2010 Sydney-Hobart Ocean Race-WOXI again?

Sydney-Hobart-MULTIHULLS!

From Sail-World.com (also see NZ Herald article: post #15 )
http://www.sail-world.com/NZ/index.cfm?SEID=2&Nid=78336&SRCID=0&ntid=118&tickeruid=0&tickerCID=0

TeamVodafoneSailing is probably the fastest race yacht in Australasia but it's making no headway in its quest to complete some of Australia's greatest yacht races, including the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

The 60 foot trimaran is one of the Orma 60 designs, a European class boat designed for safe but exhilarating solo and fully crewed coastal and offshore racing and record setting.

Earlier in the year her skipper and owner, Simon Hull, filed a written application to the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) to be allowed to participate in the Sydney to Southport Race. The answer was no. 'The CYCA is a monohull racing club and as such a trimaran would be unable to participate in the Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race,' said Sailing Manager Justine Kirkjian in the club's emailed reply.

'The Hobart and the Southport are two of the Southern Hemisphere's most prestigious races,' says Simon Hull. 'The CYCA's position that only monohulls can participate, seems very conservative when even America's Cup sailing has moved on to multihulls.'
A response to Hull's application to compete in the Hobart, sent in August, has not yet been acknowledged by the club.

Multihulls were successfully integrated into the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron's race fleet several years ago, and monohulls and multihulls have raced side by side in the Coastal Classic, which is New Zealand's largest yacht race, for several years.

Hull says that his boat has been designed and built to very high safety standards and has crossed the Atlantic several times.

'We can meet the stringent safety regulations set for coastal racing in Australia. Safety is not one of the factors they can use as a basis for disallowing our entry. We would really like to do this race and we are hoping that in the near future the CYCA may open it up to multihulls like ours that can meet their entry criteria.'
In 2006 an Orma 60 sailed by French sailor Lionel Lemonchois shaved more than four days off the record in the 2006 Route de Rhum, the legendary solo race between Saint-Malo and Pointe-a-Pitre, to cross the Atlantic in less than seven days, and in 2007 Franck Cammas and Steve Ravussin on Groupama 2 completed the Transat Jacques Vabre between France and Brazil in 10 days, 38 minutes and 43 seconds.

Larger similar designed boats have more recently smashed the Transatlantic and 24-hour speed records for sailing. www.teamvodafonesailing.co.nz

 

That would be an oops. Boats that break rules should not be hailed as winners. They called in by telephone, not good enough. The SI's seem to REQUIRE a working HF radio. A required bit of safety equipment failed to work, the rule is pretty clear.

R

 

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Best I can tell there has been no decision by the protest committee.EDIT: Guilty until proven innocent?! You don't really mean that(do you?)
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...e-due-to-protest/story-e6frey6i-1225977432806



WILD Oats XI skipper Mark Richards and owner Bob Oatley are adamant they have won the 66th edition of the Rolex Sydney to Hobart despite the race committee announcing it is protesting the yacht.

Defiant skipper Mark Richards has declared the supermaxi Wild Oats has done nothing wrong and is the rightful winner of the 66th Rolex Sydney to Hobart despite having to report before an international jury to today to defend itself against a protest.

Extraordinary scenes greeted the arrival of the 100-footer in Hobart last night after one of the most dramatic and torrid races in recent years with owner Bob Oatley declaring he has proof they are innocent of breaking any rules.

"People make mistakes," Oatley said.

"This is a mistake and they will apologise I'm sure. We have won the race and we win the protest."

Having heard the yacht was being protested by the race committee and faced the worst-case scenario of being disqualified from the race, thousands flocked to Constitution Dock to greet the supermaxi after she crossed the finish line at 8.37pm.

"We are innocent,"' declared Richards after he had held his hand up when crossing the finish line on the Derwent River to indicate the yacht had claimed her fifth line honours victory after two days 07 hours 37 minutes 20 seconds at sea.

"We've got the most accredited yachtsmen and women on the planet on this boat.

"We've got Americas Cup winners, Iain Murray, who is Australia's most famous yachtsman, Adrienne Cahalan who still holds the around the world record for a female.

"We are very, very confident.

