Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race 2024

News
2009
Wild Oats X takes line honours and the battle for IRC Overall continues

Wild Oats X takes line honours and the battle for IRC Overall continues

NEWS
27 Jul, 2009 05:57:00 PM

Wild Oats X takes line honours and the battle for IRC Overall continues

Robert Oatley’s Wild Oats X, skippered by Mark Richards has added another line honours win to their ever increasing record list, crossing the finish line of the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race at 2.29pm in a race time of 2 days, 1 hr, 29mins and 23 seconds. Wild Oats X crossed the finish line with their number 2 headsail and mainsail full of westerly breeze.

Robert Oatley’s Wild Oats X, skippered by Mark Richards has added another line honours win to their ever increasing record list, crossing the finish line of the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race at 2.29pm in a race time of 2 days, 1 hr, 29mins and 23 seconds. Wild Oats X crossed the finish line with their number 2 headsail and mainsail full of westerly breeze.

After a very rough night, skipper Mark Richards was glad to dock this afternoon. “The boat was fantastic but it was a pretty rough trip. There was quite a lot of breeze there for a while and we were on the wind the whole way up. The seas last night were very unpleasant - gnarly seas and short, sharp choppy conditions.”

"The conditions were a good test for the crew and the boat performed beautifully in the conditions. We were just a little bit unlucky where we got parked up at Byron Bay but that’s yacht racing.”

"We got a surprise this morning from Loki when she came up on our inside, as we had stayed inshore most of the evening and Loki had been had been offshore. When Loki came in, they were very close but we toughed it out. The last 3-4 hours of the race were where the race was won,” concluded Mark.

Shortly after their arrival into Southport Yacht Club, Commodore Neale Hollier and board member Rob Mundle congratulated Mark Richards and the crew of Wild Oats X on their win.

Stephen Ainsworth’s Loki crossed the line one hours and eleven minutes behind Wild Oats X in a race time of 2 days, 2 hours, 40 minutes and 7 seconds.

“After a really good start, and as we approached the second day, we were getting a little tired of going up wind all the time. Overnight it got quite windy and bumpy with the seaway being quite sharp. We were getting lots of banging and slamming as we came off waves – usually in these races I try to get some sleep but in this race I couldn’t get any sleep at all!” said Stephen Ainsworth

“Overall it was a good race. We got shut down this morning after the breeze got patchy, but around Cape Byron we were neck and neck with Wild Oats X. After we passed Point Danger they just seemed to get away from us. They were able to pick the breeze and we ended up in patchy breeze, which ultimately meant that we finished second across the line, which I was still very pleased with. How we will go over all remains to be seen with the rest of the fleet possibly finishing in good breezes,” concluded Stephen.

Andrew Short’s Pricewaterhouse Coopers finished in third with a race time of 2 days, 4 hours, 17 minutes and 45 secs, managing to hold off Peter Harburg’s Black Jack who finished just 14 minutes behind them in a race time of 2 days, 4 hours, 31 mins and 34 secs. Geoff Ross’ Yendys finished fifth across the line in a race time of 2 days, 4 hours, 55 mins and 21 secs.

The battle for IRC Overall continues with Henk Welleman’s Aileron currently in first position, with Greg Zyner’s Copernicus second and Anthony Paterson’s Tow Truck third.

Brett Filby, navigator on Tow Truck said after a pretty rough night in big seas they were heading inshore tonight. “We are currently sitting a couple of nautical miles behind AFR Midnight Rambler just out of Ballina. We’ve come inshore to try to pick up some of the land breezes tonight and we have just seen a change in the breeze from SSW to SE.”

Bruce Mackay’s Wasabi is currently first in PHS Division 1, with Murray Owen’s Mahligai second and Immediate Past Commodore of the CYCA, Geoff Lavis’ UBS Wild Thing third.

Andrew Wenham’s SES Inch by Winch is currently leading PHS Division 2, with Phil King’s Zora 1 second and Bruce Dover’s EZ Street third.

As the fleet comes towards the finish line, yachts can be tracked on the race website http://goldcoast.cyca.com.au as each yacht is fitted with the CYCA’s unique yacht tracking device which sends regular updates to the race website. Details of all yachts participating in the event can be found under ‘The Yachts’ tab. Line honours positions and handicap results will be updated regularly until the last boat crosses the finish line.