Alfa Dog

Indeed Alfa Romeo did hold off Wild Oats to finish first by about two hours over WO. Leopard was well back with still a few miles to go for a distant third to finish. As of this AM, the Farr 40 AFR Midnight Rambler is on track to win IRC corrected. Picture of Alfa finishing below courtesy of ROLEX/Daniel Forster and here’s the post race video.

While Wild Oats has finally caught and passed ICAP Leopard in the race for first-to-finish the Sydney Hobart Race, it looks like Alfa Romeo might just have it in the bag over both these boys, along with the overall IRC victory.  Crichton’s big maxi has a 15 mile lead on the perennial victors aboard Oats, though even that huge lead may not be safe if overnight conditions in the Derwent are as light and fickle they frequently can be.  Here’s a great little at-sea interview with Leopard owner Mike Slade from earlier today that’s worth a listen – at one point he yells to the trimmers on deck "Can we just go easy on the trim up there, I’m trying to do a press conference!"

SA’ers on the ground in Tasmania will be doing their best to update us as the boats roll in, so keep tabs on the all-knowing thread here, and keep a weather eye on the controllable harbor webcam at the finish to see it all yourself – just don’t point the camera at the bikinis on the beach when the boats are finishing!