Yachting: Winds raise prospect of Sydney-Hobart record

Bob Oatley's Wild Oats XI is on target to win the 61st Sydney to Hobart race and become the world's fastest super maxi by breaking a six-year record in the process.

After a frustratingly still night on Monday, the Australian boat was leading New Zealand's Alfa Romeo by 15.2 nautical miles last night.

Those two yachts were also leading the race on handicap.

A third super maxi, Skandia, is 50 nautical miles behind the leader in third place for line honours.

Wild Oats XI was due to arrive at Hobart's Constitution Dock at 10.43am today - 20 minutes ahead of Nokia's 1999 record.

Wild Oats, Alfa Romeo and Skandia were all on schedule last night to beat Nokia's record of one day 19 hours 48 minutes and 2 seconds but their hopes all but died with the wind as they waited in vain for a north-easterly breeze.

The breeze finally returned after daybreak, pushing the big boats towards the finish of the 628 nautical mile race and leaving a long, slow slog for the smaller boats in their wake.

Wild Oats moved closer to shore on Monday night in an effort to find a breeze and yesterday it appeared to be a winning strategy.

Alfa Romeo struggled unsuccessfully throughout the day to gain ground after leading at times through the night.

Manager Murray Spence said the decision by Wild Oats to move closer to shore had given the Australian crew an edge.

"Obviously we'd like to be a little bit closer to them," he said.

"[But] we don't think all is lost yet. We're not even halfway through the race yet."

The New Zealand super maxi has been plagued by obstacles, narrowly avoiding damage from two encounters with sunfish.

The first, near the start of the race, left a "decent mark" on the boat's rudder but no structural damage.

- REUTERS