Wild Oats XI, Comanche battle for Sydney to Hobart lead
The rivalry between line honours record holder Comanche and Wild Oats XI is playing out as the Sydney to Hobart fleet carve their way south, with the lead changing hands yet again.
Wild Oats XI has overtaken Comanche in the official standings, with the Oatley family-owned super maxi edging ahead this morning.
As of 8:20am, Black Jack and InfoTrack were in third and fourth, with the Tasmanian yacht Alive in fifth position for line honours.
Yesterday, Black Jack was the first out of Sydney Heads, but its lead was short-lived.
Comanche took over and was ahead for most of day one down the NSW south coast, but was overtaken by Wild Oats XI overnight.
Wild Oats crew member Chris Links told yacht race media the manoeuvring had continued through the night.
"We crossed tacks with Comanche a couple of times this morning between 3:00 and 4:00am. We can just see Black Jack too. There's nothing in it. We're doing 18 knots in a northerly of 15 knots. We're on the edge of Bass Strait, entering it."
Links said it was "the closest race we've been in", with Black Jack and Info Track adding to the drama.
"We've been in close races with Comanche before, but never been in such a close race with four of us."
'A cat and mouse game'
Cruising Yacht Club of Australia commodore Paul Billingham said his "best estimate" would see the super maxis in the River Derwent by lunchtime tomorrow.
Once the leaders round the Iron Pot and head into the Derwent, the wind can drop off, leaving crews agonisingly close to the finish line with nothing in the sails.
"Day two is going to be a big one," commodore Billingham said.
"The wind is dying, the major yachts are into Bass Strait."
He said the handicap lead was "changing every five minutes" and described the race between the line honours leaders as a "cat and mouse game".
Four yachts have been forced into retirement so far, taking the fleet of the 628-nautical-mile race down to 81.
Scallywag and Zen retired at port, and Patriot and M3 Team Hungary retired at sea.
Wild Oats XI is this year aiming to reverse its recent fortunes, after being penalised an hour by race officials after failing to keep clear while tacking during 2017's event, with Comanche sensationally awarded line honours in a record time of one day, nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds.
ABC Hobart will be broadcasting the race finish live on Facebook.
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