Sailing-Wild Oats XI face another protest over Sydney-Hobart win
ByReuters
Published 28/12/2018 at 23:05 GMT
SYDNEY, Dec 29 (Reuters) - The crew of Australian super-maxi Wild Oats XI will have a nervous wait on Saturday to find whether their ninth Sydney to Hobart yacht race line honours victory will stand after a protest was lodged by the independent race committee.
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Image credit: Eurosport
The Mark Richards-skippered yacht clinched line honours early on Friday, about 28 minutes ahead of fellow super-maxi Black Jack, whose owner claimed Wild Oats XI had not activated their Automatic Identification System (AIS) during the race.
The rules require the AIS transponder to be activated throughout the race as a safety measure.
"The Race Committee received a report from the owner of Black Jack advising that Wild Oats XI's AIS had not transmitted throughout the Sydney Hobart yacht race 2018," race organisers the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) said in a statement.
The race committee, which is independent of the organisers, then conducted its own investigation of the report and said Wild Oats XI could have breached the rules, the statement added.
Local media reported an international jury would hear the protest on Saturday.
It is the second successive year that Wild Oats XI's line honours victory has been thrown into doubt.
Last year, they stormed across the line in a race record only to incur a one-hour penalty following a near-collision with Comanche about 15 minutes after the start of the 630-nautical mile (1,170 kilometre) race.
Comanche were then awarded line honours in a race record time of one day, nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds, with Wild Oats XI relegated to second. (Reporting by Greg Stutchbury in Wellington; Editing by Ian Chadband)
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