Trade-A-Boat — February 2018

(WallPaper) #1

“Everyone’s


a genius in


hindsight.


It’s just one of


those things”


Aboard Oats they pushed the 12-year-
old supermaxi hard to stay in touch
with the receding black dot on the
horizon that was Comanche. Behind,
sistership Black Jack (formerly Alfa
Romeo) laboured as the conditions
became heavier. Along with InfoTrack
and some of the maxis, these boats
were across Bass Strait while the rest
of the fleet were toiling their way down
the NSW coast.
Having sailed on Wild Oats XI, I
can testify to the awesome power and
noise, as it’s hydraulically powered deck
gear and keel groans and shivers to
create the feeling of being in the bowels
of some monster. Aboard Comanche,
the winches are manual, so the
grinders would be working hard to trim
and hoist new sails as the conditions
became heavier. But as James Spithill


and navigator Stan Honeywell glanced
behind them or looked on the race
tracker, the Silver Canoe, as Oats is
fondly nicknamed by her crew, could
not be shaken off.
Richards said they were pushing
the boat hard as they came down the
island’s coast towards Tasman Island.
“We were closing on Comanche, so
thought something may have been
wrong,” he said. Then “the dream came
true” as the real gladiatorial contest got
underway in the appropriately named
Storm Bay. As crewman and former
America’s Cup sailor Matt Mason
described it from the foredeck of Oats:
“We went round Tasman Island 1.
miles behind them and there’s always a
chance in the Derwent so the race can
restart and it did.”
With a beam nearly double that of

Oats, Comanchebecame glued to the
surface of the snaking Derwent River,
allowing the narrow hull steered by
Richards to glide past to finish a mile
ahead of them in a record-breaking
time of 13hrs 31mins 20secs – eight
hours less thanPerpetual Loyal’srecord
of the previous year. But as the clouds
gathered over Mount Wellington,
another cloud was descending on
Hobart town below, and specifically
onto the decks ofOatswhere an
animated Richards jumped off the boat
to greet the arrivingComanchecrew
who confirmed their only conversation
with him would be taking place in the
protest room.
A day later the international jury
made up of two New Zealanders, two
Australians and a German, upheld
Comanche’s protest and ruled thatWild

CLOCKWISE FROM MAIN LDV Comanche
was ruled the 2017 Rolex Sydney Hobart
winner after her protest was upheld; 101
yachts enjoyed downwind conditions;
Kevin Green helming on the 68ft Clipper,
Ventures; LDV Comanche and Wild Oats
XI knew a race record was imminent; Ichi
Ban owner and skipper Matt Allen
receiving the Tattersalls Trophy.


Rolex Sydney Hobart

tradeboats.com.au 19
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