It was a performance for the history books. For the eighth time, "Wild Oats XI" was the first yacht to cross the finish line of the 70th Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, which traditionally takes place at the turn of the year. The maxi, which now holds the Line Honours record, took just 2 days and 2:03 hours to cover the 628 nautical miles; owner Bob Oatley, who was not on board himself, enthused: "I own the best boat in the world."
However, the race was one of the toughest for "Wild Oats XI". The 100-foot "Comanche", the brand new racer from Jim Clark and Kristy Hinze-Clark, which had only been launched at Hodgdon Yachts a few months earlier and celebrated its serious regatta premiere off Australia, was also at the start. In the first 24 hours, "Comanche" even led the field, with "Wild Oats XI" only taking the lead in the extreme south-east of Australia and holding this position until the Tasmanian finish. "Comanche" ultimately took 49 minutes longer, but still had a lead of 100 nautical miles over the third-placed "RIO 100".
"Wild Oats XI skipper Mark Richards paid tribute: "Comanche gave us a tough race, we had to work really hard." Comanche skipper Ken Read commented: "Wild Oats deserves this record. My team did a great job though." Incidentally, the race was won by the Farr 43 "Wild Rose" with a time of 3 days and 7:04 hours. Incidentally, owner Roger Hickman bought the boat in 1991 from none other than Bob Oatley.
