Sydney to Hobart race after the starting yacht begins to sink

Dramatic beginning to Sydney to Hobart race after the starting yacht begins to sink and three boats are forced to retire after two collisions

• Three yachts forced to retire after two collisions at Sydney to Hobart race 
• Ark323, Cougar II and Lupa of London have all returned defeated
• Australian model Kristy Hinze-Clark's boat Comanche is in second place 
• Starting yacht, Aussie Legend, was evacuated after springing a leak

By Australian Associated Press and Leith Huffadine For Daily Mail Australia

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news

Three yachts have been forced to retire after two collisions during the Sydney to Hobart race, leaving some crew members with injuries.

The Boxing Day race got off to a dramatic start when the start boat, Aussie Legend, which traditionally fires the starting cannon, was evacuated after springing a leak.

This meant a 'hooter and flags' were used to signal the start of the race and there was then further shock when Wild Oats XI pushed ahead of their main rivals to take a surprise, but fleeting lead.

Australian model Kristy Hinze-Clark's 100-ft boat Comanche then stormed into first position, but was overtaken by American 88-footer Rambler. 

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Three yachts have been forced to retire after two collisions during the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, pictured is the damage to Cougar II

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Super-maxi Comanche took an early lead with a blistering start, but has since been overtaken

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Three yachts have been forced to retire after two collisions during the Sydney to Hobart yacht race

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Photographs have emerged showing the devastating damage to the yachts after separate collisions 

Australian model Kristy Hinze-Clark's (pictured) 100-ft boat Comanche stormed into first position, but was overtaken by American 88-footer Rambler.

Some 109 boats set off from Sydney harbour at 1pm, but Ark323, Cougar II and Lupa of London have returned defeated after a crash. 

Ark323 collided with a rival boat just 300m into the race and was forced to retire with a crack in the deck, although the other yacht has kept going.

A rear corner of Cougar II has been ripped apart and a crew member has been injured with cuts around his eyes. 

Businessman Peter Hickson's M3 from Western Australia has returned to port with a broken forestay, but has not retired.

The crew have been assessing damage and have four hours to return to the race.

Blue skies turned to grey in the minutes before the horn sounded for the 1pm start and it was a bumpy ride for a number of the yachts, including on board the Maserati Soldini.

The three yachts weren't the only ones to crash out early, with start boat Aussie Legend forced into an emergency evacuation of its passengers at Taronga Zoo wharf when it began taking water. 

The 160 people on board were rescued, transferred to another boat and taken to the shore at Taronga Zoo, it was reported. 

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Aussie Legend, which traditionally fires the canon to start the race, will no longer be able to do so after taking on water while in the Sydney Harbour on Saturday

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The start of the 71st Rolex Sydney to Hobart yacht race on Sydney Harbour in Sydney on Saturday

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Despite the starting boat taking on water, the event was not delayed and the race began at 1pm

 

Yachts moored in Sydney Harbour on Saturday ahead of the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht

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A woman takes a look at some of the many flags being flown among yachts moored in Sydney Harbour

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Perpetual Loyal' follows 'Ragamuffin 100', 'Wild Oats XI' and 'Comanche' out to sea during the 2014 Sydney To Hobart

Earlier, NSW Bureau of Meteorology's Michael Logan message for the 109 boats in this year's Sydney to Hobart, who will have to negotiate a stormy first night at sea was 'get out as fast and as far as possible'.

'For the lead boats, the further south they can get the better,' Logan said on the morning of Saturday's race launch.

'But for the back boats, it looks like it's going to be where the gales are and where the change will have its strongest punch as it comes across the fleet.'

A welcome north-easterly is expected to allow for a quick race launch at 1pm, entertaining the crowds of up to half-a-million people watching in Sydney heads.

But from there it'll be time to batten down the hatches as a southerly buster filled with thunder and lightning will wreak havoc through the fleet.

'With winds potentially reaching mean speeds of up to 40 knots right on that change, and thunderstorms around, it's certainly going to make for a rough night for the first night for the fleet,' Logan said.

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Yachts prepare for the start of the 71st Rolex Sydney to Hobart yacht race on Sydney Harbour in Sydney on Saturday

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Comanche prepares for the start of the 71st Rolex Sydney to Hobart yacht race on Sydney Harbour

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The crew members aboard 'Maserati' make final adjustments in Sydney Harbour prior to the 2015 Sydney to Hobart

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The clouds above the yachts moored in Sydney are perhaps a sign of the stormy weather expected to hit the race in its early stages

A hive of activity surrounding yachts moored in Sydney before the beginning of the race

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Wild Oats XI, one of the pre-race favourites, prepares for the start of the 71st Rolex Sydney to Hobart yacht race

So the further the likes of line honours favourites Wild Oats XI and Comanche can kick out in front, the better.

With light winds forecasted as the race moves into the Bass Strait on Sunday, the smaller boats have ample opportunity to catch up to their 100-foot counterparts.

'The lead boats might get to that first, but most of the fleet will see some lighter winds as they come across parts of Bass Strait and the lee of Tasmania at some point,' Logan said. 

When the race begins, Wild Oats XI owner Bob Oatley will finally get to find out whether it was worth chainsawing his beloved 100-footer in half when the Sydney to Hobart race begins on Saturday.

Almost one year to the day since Australia's yachting sweetheart pipped American raider Comanche by 55 minutes at the finish line, the almost unrecognisable Wild Oats XI will aim to claim an unprecedented ninth title.

In an attempt to stay ahead of her modern-day rivals, the 11-year-old supermaxi underwent an extraordinary nip and tuck that has had the sailing community abuzz for the past four months.

Two metres came off the stern and 11 metres came off the front, while a new 13-metre bow was attached to provide more buoyancy.

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Australian supermaxi yacht Perpetual Loyal (left) races against US supermaxi yacht Rambler during the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour on December 15

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Australian supermaxi yacht Perpetual Loyal limps into the finish after a malfunction during the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour on December 9

'This is major surgery,' skipper Mark Richards said earlier this year.

'We've done a lot of modifications to the boat, but this is major - this is cutting the thing in half basically and adding big parts to it.'

Now Richards and his crew will find out whether the radical process will work as the 109-boat fleet departs Sydney harbour at 1pm on Boxing Day.

The four-time line honours captain said he had every confidence in the remodelled boat to stave off Comanche and fellow big boat rivals Perpetual Loyal, Ragamuffin 100 and Rambler 88.

'There's absolutely no issues there at all,' he said.

'These guys have been building these boats and been in the boats job for a long time. So we've got a lot of confidence there.' 

Richards said surviving until Sunday morning was key.

'There's plenty of times when boats haven't made the next morning. It's all about that first 24 hours and doing a good job,' he said.

In the handicap battle, Hobart debutant Chinese Whisper is the leading contender to take the crown off defending champion Wild Rose, which will also get stiff competition from Rambler 88 and Ichi Ban.

The race record is held by Wild Oats XI, a time of 1 day 18 hours 23 minutes and 12 seconds set in 2012. 

Cricketing great Michael Clarke is ditching the pads for a lifejacket and taking part in the race.

The former Australian test cricket captain will take part as a crew member aboard Perpetual Loyal.

A photo taken on December 26, 2014 shows the fleet starting the Sydney to Hobart yacht race in Sydney