Wild Oats XI leads the 2014 Rolex Sydney Hobart fleet in for a record eighth line honours win. Wild Oats Xi finished the race in a time of : 2 Days, 2 Hours, 3 Minutes and 26 seconds.
The only yacht capable of denying Wild Oats XI and Mark Richards an 8th win and a place in history was the American Maxi Comanche. Ken Read and crew gave their best but weren’t able to close the 10 mile gap in the final stretch through Storm Bay and the Derwent River and to the finish line in Hobart, Tasmania.
The Mark Richards-skippered Wild Oats XI extended her lead throughout the second night, taking advantage of a high-pressure ridge in the Bass Strait. Wild Oats XI’s lead proved to big for the Comanche team to overcome.
The remainder of the fleet are compressed coming down the New South Wales coast and expected to benefit from the dramatic increase in breeze forecast from Sunday evening to Monday morning.
Of the 117 yachts which started the race, nice have been forced to retire. The Maxi Perpetual Loyal
Follow the race on the live tracker:
http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com/tracker/
