Leader Alfa Romeo eased past the halfway point in the Sydney to Hobart race late yesterday as the line honors contenders encountered light winds and the prospect of a slow sail to the finish on the island of Tasmania.
Alfa Romeo, skippered by New Zealander Neville Crichton and taking advantage of an early breeze that his competitors failed to catch, held a 15-nautical-mile (31km) lead over British entry ICAP Leopard.
Wild Oats XI, which is trying to win line honors for the fifth consecutive time, was in third, 20 nautical miles behind the leader in the race which covers 628 nautical miles.
The prospect of little wind on the field’s approach to Flinders Island and the Tasmanian coast meant the winner could finish as late as tomorrow.
“Oh dear, this race may prove one of the lightest and longest ever,” ICAP Leopard owner and skipper Mike Slade said.
“[The] forecast is proving completely wrong and being corrected by the minute. I can only hope ... that the current prognosis for the next two days of light winds will equally prove false,” he said.
Slade said he would be surprised if Alfa Romeo didn’t capture line honors.
“At the moment if your money is on Alfa then you are a happy bunny,” Slade said, adding that the New Zealand boat got its break midmorning yesterday.
“There was no breeze whatsoever and it’s always the case that someone will get that puff,” he said.
“Wild Oats didn’t get it, we didn’t get it, and Alfa was on the right side of it to get it and off they went, putting 10 miles on us very, very quickly,” he said.
Alfa Romeo finished second to Wild Oats in 2005, the yacht’s only other Sydney to Hobart, before Wild Oats’ four-year reign.
Wild Oats skipper Mark Richards said this year’s race was a “role reversal” of 2005.
“We were just a little unfortunate this morning to get left in a hole before the noreaster built,” Richard said. “Alfa Romeo got going well before us and basically put 15 to 20 miles on us before we knew what had happened. That’s just the way yachting goes.”
The race record was set in 2005 when Wild Oats XI finished in 1 day, 18 hours, 40 minutes, after crossing the line at Constitution Dock in Hobart.
There have been five retirements from the 100-yacht field, including maxi Etihad Stadium. The expected line honors contender had problems with rigging on a new mast and didn’t make it out of Sydney Harbor.
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
LeBron James and eldest son Bronny James claimed a piece of NBA history on Sunday after making their long-awaited first appearance alongside each other for the Los Angeles Lakers. The duo appeared together at the start of the second quarter in the Lakers’ 118-114 preseason defeat to the Phoenix Suns in Palm Desert, east of Los Angeles. While LeBron James impressed with 19 points in just 16 minutes and 20 seconds on court before sitting out the second half, Bronny found the going harder with zero points in just over 13 minutes on court. The younger James attempted just one
RSS