9:55 AM Sat 2 Jan 2010 GMT
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'Wild Oats XI’ crossing the finish line in a time 21hrs 3mins 57secs - 2010 Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race'
Damian Devine
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'Wild Oats XI' finished the Pittwater to Coffs Race today crossing the line at 10:03am in a time 21hrs 3mins 57secs, some two and a half hours outside the record.
'Wild Oats XI' finished in a 15 knot southerly doing 20 knots as they approached Coffs Harbour, with a code zero up which they dropped just before their very impressive entrance to the Harbour, welcomed by hundreds of local onlookers who let out a cheer as they crossed the finish line. She is now inside the inner harbour at the dock where she will remain overnight.
Skipper Mark Richards spoke dockside about the race, ' Yeah it was a great race from the start, we got a good start then had a nice reach up the coast in the afternoon before being slightly becalmed off Seal Rocks late last night. We had 'Wild Thing' to contend with and were pretty much neck an neck with 'Wild Thing' at that point but when the shift came up around 1am and when we put the spinnakers up we just seemed to slip away from them ending up with a 20 mile lead in the end, so we very pleased with the result. The boys worked well and it was just a beautiful sail up the coast, it's a great way to start 2010.'
Speaking about being back in Coffs Harbour and getting the 100ft super maxi into the inner Harbour, Richards said, 'It's very tight trying to get into the inner Harbour but it's one of those things, the boat draws a lot of water so it's not easy, but they have obviously dredged the inner harbour which is a great thing and encourages bigger boats to come.'
'I also think it's great to have the boat against the dock here, it's a nice thing for the kids here and for everyone to touch and feel the big boats. It was nice to turn the boat around after Hobart and sail the boat to Coffs Harbour. It's always great sailing up here, we enjoy this race and it's just great to be back in Coffs Harbour, it's a fantastic experience to be here. With a bit of luck we hope to give the Hobart another run and be back to give the Coffs Harbour race another run next year.'
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’Wild Oats XI’ managed to squeeze into the inner Harbour to the delight of the locals - 2010 Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race - Damian Devine
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On missing the record Richards wasn't too concerned , 'that's yacht racing and your always up against the weather Gods so it's not a concern. We hold the record anyway so its not too bad. It just wasn't our year.'
Grant Wharington's 'Etihad Stadium Wild Thing' crossed the line in 2nd position some two hours and twenty minutes after 'Wild Oats XI'. Skipper Grant Wharrington opted to use his right to use the alternate finishing line offshore, the first time in the race's history, at approximately 12:21pm on an ongoing tide with the umpires adding one minute to their time to give them an official time of 12:22:45pm.
After depowering her offshore, Wharington managed to steer her into the outer harbour and offload the crew, leaving just the delivery crew on board. She waiting in the outer Harbour for an hour or so while they re-stocked and sailed south.
Speaking dockside skipper Grant Wharington was pleased with the boat's performance saying, 'it was really good shake down for us and we're very happy to be here in one piece. We've managed to start and finish the race which is pleasing. We sailed the race pretty conservatively and unfortunately, we found a few holes a long the way and got parked up a few times and could only manage half boat speed when we knew the Oats were motoring away from us. But we're so we're just glad to be here.'
Black Jack finished in 3rd place at 2:02pm after sailing a great race to finish where they did.
The rest of the fleet are filing into the Harbour with 'Future Shock', 'Spirit of the Maid', 'Perpetual Mocean', 'Ocean Affinity', 'Santana 3' and 'Pretty Woman' all having completed their journey's late today. The majority of the fleet are expected in before midnight and all starters by the early hours of Monday.
The only retirement during the race was 'Ticket of Leave' having retired earlier today pulling into Port Stephens after experiencing a steering failure - everyone OK.
The attention now turns fro the race for handicap with defending IRC race and series winner, Julian Farren-Price's Cookson 12 'About Time', Bill Ebsary's Beneteau 44.7 'Le BIllet', Bruce Staples Murray 37 custom 'Dark & Stormey Witch', Robert Cox's Northshore 369 'Nine Dragons' and John Bacon's Sydney 39 'Hussy' all in contention at this stage.
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Mark Richards ’Wild Oats XI’ celebrating victory with his crew dockside at the Coffs Harbour marina this morning - 2010 Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race - Damian Devine
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Le Billet - IRC Handicap winner on her way to the top mark at Long Reef - 29th Pittwater and Coffs Harbour Offshore Series Tom Spithill
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The event website is
www.pittwatertocoffs.com.au
by Damian Devine
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