2016 CYCA/SYC Land Rover Sydney to Gold Coast Yacht Race Start

Wild Oats XI, the super maxi owned by the Oatley family and skippered by Mark Richards, was first out of Sydney Heads, leaving Scallywag (ex-Ragamuffin 100) in her wake. The two had sailed neck-and-neck down the Harbour under Code Zeros, but just as Seng Huang Lee’s Scallywag gybed off Camp Cove, Wild Oats XI hooked into some pressure and took off. Close behind Scallywag was Rupert Henry’s JV62, Chinese Whisper, followed by Tony Kirby’s Ker 46, Patrice, sailing between the two headlands, clear of dirty air from the pack, which tended to hug South Head. The unexpected surprise was seeing Shane Kearns’ defending champion, Komastu Azzurro, in the top third of the fleet, keeping pace with the bigger and newer boats, not too far adrift of the three V70’s, which were led by Peter Harburg’s Black Jack. The two entries representing South Australia became early casualties after both sustained bow damage in separate incidents, joining a NSW yacht that was involved in one of those incidents, all three within the first half hour of the race.