Robert Oatley's Wild Oats X, skippered by Mark Richards has added another line honours win to their ever increasing record list, crossing the finish line of the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race at 2.29pm in a race time of 2 days, 1 hr, 29mins and 23 seconds. Wild Oats X crossed the finish line with their number 2 headsail and mainsail full of westerly breeze.
After a very rough night, skipper Mark Richards was glad to dock this afternoon. “The boat was fantastic but it was a pretty rough trip. There was quite a lot of breeze there for a while and we were on the wind the whole way up. The seas last night were very unpleasant – gnarly seas and short, sharp choppy conditions.”
“The conditions were a good test for the crew and the boat performed beautifully in the conditions. We were just a little bit unlucky where we got parked up at Byron Bay but that's yacht racing.”
“We got a surprise this morning from Loki when she came up on our inside, as we had stayed inshore most of the evening and Loki had been had been offshore. When Loki came in, they were very close but we toughed it out. The last 3-4 hours of the race were where the race was won,” concluded Mark.
Shortly after their arrival into Southport Yacht Club, Commodore Neale Hollier and board member Rob Mundle congratulated Mark Richards and the crew of Wild Oats X on their win.
Stephen Ainsworth's Loki crossed the line one hours and eleven minutes behind Wild Oats X in a race time of 2 days, 2 hours, 40 minutes and 7 seconds.
“After a really good start, and as we approached the second day, we were getting a little tired of going up wind all the time. Overnight it got quite windy and bumpy with the seaway being quite sharp. We were getting lots of banging and slamming as we came off waves – usually in these races I try to get some sleep but in this race I couldn't get any sleep at all!” said Stephen Ainsworth
“Overall it was a good race. We got shut down this morning after the breeze got patchy, but around Cape Byron we were neck and neck with Wild Oats X. After we passed Point Danger they just seemed to get away from us. They were able to pick the breeze and we ended up in patchy breeze, which ultimately meant that we finished second across the line, which I was very pleased with. How we will go over all remains to be seen with the rest of the fleet possibly finishing in good breezes,” concluded Stephen.
Andrew Short's Pricewaterhouse Coopers finished in third with a race time of 2 days, 4 hours, 17 minutes and 45 secs, managing to hold off Peter Harburg's Black Jack who finished just 14 minutes behind them in a race time of 2 days, 4 hours, 31 mins and 34 secs. Geoff Ross' Yendys finished fifth across the line in a race time of 2 days, 4 hours, 55 mins and 21 secs.
In the battle for IRC overall, AFR Midnight Rambler was successful. IRC 0 was won by Wild Oats X ahead of Black Jack, IRC 1 was won by the newly-launched Victorian boat, Scarlett Runner ahead of Yendys and Wot Now, IRC 2 was won by AFR Midnight Rambler ahead of Tow Truck and Fresh, IRC 3 was won by Alegria ahead of Swish and Typhoon while IRC 4 was won by Aileron ahead of Copernicus and Zephyr. Mahligai won PHS 1 and SES Inch by Winch was successful in PHS 2.
Full results are available at http://goldcoast.cyca.com.au
German luxury carmaker, Audi, has achieved a record result for the first six months of 2009. Up more than 10% in a market that is decreasing by 16%, this record achievement follows on from 54 straight months of growth for the brand in Australia. Audi is now the fastest-growing premium carmaker in Australia. In 2009, Audi celebrates its 100th birthday with centenary events being held around the world to mark the occasion. In Australia, Audi will celebrate its 100 years with the opening of the world's largest showroom, the Audi Lighthouse, at Victoria Park in Sydney.Audi is also the largest sponsor of competitive yachting in Australia, and a major partner of the CYCA for key regattas including the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race, Audi Sydney Offshore Newcastle Yacht Race and the Audi Winter Series. The company is also the principal sponsor of the CYCA's Youth Sailing Academy.
