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Eight-time winner and defending champion Wild Oats XI has been forced to retire from the Sydney to Hobart race with a torn mainsail.
The supermaxi was trailing leader Comanche late on Saturday night when they pulled out of the iconic race.
“Early reports indicate that the sail tore in half when the yacht was hit by a 40 knot squall that accompanied a southerly change off the NSW south coast,” said the Wild Oats XI statement.
All crew are safe and the yacht will return to Sydney.
Wild Oats XI, skippered by Mark Richards, is the most prolific winner in the race’s 71-year history, and set the race’s fastest time in 2012 of one day, 18 hours, 23 minutes and 12 seconds.
Alfa Romeo II (2009) and Investec Loyal (2011) are the only two boats to break Wild Oats XI’s stranglehold on the race since 2005.
American boat Comanche heads the fleet after taking the lead from Perpetual Loyal soon after exiting Sydney Heads, with Ragamuffin 100 and Rambler 88 now in pursuit.
Forecasts were for a strong southerly change during the race’s first night which would halt the momentum of the big boats chasing line honours.
“What we don’t want is for it to be so windy that it becomes a survival and we have to scale back and hold on,” Comanche skipper Ken Read said via satellite radio.
“We hope it’s not too much wind so we can just continue racing right through. Hopefully we can slowly but surely keep trying to pull away.”
Prior to Wild Oats XI’s withdrawal, five boats had already retired back to the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Sydney wearing wounds.
Tasmanian boat Cougar II returned with the most damage after an incident with Lupa of London left her without an entire corner of her stern.
No one was seriously hurt, although one sailor suffered facial cuts.
“Unfortunately the boat that clipped us was quite big,” said crew member Mike Feilberg.
“There was more damage to top of the mast, significant damage. We’re fairly lucky that there wasn’t any more serious injuries.”
The captain of the British 78-footer, Laurent Pages, described it as a “stupid accident”.
“We were sailing on starboard tack from the start and three boats got locked together – we were in the middle with nowhere to go,” he said.
“We were left with the decision to run into the boat above us or the one below us. This was the worst feeling – a stupid accident.
“The race committee told us all to take it easy at the start – there was a whole race to go.
“If everyone listened, this would not have happened. We are shattered.”
Chinese boat Ark323, on her Hobart debut, came back with a crack in the deck after a prang with a rival yacht, while a forestay snapped off the top of the Perth-based M3’s rig.
Newcastle 47-footer Dare Devil also retired later in the day.
The race entrants weren’t the only ones to crash out early, with start boat Aussie Legend forced into an emergency evacuation of its passengers at Taronga Zoo wharf when it began taking water.
Officials had to revert to using an old-school horn instead of the traditional firing of the cannon.