Wild Oats ready for Sydney-Hobart
- The Daily Telegraph
- December 18, 2012
IT was one of the most scrutinised keel unveilings since Alan Bond and Ben Lexen revealed Australia II's wings in 1983. With cameras flashing and TV crews recording the champion ocean marauder Wild Oats was hauled out of the water yesterday, exposing a bottom with some unusual bumps and lumps
and keel bits which have borrowed from America's Cup technology.
Skipper Mark Richards believes the addition of a retractable bow centreboard and keel winglets with a lineage which can be traced back to Australia II's winged keel technology could make the difference between a win and a loss in this years race to Hobart.
Both new additions will reduce drag and thus increase the speed of the yacht which last year lost the line honours race by just over three minutes.
Wild Oats needs just one second per nautical mile improvement in speed to finish 11 minutes faster than her 2011 time in the 628 nautical mile race.
And co-owner Sandy Oatley believes her off-season improvements will give her the additional speed required to race back into the winners circle this year.
"Any time there is new technology you look at it,'' Oatley said of Wild Oats constant makeovers.
"These changes will make her faster than she was.''
Now seven years old, Wild Oats has stayed ahead of the pack with attention to detail and her state-of-the-art technology reasons for her success.
Both new additions will reduce drag and thus increase the speed of the yacht which last year lost the line honours race by just over three minutes.
Wild Oats needs just one second per nautical mile improvement in speed to finish 11 minutes faster than her 2011 time in the 628 nautical mile race.
And co-owner Sandy Oatley believes her off-season improvements will give her the additional speed required to race back into the winners circle this year.
"Any time there is new technology you look at it,'' Oatley said of Wild Oats constant makeovers.
"These changes will make her faster than she was.''
Now seven years old, Wild Oats has stayed ahead of the pack with attention to detail and her state-of-the-art technology reasons for her success.
"The hydraulic ram on the keel can lift a jumbo,'' Oatley said.
"She is X-rayed and checked, all the bearings are looked at. There is a lot of attention to detail.''
The latest modifications have been recently tested with great success with Wild Oats thumping the opposition by almost 10 minutes in the recent SOLAS Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour and also setting a new race record in the recent Cabbage Tree Island race, a major lead-up event to the Sydney to Hobart.
The results have seen Wild Oats XI installed as the pre-race favourite for the race to Tasmania ahead of fellow 100-footers Ragamuffin Loyal and Wild Thing and the 98-footer Lahana.
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