Yachting: Wild Oats XI closes in on treble win

HOBART - Wild Oats XI this morning looked almost certain to secure the Sydney to Hobart yacht race treble.

Difficult wind conditions left most of the remaining fleet struggling to gain ground overnight, pushing the Australian super maxi closer to overall handicap honours.

Wild Oats' line honours win yesterday smashed Nokia's six-year record by more than an hour.

If she wins overall, Wild Oats will become only the sixth boat in Sydney to Hobart history to claim the line honours/overall double.

Official standings now predict Wild Oats to finish first on corrected time under International Rule Club (IRC).

Second and third places are tipped to go to Alfa Romeo and Konica Minolta respectively.

The only boat still able to upset predictions is Ray White Koomooloo, which has until 8pm (10pm NZ time) to cross the line but is set to arrive almost eight hours later.

Race officials expect a third of the 83-strong fleet to arrive in Hobart by midday.

Six boats arrived overnight and the latest to cross the finish line was Victoria's Living Doll.

There have been only two retirements so far this year.

German boat Conergy returned to Sydney yesterday with rudder and radio damage, while NSW's Sirromet Life Style Wine retired today with rig damage.

- AAP