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Bruised but not broken. That’s the tale of Sydney to Hobart front runners Comanche and Rambler who are fighting hard to the finish line with boat damage while more than a quarter of the race’s starting fleet has withdrawn.
The American duo had crossed Bass Strait by late Sunday but a tense trip down Tasmania’s east coast remains.
After eight-time winner and defending champion Wild Oats XI pulled out with a torn mainsail on Saturday night and another Australian entry Perpetual Loyal also withdrew, line honours has opened up for the international raiders.
Rough conditions on the first night sparked most of the 29 race withdrawals.
But proving that weather isn’t the only hazard, Jim Clark’s Comanche is nursing rudder damage after hitting something in the water overnight which almost forced the boat’s retirement.
And early on Sunday afternoon Rambler’s navigator Andrew Cape said a submerged object, possibly marine life, gave the boat a solid knock.
“We had a bit of a disaster … we hit a submerged object with our starboard daggerboard so our boat speed on port tack is severely limited,” he said by phone from the boat.
While Rambler’s crew was handling the crisis, Comanche passed to take the lead.
“We haven’t got serious structural damage or anything, but it is limiting our boat speed,” Cape said.
Third-placed Ragamuffin was forced to make allowances for wildlife.
“Just dodged a couple of whales … big ones too,” the crew posted on the boat’s Facebook page through the afternoon.
Australian Ragamuffin remained in a close-fought contest with Italian-flagged yacht, Maserati.
Cruising Yacht Club of Australia commodore John Cameron welcomed the foreign contenders.
Not since 2001 when Swedish boat Assa Abloy took line honours has an international entry won the race.
“It would be good to see another international boat keep that record going,” Cameron said.
He couldn’t recall the last time there were so many early withdrawals.
Race records suggest that not since 2004, when 58 of the 117-start group withdrew, have there been so many retirements.
Queensland boat Black Jack, which retired on Sunday morning for unspecified reasons, made it to shore on the NSW south coast to deliver a crew member with a suspected broken leg.
And back in Sydney, a shattered Wild Oats XI skipper Mark Richards was philosophical about retiring for the first time in the boat’s 10-year history.
“We had a failure and that’s the way it is. Get on with life and start planning for next year,” he said.
Perpetual Loyal also returned to Sydney with a broken rudder.
The weather outlook is for calmer conditions with winds up to 20 knots.
Cameron said the race record of one day, 18 hours, 23 minutes and 12 seconds won’t be broken, and predicts the first boat will cross the finish line at Hobart’s Constitution Dock on Monday afternoon.