Please select your home edition
Edition
Zhik 2024 December

Wild Oats XI gets a lift ahead of the Rolex Sydney Hobart

by Jim Gale, RSHYR Media 16 Dec 2013 07:57 GMT 16 December 2013

The guys on Wild Oats XI call her the Swiss Army Knife these days - and fair enough - lately she has added so many foils and blades, thrusting out at all angles from her narrow steel-grey hull, she looks like some kid has had a great time pulling all the do-dahs out of a penknife at once.

When she is sitting in the water, Wild Oats XI looks pure greyhound, but suspended under the giant travel lift at her home base in Woolwich, she is almost insect like, skinny legs akimbo.

The retractable bow centreboard is still there from last year, as are the twin daggerboards angling out on either side just ahead of the mast, and the tiny winglets on the giant bulb hanging from her slender canting keel.

But now, just behind the daggerboards is a horizontal foil, which when extended, sticks out about 2 metres from the side just below the waterline.

Like the other small foils, the stabiliser is retractable, sitting in a sheath across the interior of the hull. It is only when Wild Oats XI gets above 20 knots downwind that the stabiliser will be put into play on one side or the other, depending whether she is on port or starboard gybe.

"Last year we had very tricky seas," skipper Mark Richards says of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, "so we were doing a lot of nose diving.

"We started off looking at a foil in the bow to lift the bow up, but as it evolved, it moved further and further back.

"They've been doing something similar in Europe this year, and what we have come up with has worked out really well," he says.

Richards says that as well as adding to the boat's stability at high speed, the narrow aerofoil shaped stabiliser generates some 8 tonnes of lift, making the Rolex Sydney Hobart record-holding super maxi much faster downwind in heavy conditions.

Wild Oats XI will also gain a lot of extra stability from her towering new, hi-tech, mast. At around 200 kilos lighter than the old mast, that is a huge reduction in weight swaying around aloft. Richards says that the mast issues are now behind them and its New Zealand maker is adamant all the problems have been solved.

There is a penalty, of course. There is never a free lunch in ocean racing and the new stabiliser blows Wild Oats XI's rating through the roof. She will need to finish a long way ahead of Perpetual LOYAL to beat her on handicap, or anyone else for that matter.

But let's face it, with three other super maxis, a clutch of blindingly fast V70s and the all-new, completely unknown quantity in the 80 foot Beau Geste in the annual 628 nautical mile race, it is all about line honours for Richards and owner Bob Oatley.

Wild Oats XI will need every ounce of extra speed she can find in heavy downwind running if she is to beat her chief rival, Perpetual LOYAL. In lighter northerlies and upwind into a brisk southerly the lean, narrow Wild Oats XI has a distinct advantage, but in a big nor-easter the wider, more powerful Perpetual LOYAL will shine, as will the muscular V70s.

"All the new boats are Volvo oriented," Richards says, super-fast downwind, but at the cost of upwind performance.

"Wild Oats XI is designed for VMG," Richards says, because a typical Rolex Sydney Hobart throws at least one big southerly at the fleet.

"We haven't had a proper nor' east race since 1999," when the V60 Nokia broke the race record in perfect running conditions. Although, in 2001, the V60 Assa Abloy also took line honours in tight reaching conditions.

"Most Hobarts it is 50/50; northerlies and southerlies. We have the two most prominent conditions covered."

"It's all going to come down to the conditions we get," Richard says, "and avoiding crew errors," where a lost hour can cost 20 or 30 nautical miles, or, at worst, bring these highly strung beasts to a crashing halt mid ocean.

And despite the Olympic, Volvo Ocean Race and America's Cup star-studded crews on his rivals, Richards believes that his own crew gives him a real edge: "We've been together a long time - nine years - and we read each other like a book," he says.

"You can bring out the big names but team work takes time. There's no bullshit on our boat, everyone knows his job."

A different kind of stabiliser, you could call it.

www.rolexsydneyhobart.com

Related Articles

RSHYR 2024 | final update from Hobart
Final update plus more from Smuggler about the 2024 Sydney Hobart race Final update plus more from Smuggler about the 2024 Sydney Hobart race Posted on 31 Dec 2024
2024 Sydney Hobart – Forever Hobart
This tree stump sits at the shore of a dam, and as I pass it, I am reminded of the annual event My very own Organ Pipes. This tree stump sits at the shore of a dam, and as I pass it often several times a day, I am reminded of the annual event and what it means to so many, all around the world. Posted on 31 Dec 2024
RSHYR 2024 | All-female Double-Hander finishes
Annette Hesselmans and Sophie Snijders Mother and daughter team, Annette Hesselmans and Sophie Snijders talk about the race and the Melbourne to Osaka race in 2025 Posted on 30 Dec 2024
RSHYR 2024 | Update from Hobart - Dec 30 Part III
Bow Caddy Media bring you all the latest news from the dock in Hobart Crosbie Lorimer brings you the latest news from the dock in Hobart, and Bow Caddy Media interview Sirene's owner, Bill Henson. Posted on 30 Dec 2024
RSHYR 2024 | Update from Hobart - Dec 30 #2
Bow Caddy Media remain busy on the quay talking to as many people as they can get to Bow Caddy Media remain busy on the quay talkign to as many people as they can get to from right around the fleet Posted on 30 Dec 2024
2024 RSHYR: Mistral first double handed finisher
Rupert Henry and Corentin Douguet crossed the finish line at 07.16.04 this morning Rupert Henry and his French co-skipper, Corentin Douguet, sailed Henry's Lombard 34, Mistral (NSW), across the Rolex Sydney Hobart finish line at 07.16.04 this morning, the first double-handed entry to finish. Posted on 30 Dec 2024
RSHYR 2024 | Update from Hobart - Dec 30
Rupert Henry & Corentin Douguet - Mistral first Double-Hander over the line plus much, much more Rupert Henry and Corentin Douguet - Mistral first Double-Hander over the line plus Ed Psaltis and Bruce Taylor interview, as well as Love and War, and the Syney 38, Clockwork - Happy viewing! Posted on 30 Dec 2024
Celestial V70 presented Tattersall Cup
It is the second time Sam Haynes has been presented with the coveted trophy Earlier today, Celestial V70, skippered by Dr Sam Haynes, was announced by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) as the provisional overall winner of the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Posted on 29 Dec 2024
RSHYR 2024 | 4th Race Update from Hobart - Dec 29
Daily wrap plus interviews from Ocean Crusaders J-Bird, Chutzpah, and Active Again Bow Caddy Media daily wrap plus interviews from Annika Thompson of Ocean Crusaders J-Bird, Chutzpah, and Active Again Posted on 29 Dec 2024
Sam Haynes holds Tattersall Cup for a second time
Sam Haynes announced the provisional Overall winner Sam Haynes, announced the provisional Overall winner of the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart, never dreamed he would hold the Tattersall Cup in his hands again, after selling his TP52 Celestial late this year. Posted on 29 Dec 2024