Trade-A-Boat — February 2018

“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

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