7:43 AM Sun 28 Dec 2008 GMT
Skipper Mark Richards fought for a few minutes before his crew manhandled him to the rail and tossed him into the cool waters of the Derwent River this afternoon.
He swam around to the bow of the boat, planted a big smoochy kiss on Oats XI at the waterline, then swam to the dock.
Dripping wet he was grinning hugely as he talked to us dockside. 'The race was fantastic, a really tough race. To be behind all the time for anyone is a hard job, especially when you know you should have been faster.
'We have had pretty much the same crew over the last four Hobarts. That's half the secret, you know - a lot of amateurs on Wild Oats. It's a great team and we're all really good mates. We've been mates for many years. We just love sailing together.
'In this race we just had to keep chipping away. We would have done over 100 sail changes in the race.
'I can't tell you how often those guys packed chutes. Packing the chutes on the Oats XI is a really tough job - you're talking about thirty or forty minutes to pack a chute, and they do it so many times so it's just amazing.
'But the boys never gave up. It was a fantastic effort. But the turning point was when we backed up to release the shark that fouled the rudder.
'We are pretty sure that at the same time we got rid of the rope, weed or pastic bag that had been holding us back.
'From then she was the old Wild Oats XI. We went from being eight miles behind to five miles in front within one or two hours.
'Up to then, we were not surprised by the fight that Skandia put up, we were more surprised about our performance.'
Will we do it next year?
'You'll have to ask us tomorrow' said Richards.
'We've had such a good run in the last four races with weather and stuff, so it's only a matter of time until something goes pear shaped. We'll just see what happens, but a great day and it's not every day that you create history in yachting and to do it today is fantastic.'
 | Into the drink for WILD OATS XI crew at the completion of the Rolex Sydney Hobart 2008 - Andrea Francolini© |
by Sail-World.com/AUS
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