Wild Oats skipper fires Syd-Hobart warning
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The skipper of the line honours champion for the Sydney to Hobart yacht race has warned competitors his boat is even better than last year.
The 98-foot super maxi Wild Oats XI is aiming to take line honours for a record fourth straight year.
At the official launch of the race in Sydney, Wild Oats skipper Mark Richards said his yacht has spent seven months in storage undergoing modifications.
"It's more orientated around ocean racing conditions and [the modifications] will make the boat more robust in tough conditions in Bass Strait".
He also said that although there are fewer yachts in contention for line honours this year, he is still expecting a tough fight, especially from 2003 winner Skandia.
"To get to Hobart from Sydney you've got Bass Strait to deal with and mother nature and you've only got to have one mishap and Skandia will be all over us like a rash," he said.
The Commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and skipper of Ichi Ban Matt Allen says this year's field will be 30 per cent bigger than last year despite the economic downturn.
"A number of the new boats in this year's fleet were commissioned perhaps 18 months or two years ago perhaps when economic conditions were a little bit better," he said.
One veteran yachtsman returning will be Maris skipper Ian Kiernan who last competed in the 1998 race that claimed six lives in a severe storm.
He is skippering the 50-year-old Tasman Seabird Maris and he says the new safety regulations that were put in place after the 1998 race made it tough for smaller boats to compete.
"I'm hopeful that we may have demonstrated some example that old boats and battlers can still have a place in the Sydney to Hobart race," he said.
He said despite his 10-year absence, he is not sentimental about his return to the sea.
"There's no room for emotion, we're just out there to win the bloody thing," he added.
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