Another Big Canting Keel Boat Wins the Sydney Hobart

Originally Posted by Paul B

Nope. In fact, Oats finished 8th overall. Even the "substandard" Leopard beat them.

This quote is a response to Masalai because he had the unmitigated gall to suggest that Wild Oats won as we all know she did. This whole pissing contest hinges on semantics and my unfortunate use of the word "overall" in post 15. In the case of both Paul B and CT249 NEVER once did either congratulate the Line Hounors overall winner.Despite protestations to the contrary by one of them the implication of both posts is that ,in fact, Wild Oats did NOT win Line Honors Overall. Paul B directly states that as a fact in response to Masalai. Get over it guys: One of the most magnificent,well designed and probably the fastest monohull to ever race for Line Honors Overall WON-first to finish and beat the hell out of ALL THE OTHER BOATS. 249 & "B": You should be ashamed that you haven't been able to bring yourself to congratulate the Wild Oats team rather than focus on semantics. The use of Line Honors overall is taken DIRECTLY from the Sydney-Hobart website:

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2007.. Standings
Address:http://rolexsydneyhobart.com/standin...x=46&Send.y=10

[masalai]

Life is lovely, I hope I did not upset your apple-cart Doug?

[CT 249]

Mas, they still hold the race but I think the Miss Figurehead contest has fallen victim to the times. :-(

[masalai]

Ahhhh well, will have to get it up again, best way to get it up , at least some public voyeurism. What is a drunken sailor to do for real live eyecandy? Join Frosty at the bar of lost dreams?

[Omeron]

Doug, If Cutty Sark was still around, and entered the race,wouldnt it be funny to see her finishing ahead of WO and ''winning'' the race?

Do you think she would win?

[Omeron]

I have no idea really. But given the right conditions, a broad reach, 25+ knots, and enough rough sea to slow down WO, it might be fascinating to
see what happens. Do you know what top speed Cutty Sark used to make under ideal conditions for her?

[rwatson]

Just to stick my neck out where its not wanted -
Wild oats and the other maxies arnt even "sailing" boats. They must run auxilliary motors the whole way, and are not even in the same class as traditional boats.
If I used a catamaran and got to hobart in 1 day without a canting keel(illegal under the race rules) - is that more noteworthy because I got there faster?
I can fly from Sydney to Hobart in 3 hours - does that get you excited?
Would you spend three million dollars on a ten minute space flight for a bit of weightlessness and a brief view of the planet instead of sponsoring emergency food for an entire african community?

Its all about reasonable priorities. Sean Heron said it best "All boatowners are idiots!" Its the degree of idiocy that interests me.
The real thrill of sailing is using traditional techniques and skills to overcome the tyranny of distance on the cruel sea.
These multimillion dollar edifices are just ego trips and TV advertising fodder, and in my book are only good for spreading a bit of money to the people paid to build and sail them.
What would impress me would be a handicap that also took into account the cost of the boats.
The formulae would be the fastest way of getting the most people/cargo via sea for the least amount of money.
Then maybe there would be something to get really excited about.