Supermaxi out of Syd-Hob, Comanche leads LawConnect
Jasper Bruce |
The Sydney to Hobart fleet has lost its first 100ft supermaxi with Wild Thing 100 retiring from the 80th running of the race on the first night of sailing.
All crew were safe as Wild Thing began the journey back to Sydney around 4am on December 27, having succumbed to rigging damage east-north-east of Tuross Head on the NSW South Coast.
Wild Thing had been considered a long shot for line honours compared to overnight leader Master Lock Comanche and reigning champion LawConnect, who were separated by around four-and-a-half nautical miles by 8.30am AEDT.
At that time, the two heavyweights were preparing to enter the Bass Strait, though neither will break the race record set by Comanche in 2017 – one day, nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds.
LawConnect was forced to contend with a broken mainsheet and halyard overnight but managed to fix both issues and remain in pursuit of Comanche.
The mainsheet issue took around 20 minutes to repair.
Out for redemption after retiring with mainsail damage last year, Comanche opened up a larger gap on LawConnect as the boats approached Eden.
“It’s been a tough night, we had a lot of breakages, which is why Comanche is ahead of us,” LawConnect skipper Christian Beck told AAP.
“It’s been quite difficult.
“We’re still together, we’re still in the race, but we’ve had a tough night.
“If we didn’t have those (mainsheet and halyard) issues, we would have been fine.”
Supermaxi SHK Scallywag and American 88-footer Lucky lead the chasing pack, with the former around five miles behind LawConnect as of 8.30am.
Wild Thing’s withdrawal would have been disappointing for veteran skipper Grant Wharington, who oversaw significant upgrades to her this year.
Wild Thing had placed third on line honours in last year’s deadly Hobart even with a smaller rig than usual for a 100ft supermaxi, and had a larger one installed in May.
The taller mast would have helped Wild Thing make the best of the lighter conditions forecast from Sunday as the supermaxis approached Hobart.
Despite crews being told to brace themselves for rough conditions, Wild Thing was the only boat to retire overnight by 5am after a handful pulled out on the afternoon of Boxing Day.
Awen retired with a broken forestay around 5.30am before engine issues left Trouble & Strife as the sixth boat to pull out about an hour later.
The fleet sailed upwind in tops of 25 knots overnight with solid swell as predicted, though southerlies were beginning to ease by daybreak.
Conditions were nowhere near as treacherous as last year’s first night, when two sailors were killed in violent storms.
Beck expected the wind may pick up again later on Saturday.
“It’s not quite as windy now, it’s a bit flatter because we’re just near the coastline, the southern tip of Victoria,” Beck said.
“But it’s kind of going to get worse later, we think.”
Hutchies Yeah Baby (damaged headstay foil), White Noise (rigging issues) and two-hander Inukshuk (rudder problem) had all retired by 5pm on Boxing Day.
Silver Fern continued racing overnight after initially turning back for some ad hoc repairs, while Yendys scratched before the starting gun with a broken backstay.
As of 8.30am, the fleet stood at 122 yachts.
AAP
