New Zealand super maxi Konica Minolta held a slender lead over Australian rival Skandia in the 60th Sydney to Hobart yacht race yesterday as rough weather slammed into the fleet and forced 17 boats to retire.
Race officials said another eight yachts of the 99 left in the race had
decided to head for ports on Australia's east coast to ride out the worst of the weather.
At least two of them had crew members suffering minor injuries and seasickness.
Leaders Konica Minolta and Skandia had set a record pace for most of the first 24 hours of the race as they surfed south down Australia's east coast in favourable northeasterly winds of up to 21 knots.
However, their progress slowed dramatically when the wind switched direction as they neared the notoriously rough Bass Strait between the Australian mainland and the southern island state of Tasmania, with a forecast southwesterly topping 40 knots.
Stewart Thwaites' Konica Minolta led by just under four nautical miles from Skandia after completing 377 nautical miles in the 630-nautical mile bluewater classic.
The two 30m super maxis were engaged in a rerun of last year's gripping race, which Skandia won by 14 minutes after more than two days at sea.
Grant Wharington's Skandia almost joined the list of retired boats after his yacht hit a giant sunfish earlier yesterday.
"Fortunately we shook the thing loose but there was an horrific crack when we hit it, so we just hope that we haven't done any damage," Wharington told race officials.
Untried Australian maxi Nicorette, which led the fleet out of Sydney Harbour after Sunday's start, was in third place roughly 10 nautical miles behind the leaders, with Australian downwind flyer AAPT in fourth place.
Race officials said the fleet could expect up to two days of rough weather, with heavy seas set to pound the smaller boats behind the race leaders.
Meteorologists had earlier warned of galeforce winds averaging between 40 and 50 knots with gusts of up to 60 knots as well as huge seas averaging between six and nine metres when the change hit.
Conditions were not expected to be as bad as those during the 1998 race, when six sailors died and five boats sank after 80-knot winds and mountainous seas hammered the fleet.
A marine police emergency vessel is tracking the fleet for the first time because of the expected rough weather.
Sailors have also been warned to expect unseasonably cold conditions, with hail squalls possible. Unseasonal snow was also recorded in inland areas of southern Australia.
A fleet of 116 yachts started the race and two retired within hours of the start, including hi-tech Australian handicap favourite Targe.
Fifteen more pulled out as the weather worsened yesterday, most with gear damage.
- REUTERS
New Zealand super maxi Konica Minolta held a slender lead over Australian rival Skandia in the 60th Sydney to Hobart yacht race yesterday as rough weather slammed into the fleet and forced 17 boats to retire.
Race officials said another eight yachts of the 99 left in the race had
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