< Continued from page 1

With the starting gun fired at 1.20pm, Boxing Day, the 628-nautical-mile Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race was on.

Leading out of Sydney Harbour were the maxi yachts Wild Oats XI and Alfa Romeo with Wild Oats XI just ahead as they turned into open sea and headed south to Hobart.

Change in leaders

By mid-afternoon the leaders had exchanged positions as Alfa Romeo took over the running from Wild Oats XI.


Both maxis were within the race record set by Nokiain 1999.

Skandia, AAPT, Konica Minolta and Hugo Boss were not far behind. The race leaders were expected to be down the New South Wales South Coast by evening.

Wild Oats retakes lead

Just before 6am, December 27, Wild Oats XI had retaken the lead and it looks like a continuing duel all the way down to the finish line in Hobart. The leaders were just off the coast of Eden near the New South Wales-Victoria border.

The German entry Conergy developed a leak in the stern which eventually took out her radio. They fixed the leak but retired and headed back to Sydney.

Into Bass Strait

Just after 5pm, Wild Oats XI was maintaining its lead as it sailed into the strengthening winds of Bass Strait. It was 15 nautical miles ahead of Alfa Romeo and 35 miles ahead of Skandia.

Wild Oats XI was also the handicap leader at the time.

Near the finish line

All night it had been a case of follow the leader as Wild Oats XI kept drawing away from the rest of the fleet.

At 5.30am, December 28, Australian eastern summer time, Wild Oats XI was about 45 nautical miles to the finish line in Hobart's Derwent River. It was traveling at 17.8 knots.

To beat the record set by Nokia in 1999, Wild Oats XI had to cross the finish line by 9.08am.

Wild Oats XI sets new race record

Bob Oatley's 30-metre (98-foot) New South Wales maxi Wild Oats XI skippered by Mark Richards has broken the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race record set by Nokia in 1999. Wild Oats XI crossed the Derwent River finish line in Hobart at 8.01am, December 28.

The line honors winner set a record-breaking time of 01:18:40:10, with an undisputed lead for most of the journey south. Nokia's 1999 race record was 01:19:48:02.

The rest of the fleet

Alfa Romeo, Neville Crichton's 30m maxi, crossed the finish line in second place at 9.16am, just outside Nokia's previous record. Skandia finished third at 2.46pm, followed then by Konica Minolta and AAPT.

On progressive corrected times the Victorian yacht Living Doll, skippered by Michael Hiatt, was heading the leader board from her sistership Chieftain, the Irish entry skippered by Gerard O'Rourke. By noontime Chieftain had gained the upper hand but in the early afternoon Wild Oats XI had come into contention.

Wild Oats XI wins the treble

In the evening of December 29. Wild Oats XI was confirmed as handicap winner of the 2005 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, making it the first yacht to win the treble since Captain John Illingworth and his yacht Rani won the inaugural race across Bass Strait 60 years ago.

Winning the treble meant winning line honors, setting a new race record, and becoming handicap winner in the one Sydney to Hobart race.

Retirements

Due to damage or other factors, five yachts — Icefire, Conergy, Nevenka, Sirromet Life Style Wine and Star Dean — failed to complete the 2005 Sydney to Hobart.

• Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race: Danger and Death at Sea
• 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race: Tragedy at Sea
• 1999 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race: Nokia Breaks Record
• 2000 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race: Nicorette Takes Line Honors
• 2001 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race: Assa Abloy's Win
• 2002 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race: Alfa Romeo's Turn
• 2003 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race: Duel of the Super Maxis
• 2004 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race: Nicorette Wins Line Honors
• 2005 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race: Wild Oats XI Wins the Treble