Wild Oats XI claims line honours as protest dismissed

Wild Oats XI took line honours in the daunting Sydney to Hobart ocean race for the fifth time yesterday after an international jury dismissed a protest over an alleged radio breach.

The 30-metre maxi won the provisional title late Tuesday after beating 86 other starters to Hobart, completing the storm-hit, 628 nautical mile course in two days, seven hours, 37 minutes and 20 seconds.

But skipper Mark Richards and crew were forced to wait until an international jury heard and dismissed the protest against them yesterday before they were confirmed as the winners.

“You can never be too confident in a protest, but I think that the race committee has done a great job,” Richards told reporters.

Officials lodged a protest against Wild Oats XI and British entrant Ran late Tuesday, claiming they breached mandatory radio reporting rules brought in after the horror 1998 race in which six sailors died.

The race committee had alleged that Wild Oats XI had failed to have an operational radio for crossing into the treacherous Bass Strait but had reported to officials via telephone.

But the five-person jury found that while Wild Oats XI failed in its first radio attempt to contact officials from Green Cape, it tacked and sailed for about 20 minutes off course until the radio was repaired.

Wild Oats XI did not resume racing until it received acknowledgement from Hobart that the radio was operational, the jury said.

Wild Oats XI dashed to the finish line at 8:37 p.m. Tuesday as second-placed Investec Loyal crawled in at a speed of two knots some three-and-a-half hours later.

Third across the line was Lahana, more than six hours behind Wild Oats XI due to an almost total lack of breeze. It was followed by Ichi Ban, Wild Thing, Ran, Limit and Loki.

Australian boat Local Hero was leading the handicap honours late yesterday, which take into account the dimensions of the boat, but was not expected to arrive in Hobart until this morning.