| Wild Oats XI | |
| Yacht Club: | Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club |
| Established: | 2005 |
| Nation: | Australia |
| Team Principal: | Robert Oatley |
| Skipper: | Mark Richards |
| Notable Victories: | Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 Pittwater to Coffs Yacht Race: 2010 |
| Sail Numbers: | 10001 |
Wild Oats XI is a maxi yacht, most famous for being a multiple line honors winner of the 'blue water classic' Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. She is owned by Robert Oatley, and skippered by New South Welsh yachtsman, Mark Richards.
In 2005, Wild Oats XI set the fastest-ever time for the race so far. In the 2007 race, Wild Oats XI equaled the 59-year old record of Morna, by taking line honors in the the race three times in-a-row. In the 2008 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, Wild Oats XI broke the record, winning an un-precedented fourth consecutive line honors.[1]
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Wild Oats XI is a state-of-the-art 100 ft (30 m) maxi yacht designed by Reichel/Pugh with a Carbon/Nomex composite hull. It features a 'canting ballast twin foil' (CBTF) to provide very good stability and sail carrying power, which promotes high speed sailing. This advantage make Wild Oats XI a very fast ocean-going yacht. She is rigged in a sloop style, and has a beam of 5.4 m (18 ft) and a draft of 5.5 m (18 ft). Wild Oats XI was built and launched in 2005 by McConaghy.
Between the 2007 and 2008 races, Wild Oats XI underwent further modifications aimed at increasing her speed. Skipper Mark Richards was quoted as saying he believed Wild Oats XI could do the 630 nautical mile (1,170 km) race in under 24 hours if the wind conditions were right.[2]
Wild Oats XI made her Sydney to Hobart debut in 2005, and made an immediate impact on the race. Racing out of the heads, she led the whole way south to arrive in record time, breaking Alfa Romeo's 2002 record. In so-doing, Wild Oats XI took line honours, won the Tattersall's Cup (for overall winner adjusted on handicap), and becoming the first boat since Rani in the inaugural race in 1945 to do all three feats.
The following year, 2006, Wild Oats XI was equally dominant, taking line honors in 2 days, 8 hours, 52 minutes and 33 seconds. Arriving at 9:52pm, the yacht sailed into Sullivans Cove to rapturous applause by a large crowd gathered on the docks, who were appreciative of her achieving her 'double' despite being battered in heavy seas.[3]
The 2007 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race saw Wild Oats XI equal the 59-year old record of Morna, by winning a hat-trick of line honours titles. Wild Oats XI lined up for the start of the 2008 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race aiming to make history, and set a new record in her own right by becoming the only yacht to win four consecutive line honours titles, and did so, leading for the duration and completing the race in 1 day, 20 hours, 34 minutes 14 seconds. The 2008 race was not without difficulty for the crew though, as they picked up debris in Sydney Harbour which added excess drag, and also collided with a two-metre (6.5 foot) shark. The crew felt that the collision may have actually assisted them by dislodging the snag from their hull.[4]
The time set by Wild Oats XI in 2005 of 1 day, 18 hours, 40 minutes and 10 seconds, remains the current race record.[5]
Wild Oats XI won line honours for the fifth time in the 2010 race, although the yacht's crew faced a protest against their win which could have resulted in disqualification. Under sailing instruction 44.1(A), yachts are required to report their position by radio as they pass Green Cape, the entrance to Bass Strait. The rule was created following the disastrous 1998 race in which five boats sank and six sailors died.[6] As the yacht passed the cape, the crew realised that a blown fuse had rendered their high-frequency radio non-functional. They reported their position to race organisers via satellite phone, but race officials forwarded a complaint to an international jury, alleging that the crew had violated what race committee chairman Tim Cox called "one of the fundamental safety rules of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race". The complaint was dismissed by the jury, and Wild Oats XI was awarded its fifth Sydney to Hobart line honours.[7]
In the 2011 race Wild Oats came second to Investec Loyal in a time of 2 days, 6 hours, 17 minutes and 26 seconds. They lost by 2 minutes and 48 seconds.[8]