Wild Oats XI

Wild Oats XI

Wild Oats XI at the finishing line, 2011 Sydney-Hobart
Yacht club	Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club  Yacht Club Costa Smeralda  Hamilton Island Yacht Club
Nation	Australia
Class	canting keel IRC supermaxi
Sail no	AUS–10001
Designer(s)	Reichel/Pugh
Builder	McConaghy Sydney, Australia
Launched	2 December 2005
Owner(s)	Robert Oatley
Racing career
Skippers	Mark Richards
Notable victories	2005–2014 (eight) Sydney-Hobarts 2010 Pittwater-Coffs 2015 Transpac
Specifications
Type	Monohull
Displacement	32T, of which 14T ballast
Length	30.48 m (100.00 ft)
Beam	5.1 m (16.73 ft)
Draft	5.91 m (19.39 ft)
Sail area	mainsail 382 m2 (4,112 sq ft) jib 228 m2 (2,454 sq ft) genoa 535 m2 (5,759 sq ft) spinnaker 880 m2 (9,472 sq ft)
Crew	16–29 crew

Wild Oats XI is a maxi yacht, most famous for being the race record holder and an eight times line honours winner of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. She is owned by the late Bob Oatley and skippered by New South Welshman Mark Richards.

Design and Construction

'Wild Oats XI is a state-of-the-art maxi yacht designed by Reichel/Pugh and built by Mcconaghy Boats, five months after her near-sistership Alfa Romeo II, from which she borrowed extensively.^[1] She was launched in December 2005 after a 9-month build and won her first Sydney-Hobart the same month. She is distinctively narrow with a 5.1 m (17 ft) beam and originally featured "canting ballast twin foil" appendages enabling her to carry a large sail plan without compromising stability. She has undergone many modifications over time to keep her competitive: In 2009 she was lengthened at bow and stern from 98ft to 100ft to meet the new limit in the Sydney-Hobart. In 2011 her forward balanced spade canard was removed and twin daggerboards were added amidships. In 2012 she received a bow centreboard as well as caudal fin winglets on her torpedo bulb. In 2013 she was equipped with a Dynamic Stability System (DSS) foil, which is a retractable horizontal foil deployed on the leeward side of the boat.^[2][3] In 2015 her stern was shortened by 2m and her 12m forward sections were replaced by a 14m longer, sleeker bow, keeping her midship sections unmodified and in effect moving her entire existing sailplan aft by 2m. All mechanical systems onboard Wild Oats XI are powered by a continually running Diesel generator, excluding manual backup systems, making the boat is entirely dependent on the auxiliary. This limits the boat's autonomy as it cannot be sailed once the fuel is exhausted but enables significant grinding crew weight savings.

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

In her first season Wild Oats XI won the "treble" in the 2005 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, winning on elapsed (line honours) and corrected time (handicap) as well as setting a new race record. In the 2007 race, Wild Oats XI equaled the 59-year-old record of Morna, by taking line honours in the race three times in a row. In the 2008 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, Wild Oats XI broke the record, winning an unprecedented fourth consecutive line honours.^[4] Wild Oats XI won the Sydney Hobart "treble" again in 2012, setting a new record of 1 day 18 hours 23 minutes 12 seconds.^[5] Wild Oats XI made her Sydney to Hobart debut in 2005, and made an immediate impact on the race. Racing out of the heads, she arrived in record time, breaking the 1999 race record set by the Volvo Ocean 60 Nokia.^[6] Wild Oats XI won on elapsed time, won on corrected time, and set a new record, becoming the only boat since the inaugural race of 1945 to do all three feats.

The following year, 2006, Wild Oats XI was equally dominant, taking line honours in 2 days, 8 hours, 52 minutes and 33 seconds. Arriving at 9:52 pm, the yacht sailed into Sullivans Cove to rapturous applause by a large crowd gathered on the docks, who were appreciative of her achieving her 'double' despite being battered in heavy seas.^[7]

The 2007 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race saw Wild Oats XI equal the 59-year-old record of Morna, by winning a hat-trick of line honours titles. Wild Oats XI lined up for the start of the 2008 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race aiming to make history, and set a new record in her own right by becoming the only yacht to win four consecutive line honours titles, and did so, leading for the duration and completing the race in 1 day, 20 hours, 34 minutes 14 seconds. The 2008 race was not without difficulty for the crew though, as they picked up debris in Sydney Harbour which added excess drag, and also collided with a two-metre (6.5 foot) shark. The crew felt that the collision may have actually assisted them by dislodging the snag from their hull.^[8]

The time set by Wild Oats XI in 2005 of 1 day, 18 hours, 40 minutes and 10 seconds, remained the race record until 2012 when it was bettered by 16 minutes.^[9]

Wild Oats XI won line honours for the fifth time in the 2010 race, although the yacht's crew faced a protest against their win which could have resulted in disqualification. Under sailing instruction 44.1(A), yachts are required to report their position by radio as they pass Green Cape, the entrance to Bass Strait. The rule was created following the disastrous 1998 race in which five boats sank and six sailors died.^[10] As the yacht passed the cape, the crew realised that a blown fuse had rendered their high-frequency radio non-functional. They reported their position to race organisers via satellite phone, but race officials forwarded a complaint to an international jury, alleging that the crew had violated what race committee chairman Tim Cox called "one of the fundamental safety rules of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race". The complaint was dismissed by the jury, and Wild Oats XI was awarded its fifth Sydney to Hobart line honours.^[11]

In the 2011 race Wild Oats came second to Investec Loyal in a time of 2 days, 6 hours, 17 minutes and 26 seconds. They finished 2 minutes and 48 seconds behind.^[12]

The 2012 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race saw the super maxi once again take line honours. The race time of one day, 18 hours and 23 minutes and 12 seconds broke the yacht's own race record by 16 minutes and 58 seconds.^[13] She also completed the "treble" for the second time, winning on elapsed time, winning on corrected time and breaking the race record. She is the only boat to have achieved this feat since the inaugural race of 1945.^[14]

The crew of 2005 winner Wild Oats.

References