HOBART, Australia — Sydney’s Wild Oats XI became the first yacht in nearly 60 years to win the Sydney to Hobart race three times in a row.
Wild Oats, skippered by Mark Richards, finished the 628-nautical mile (723-mile) race Friday in 1 day, 21 hours, 24 minutes, crossing the line at Constitution Dock in Hobart at 10:24 a.m.
“We came here to do a job and that was to claim the treble,” Richards said.
The finish was closer than expected, with second-place British yacht City Index expected to finish about 30 minutes behind after trailing during the race by up to 20 nautical miles.
The race began Wednesday in Sydney Harbor, when Wild Oats led the fleet into the Tasman Sea and never trailed down the New South Wales state coast and across Bass Strait to the island state of Tasmania.
Australian yacht Ichi Ban was expected to finish third and 2003 line honors winner Skandia, which broke its mast overnight Thursday night, fourth.
American yacht Rosebud, owned and skippered by Roger Sturgeon, was expected to finish fifth later Friday.