"There's no way as the skipper of Wild Oats and representing Bob Oatley that we would have left Green Cape within complying with the rules and sailing instructions 100 per cent."

Controversy erupted just hours before Wild Oats' arrival when the race committee revealed it had launched a protest against the yacht which could had the potential to see the five-time line honours winner stripped of the victory if it was proved she had broken the rules.

Race Committee chairman Tim Cox said the 100-footer and the UK entry RAN had not adhered to a race rule regarding the quality of a radio signal strength as the yacht passed Green Cape - the entrance to Bass Strait.

"The race committee met this morning (Tuesday) and considered the position of those two yachts and we believed that we needed to lodge a protest on those boats with the international jury for not complying with the sailing instruction 44.1(A)," Cox said.

"Both yachts reported their position throughout and since passing the cape by telephone, which does meet the requirement of 44.1."

Oatley was adamant the protest was a mistake and can prove it.

"There is no problem with the protest, we have done everything exactly correctly as I understand it," Oatley said.

"The original radio call was recorded by Tasman Radio, so we have got evidence of it."

Last night the Sean Langman skippered Investec Loyal was due to follow Wild Oats over the finish line, putting her in pole position to claim the honours should the international jury impose a penalty on Wild Oats when they meet at 1pm today.

 

A RC seldom files a protest. If you get scored DNF for breaking a rule in the SI's, it is up to you to prove you did not.

Listen to what was posted, about WO ... we have great sailors, blah blah blah ...

At the end of your post they claim that someone heard their radio call. So What? The requirement was to contact the RC not just contact someone.

If they did not contact the RC using the HF radio to demonstrate their ability to do so, they have failed to finish the race. Talking to uncle Bob on wierd HF skip does not satisfy the requirement.

Do you really think the RC would protest a Yacht for a radio reporting failure if they had any question about it?

We'll see how it shakes out.

R

 

He, nice rant. Totally uncalled for, but I bet it got all that pent up monohull anger out.
The only reason multis aren't allowed to compete is because clubs like the CYC are still totally anti multihull, as are all the weekday/twilight and weekend racing put on by these clubs.
I was referring to teh cruiser/racer multis, of which there are very many in this region, and their inclusion in the race, IN A SEPARATE DIVISION.
Too bad your comprehension skills suck profoundly, you might be able to have a rational discussion with adults one day if you hone those skills.

 

1) Since I don't just sail monohulls, there's no "pent up monohull anger". We've had a 16 foot multi, 2 20 foot multis, a 25 footer, a 31 footer, a 36 footer and a 38 footer in the family (5 cats, two tris) and have been into multis for three generations. We've formed cat clubs, built boats, raced, and cruised.

And when we sail multihull regattas, whether on a Crowther 37 or a Taipan, the monos are generally excluded from the events. So if it's OK for the multi sailors to exclude sailors of monos, it's okay for the mono guys to exclude multis.

It's simply a case of allowing other people to do what multi sailors do - run races just for one general type of craft.

2) I know that you were referring to cruiser/racer multis in a separate division. That doesn't change the issue, which is that there is no reason that a sporting event created for one type of equipment has to allow in other types of equipment.

The vast majority of sporting events INCLUDING MULTIHULL REGATTAS are just for one type of equipment, sometimes narrowly defined (i.e. Hobie 16) sometimes widely defined (all offshore-type multis as in the Lock Crowther Memorial Regatta). The CYCA just does what other clubs, from Palm Beach Cat Club to the NZ Multihull Yacht Club does - just as they exclude proas and monos, the CYCA excludes multis.

Why do you criticise the monos because they do what the multis (and the kiters, and the windsurfers, etc) do? That seems to be some multihuller anger there.

3) If by "cruiser/racer" multis you mean just allow in conservative cabin multis (i.e. Seawinds, Spindrifts, MTBs) and exclude bigger multis and not ORMA 60s etc, then how and where do you draw a line between the two?

And it doesn't matter if you are talking cruiser-racer multis. The fact remains that you end up with a disparate fleet and people generally prefer to only race against comparable equipment (and yes, the definition of "comparable" does vary) just like multi sailors do when they organise multi-only events, or windsurfer sailors do when they organise windsurfer-only events, etc.

