Quest set to take Sydney-Hobart honours

THE painful part of this year’s easy Sydney to Hobart race has come. A controversial starting line collision will be arbitrated today, and time is running out for yachts seeking the prestigious handicap victory.

Hobart’s traditional race-inspired party kicked off on Saturday night when Alfa Romeo took line honours and sailors began gathering in bars and boats to drink to one of the softest races in decades. Gentle seas and breezes persisted over much of the course yesterday.

The weather was in contrast to a squall-shrouded start in which the Tasmanian yacht Valheru was badly holed and a crewman thrown overboard in a collision with French yacht Peugeot Racing.

Quest, a 14-metre yacht owned and skippered by Sydney’s Bob Steel, was the boat to beat last night for handicap honours. It made the finish before morning winds died.

Race officials calculated that only two other small NSW yachts still at sea stood a good chance of knocking it off.

They were the nine-metre veteran of 15 races, Zeus II, which had to finish by 10.08am today, and the 10 metre Impeccable, which is being raced by the oldest skipper in the fleet, 80-year-old John Walker.

It had to finish by 12.45am. Each gave their expected time of arrival inside their time limits yesterday afternoon, but around Hobart the breezes remained light.