Defending champion Wild Oats XI and fellow maxi Skandia sailed Saturday toward an expected tight finish in the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race. Wild Oats XI, trying to win line honors for the fourth straight year, led the 100-yacht fleet out of Sydney Harbour on Friday. It has exchanged the lead with Skandia several times and on Saturday, the two yachts were more than 20 nautical miles ahead of the rest of the fleet in Bass Strait. Skandia, the 2003 winner skippered by Grant Wharington, held a four-nautical-mile lead over Wild Oats with about 200 nautical miles, or less than a third of the race, remaining, according to the race website. Skippered by Mark Richards, Wild Oats holds the record in the 628-nautical mile (1,163-kilometer) race of 1 day, 18 hours, 40 minutes, 10 seconds set in 2005. More than 27 hours into the race, both maxis were about 70 nautical miles off Eddystone Point on the northeastern tip of the island state of Tasmania. Although the leading yachts were sailing slightly ahead of the race record in strong northerlies, diminishing winds were forecasted and expected to slow the fleet as it approached Hobart and a likely Sunday morning finish. Wild Oats XI navigator Iain Burns said his crew was stalking Skandia, sailing gybe for gybe, within sight of each other, but unable to bridge the gap. “This is good racing, great sailing, we are working hard to chase and catch Skandia,” Burns said. “The conditions are great and we are hoping to catch a few breaks as we continue to head to the finish.” There have been two retirements. Georgia, a New Zealand-built Farr 52 owned by race veterans John Williams and Graeme Ainley, broke a rudder after possibly hitting a whale. The boat took on water and later sank. Two nearby boats rescued the 14 crew who were later taken to shore on a police boat. The other retirement, the 50-year-old boat Sanyo Maris, pulled out with broken equipment and returned to Sydney.