4) Your comprehension skills need one hell of a lot of work if you don't understand the post. Your logic also needs work if you think it's fair that some people organise multi-only events, but unfair for other people to organise mono-only events.

The CYCA is only as anti-multi as the Palm Beach Sailing Club is anti-mono and anti-windsurfer and anti-kite, or the QMYC is anti-mono, or the VMYC is anti-mono. It's a club that runs events for the sort of gear its members want to use, just like the multihull clubs do. No conspiracy, just perfectly normal conduct.

So do you refuse to take part in multi-only events because you think their organiser are biased against monos, windsurfers, skiffs etc?

 

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In other words, two wrongs make a right? That seems like a mighty shaky foundation on which to build the future of sailboat racing. Why not correct the wrongs and make things more open and better for everybody?

 

2010 Sydney-Hobart Wild Oats XI Vindicated!!!

Congratulations to Team Wild Oats: they won the protest!!!! Goes to show
no one, not ever, should presume guilt when they KNOW they don't have all the facts as SA and a few others did. Shame on them....
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The judgement from the front page of Sailing Anarchy: " Wild Oats did what everyone on the planet knew they would do - finish first in the Sydney to Hobart race. What they didn't do, was follow the rules. Tim Cox AM RANR, Chairman of the Race Committee of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race announced that the Race Committee had lodged two protests; one against Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI and one against Niklas Zennstrom’s Rán.
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1) from the SH site:

29 December, 2010 3:18:00 PM AEDT | Racetime 03:02:18:00
Protests against Wild Oats XI and Ran dismissed


Wild Oats XI has been confirmed as line honours winner of the 2010 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race , for the fifth time, after the Race Committee radio protest was dismissed. The protest against Ran also was dismissed.

There will be a 4.30 pm dockside presentation in Hobart of the line honours trophy and Rolex Yacht-Master watch to the winning crew of Wild Oats XI.
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2) From Sail-World.com:

Rolex Sydney Hobart News flash from Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania - After a hearing of the International Jury, Bob Oatley Wild Oats XI has had the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race Committee's protest against her dismissed as had Nicklas Zennstrom's Ran.
The five-member jury heard submissions after the race committee lodged a protest against the crew late yesterday.

The jury heard at Wild Oats XI held position above Gabo Island until her radio was repaired and then as Sail-world.com reported on Monday morning, Ian ‘Fresh’ Burns, the Wild Oats XI navigator made the call to Race Control and read from the Sailing Instruction 44.1 paragraphs to the Radio Relay vessel PBW via HF radio and received acknowledgement before returning to course.

The jury dismissed the Protest from the Race Commitee and also the one against Ran.

As a result Wild Oats XI has been confirmed as line honours winner of the 2010 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race , for the fifth time.

There will be a 4.30 pm dockside presentation in Hobart of the line honours trophy and Rolex Yacht-Master watch to the winning crew of Wild Oats XI.

Full details of the ruling will follow.

Wild Oats XI sailed up the Derwent River and crossed the finish line off Constitution Wharf at 2037 AEDT last night with an elapsed time of two days, seven hours, 37 minutes, 20 seconds -- since leaving Sydney Harbour at 1300 on 26 December, Boxing Day.

This year’s 66th edition was one of Wild Oats Xl physically most difficult. In an interview as he stepped off the winning vessel, skipper Mark Richards said,' 'It was a tough race, no doubt about that. The boat Wild Oats, the boys, and the team did a fantastic job.'

After sailing a near perfect tactical race in extremely difficult conditions, with 40 knot southerly and a mountainous seaway during the first night, race favourite Wild Oats XI didn’t disappoint followers.

Wild Oats XI skipper Mark Richards was happy with the race and happy with the outcome of the protest hearinbg.

He said, 'We couldn’t have asked for a better result. To arrive here, first, in Hobart, is the most amazing feeling.'

Referring to Oats’ second place finish of last year, Richards said, 'First is hell of a lot better than second. We’re back and we’re just very happy to be here.'
by Sail-World.com Team Share 4:12 AM Wed 29 Dec 2010 GMT

 

Well, the RC now look like baboons. As I said it was up to WO to prove they complied:

From SA:

The question U have is if WO's HF transmission was received and acknowledged, why did the RC not know it? They would not have filed the protest if they had all the information. I'm a CRO and if I protest a boat, it stands. I was taught the rule of 100% certainty; If you are not 100% a boat is wrong (OCS for example) they are not. I assumed the RC of the S-H held themselves to the same standard.

