the diminutive Gillawa, due in Jan 2nd.

At the dockside prizegiving, Wild Oats XI was duly honoured for her historic treble, and Matteo Mazzanti of Rolex SA presented skipper Mark Richards with two Rolex Yachtmasters in Rolesium, one each for the line honours and IRC handicap victories. “This is something we will remember for ever,” said Richards, as the jubilant crew held aloft the two great prizes of the Great Race, the JH Illingworth trophy and the Tattersalls Cup.

Owner Bob Oatley, who didn't sail with the boat but was there to greet the team in Hobart, has spent a long time trying to win this race. He couldn't take his eyes off the JH Illingworth Trophy, the plaque detailing many of the great names of ocean racing. “A lot of these names on here are my friends,” he said. But the maxi winner also asked everyone to spare a thought for the yachts still out there, typified by the 32-foot cruiser Gillawa.

For Gillawa's skipper Dave Kent and his crew - some of whom were virtual beginners in the sport - it is all about the taking part. “I think Rolex sums it up beautifully with one of the race slogans. We've got a sticker inside the boat which says: 'The Rolex Sydney Hobart… It reminds you of who you are.' I couldn't think of a better way of saying it. There are many other races around, but this race has a special name for itself.”

The finale was an official prizegiving at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania on Sunday, where 1st - 3rd place finishers in all divisions received trophies, as well as a number of other prizes recognizing the accomplishments of local Tasmanian sailors.

Top 10 Line honours finishers

1. Wild Oats 2. Alfa Romeo 3. Skandia 4. Konica Minolta5. AAPT 6. Loki 7. Coogans Stores 8. Seriously 10 9. Hugo Boss10. ABN AMRO

Final Overall IRC standings

1. Wild Oats XI (confirmed as IRC handicap winner) 2. Alfa Romeo3. Konica Minolta4. Chieftain5. Skandia6. Wedgetail7. Loki8. Hardy Secret Mens Business9. Quantum Racing10. Wot's Next

IRC Divisional Winners

Overall: Wild Oats XI (Aus, Qld/NSW) - Bob Oatley, Mark RichardsIRC Division A: Wild Oats XI (Aus, Qld/NSW) - Bob Oatley, Mark RichardsIRC Division B: Chieftain (Ireland) - Gerard O'RourkeIRC Division C: Challenge (Aus, Vic) - Lou AbrahamsIRC Division D: Wot's Next (Aus, NSW) - Graeme WoodIRC Division E: Ray White Koomooloo (Aus, Qld) - Mike FreebairnPHS: Pekljus (Aus, NSW) - David FerrallSydney 38: Challenge (Aus, Vic) - Lou Abrahams

The race record

In winning this year's race, Wild Oats XI set a new race record of 1 day, 18 hours and 40 minutes, beating by more than an hour the previous record set by the Volvo Ocean 60 Nokia in 1999.

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