NEWS RELEASE
ALFA ROMEO PUSHES OUT IN FRONT
With winds swinging to the north-east in the vicinity of SouthCape just after midday, the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is really on, as Alfa Romeo extends her lead over ICAP Leopard and Wild Oats XI in the race of the 100 footers to be first yacht to the finish line in Hobart.
Alfa Romeo, Neville Crichton’s Reichel Pugh design from New Zealand, has extended her lead to 11 miles over Mike Slade’s ICAP Leopard, a Farr design from Great Britain, with a further 4 nautical mile gap to Wild Oats XI (NSW), Bob Oatley’s Reichel/Pugh skippered by Mark Richards.
According to Alfa Romeo’s strategist, Tom Addis, the nor-east breeze is very light and the top three are sailing with cracked sheets, travelling at just over eight knots.
However, the Bureau of Meteorology says the front half of the fleet can expect an east/north-easterly at 10-15 knots on a slight swell for the rest of the day, which should allow those in the right place to set spinnakers and put some speed on.
It is still early in the race, but if Crichton can continue the trend of putting some distance between his yacht and the rest of the fleet, Alfa Romeo will break the stranglehold that Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI has had on the 628 nautical mile race for the last four years.
Crichton and his crew of luminaries such as Addis, Michael Coxon, Noel Drennan, Peter Merrington and Stu Bannatyne, are 18 nautical miles east of South Cape, almost ready to enter Bass Strait. They still have 396nm to make the finish line though, and anything could happen between now and then.
In other news, it was a understandably devastated Limit crew that arrived back at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) this morning. A halyard was the cause of Alan Brierty and his crew’s retirement from the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race late last evening approximately 35nm east of JervisBay.
Arriving back at the CYCA, which organises the race, this morning at 10.15am, Brierty was so upset he left the Reichel/Pugh 62 designed yacht and the talking to his project manager and strategist Rodney Keenan, a well-respected international yachtsman from New Zealand.
"When we broke the first one (halyard), it damaged the second one and we thought we'd get away with it for a while, but we didn't,” explained Keenan of the halyards that connect the headsail to the top of the forestay. The yacht only has two, and without them, the yacht is effectively out of action.
"The ropes go through a lock system inside the mast and it's pretty hard to repair at sea. We tried to push on, but we decided when the second one failed, and we were in a seaway where it wasn't safe to send someone up the rig, to pull the pin,” he said.
“After a big year is pretty unfortunate,” said Keenan of Limit’s exceptional performance during the year, including winning the Rolex Trophy Rating Series from near-sistership and main rival for this race, Loki, Stephen Ainsworth’s Reichel/Pugh 63, which is still in the race.
(ends)
Editor’s Notes:
- High resolution copies of the attached pictures are available on request from: or
- Photographer Credit name in the file name for each picture
ALFA ROMEO II RESULTS
Skipper: Neville Crichton
Dec 2009Rolex Trophy Passages Series1 x Line, Handicap Honours
Dec 2009 SOLAS Big Boat ChallengeLine Honours
October 2009 HSBC Coastal ClassicLine Honours, Race Record
July 2009 TransPacLine Honours, Race Record
Oct 2008 Barcolana RaceLine Honours
Sept 2008 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup4 x Line Honours, 2 x Corrected time wins
June 2008 Boat International SuperYacht Regatta3 x Line Honours, class & event wins
June 2008Rolex Giraglia RaceLine Honours, new race record
June 2008Rolex Giraglia Cup3 x Line Honours, 2 x Handicap win
May 2008 Rolex Capri Race WeekMaxi Class Event Win, 2 x Line Honours
May 2008 Pirelli CupMaxi Class Event Win, 4 x Line Honours
Oct 2007 BarcolanaLine Honours, race record
Sept 2007 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup5 x Line Hons, 1 x Handicap
August 2007 Rolex FastnetRetired
August 2007 RYS Trophy, Scandia Race WeekLine Honours, Class win
June 2007Superyacht Cup1 Line Honours Win
June 2007 Rolex Giraglia Cup Offshore RaceLine Honours
June 2007 Rolex Giraglia Cup Regatta2 x Line Honours to take event
April 2007 Hublot Palmavela Regatta5 x Line Honours to take event
October 2006Rolex Middle Sea Race – offshore raceLine Honours
October 2006Barcolana RaceLine Honours
Sept 2006Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup4 Line Honours, event win
June 2006Rolex Giraglia Cup Offshore RaceLine Honours
June 2006 Rolex Giraglia Cup Regatta2 Line Honours, 1 Handicap win
April 2006 Hublot Palmavela4 x Line Honours wins
Dec 2005Rolex Sydney to Hobart2nd Overall
Dec 2005Rolex TrophyRegatta Win
Dec 2005CYCA Big Boat TrophyLine Honours
Dec 2005Savills Short Ocean ChampionshipLine Honours/Handicap win
Nov 2005CabbageTreeIsland RaceLine Honours
August 2005South Molle/Daydream Islands RaceLine Honours/Handicap win
August 2005EdwardIsland RaceLine Honours
August 2005Lindeman Island RaceLine Honours/Handicap win
For further information
Text and high resolution pictures:
Neville Crichton Edward Rowe
Skipper/OwnerPR Manager
Tel: +61 (02) 9701 8000 Tel: +61 2 9701 8015
Fax: +61 (02) 9701 3555 Fax: +61 2 9701 3555
Mob: +61 (0)409 166 166 Mob: +61 407 913 244
E:
EJR/ejr/2-108
9-Dec-18