Looks like I was wrong.

R

 

2010 Sydney-Hobart

I'd be interested in what happened and what the guy quoted by Sailing Anarchy yesterday has to say now. Seems like a major screw up.
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I'm glad for Wild Oats XI-I've been for them before they were a known quantity because of the CBTF technology the boat uses-seems to work ok. Can't wait to see the next great design advance in ocean racing monohulls!

 

The RC screwed up. The SI's were poorly written. The RC should not have accepted the telephone check in's and reports.

The idea/intent was to require a reliable HF radio on each boat before they crossed Bass Straight. WO by their own admission did not have a reliable HF radio and used a sat phone instead.

My personal experience has been that my HF radio is more reliable than my sat phone. If I have to make an emergency call, I'm using the HF radio first for two reasons. First, my call can be heard by everyone on the frequency, not just the person/organization I'm trying to reach. Second, I cannot expect SAR efforts to have sat phones. Any communication by sat phone has to be relayed by radio, so the "party line" nature of radio serves the purpose better.

The IJ found that the SI's were complied with. I suspect that the SI's will be tightened up for next year. IMO a working, reliable HF radio is a "must have" bit of safety equipment for any boat that travels out of VHF range of shore.

Cellular and Satellite phones are poor substitutes for HF radio IMO.

R

 

Because it's not a wrong. Having an event that just concentrates on a certain type of object is something that just about every human seems to enjoy, whether they are orchid fanciers who just wanna show orchids and don't wanna show roses, or death metal fans who just want to go to a death metal swap meet and not have it diluted by guys selling Peter Paul and Mary merchandise, or trainspotters who are fans of the Great Western Railway and not the LNER railway and therefore want to go to a talk just about the GWR, without having to listen to a lecture on Southern Railway Mogul development.

People who hold events have the right to hold them just for particular types of equipment. This allows events to be organised more easily a lot of the time; it allows the organisers to encourage certain types of equipment or event, and it allows those who attend to concentrate on their common interest -whether that is monos, or abyssnian cats, or H16s, or 30-100 feet monos, or motorbikes, or petunias or punk rock or baroque musical instruments, or shorthanded sailing or fully-crewed racing, or Linux (rather than Windows) programming, or matchbox collecting rather than stamp collecting.

Having a multi or windsurfer or mono only race is just the same thing.

Having an event that concentrates on just one thing has many advantages, which is why the multi guys do it, the shorthanded guys do it, the kiters do it. Sure, having a mixed event is fun, but even then you have to divide it into sections and each section tends to socialise with people from the same type of boat - so organisers shouldn't be insulted if they don't bother to bring in other types.

The mystery is why the shorthanded and multi guys insult the fully-crewed monos when the multi and shorthanded guys ban the fully-crewed monos.

PS - this morning the Australian Broadcasting Commission's Sydney-Hobart correspondent said that he was winding up his coverage of the race. There's still almost one-third of the fleet out there, racing. But because the big boats are now finishing so early and the ABC (and other media) only allow a certain number of days coverage, the small boats are now missing out. That harms their chances of sponsorship and it's pretty depressing to finish an event in good time and find that the show has packed up. That's the sort of thing that happens when they increase the permitted size of the big monos, and it would happen more if they allowed in faster multis. That's just one example of the downside of opening up an event - and no, it's NOT the sort of thing that is easy to fix, even if people on forums who have never been involved with the Hobart reckon it could be fixed.

 

+1, well said.

--
CutOne

 

2011 Sydney-Hobart

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Yes they do. But the public also has the right to apply pressure on the organizers of events they view as exclusionary to open up participation.
And from what I've seen on SA, the "multihulls" forum here and the multihulls list as well as the articles written by Sail-World, the NZ Herald and others pressure is building on the orgainzers of the Sydney-Hobart to allow multihulls.
I think it would be a great move on the part of the organizers to open up the Sydney-Hobart and I bet they do someday....

 

2010 Sydney-Hobart

"Secret Mens Business" wins the SH on handicap.
story here: http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/news.asp?key=5125