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SPORTS Saturday 29 december 2018

In this photo provided by Rolex/Studio Borlenghi, supermaxi Wild
Oats XI gets close to Hobart, Australia, on the way to winning
line honors in the Sydney Hobart yacht race, Friday, Dec. 28,
2018.
Associated Press
Wild Oats XI wins

Sydney to Hobart

line honors

HOBART, Australia (AP) — Black Jack was left disad-
Wild Oats XI won the 74th vantaged because they
Sydney to Hobart yacht didn’t know where Wilds
race on Friday, claiming Oats XI was sailing.
line honors for the ninth “The rules say it’s got to be
time. on all the time,” he said.
The Mark Richards-skip- “They knew where we were
pered super maxi crossed all the time, so that has dis-
the line in Hobart shortly af- advantaged us and Co-
ter 8 a.m. local time (2100 manche and we are very
GMT Thursday) after taking disappointed in that.”
the lead from defending Harburg, however, did not
line honors champion Co- intend to lodge a protest
manche before sunrise. but believes the Sydney
The win came after Wild to Hobart race committee
Oats XI was stripped of line should look into it. Boats
honors in last year’s race, have up to six hours after
with a rule breach and finishing to lodge an official
time penalty handing vic- protest.
tory to Comanche. As Comanche led the
Three other super maxis group of four down the Tas-
followed Wild Oats XI into manian east coast over-
Constitution Dock in Ho- night, Wild Oats XI took a
bart. Black Jack was sec- more easterly track, swing-
ond, about 28 minutes be- ing in and sailing past the
hind, followed by Coman- challengers before sunrise.
che in third and Infotrack The move paid off, with
fourth. The yacht Alive was the super maxi swinging in
fifth and Wild Oats X sixth, and taking the lead as the
finishing nearly seven hours yachts prepared to round
after the winners. Wild Oats Tasman Island.
X had the race’s first all- “What a win. We’ve done
female crew, skippered by it ... never before in the
Australian Stacey Jackson 74-year history of this race
but with sailors from Britain, have four maxis battled it
New Zealand, the U.S. and out like this throughout the
the Netherlands. race and in the Derwent,”
Peter Harburg said Wild the team said.
Oats XI’s Automatic Iden- “It’s a day of redemption
tification System (AIS) was for us that’s for sure. We’re
off towards the end of the so happy with the result,”
race. Wild Oats navigator Richards said. “We basi-
Juan Vila told local media cally sailed around the op-
that he had turned the AIS position and got ourselves
on and believed the sys- into a position where the
tem had been on for the breeze filled in from the
entire race, which could southwest — this morning
point to a malfunction. we were in the right spot,”
However, Harburg said Richards said.q