Team Wild Oats XI has been left "gobsmacked" by the hydraulics failure that forced the super maxi into a second-straight early retirement from the Sydney to Hobart, and opened the door for Perpetual Loyal or Giacomo to claim line honours and a possible race record.
Owner Sandy Oatley spoke briefly with the crew via satellite phone following the incident as the yacht turned around and headed for land, where it was due to dock in Eden at by 11pm on Tuesday.
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Wild Oats XI retires from Sydney to Hobart
Perpetual Loyal hits the front of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race after the race favourite was suddenly forced to pull out. Vision courtesy ABC News 24.
Oatley chartered a bus from Sydney to Eden late on Tuesday to pick up the crew, and plans to discuss the boat's latest failure with skipper Mark Richards and his fellow sailors in the coming days.
The yacht was forced to retire last year after suffering a torn mainsail on the first night of the race.
"We've got to sit back and assess what went wrong and make sure it doesn't happen again," Oatley said.
"I've spoken to the hydraulic people this morning to get their assessment and they're absolutely gobsmacked that there's a failure.
"We just need to talk to Mark Richards and understand fully what happened.
"Last year we tore the mainsail and we've done a lot of preparation and training in that regard and the boys were very happy with that. This hydraulic failure has come out of left field, we don't really know what's happened yet.
"It's not until they look at it, we look at it, sit down in the cool of day to work out what actually went wrong."
The eight-time line honours winner led throughout the first night having recovered from a poor start, and looked on track to smash the race record it set in 2012 before disaster struck in the middle of Bass Strait at about 8am on Tuesday.
A broken trunnion pin affected the hydraulics system attached to the canting keel, which forced the crew to lock the keel in the centre and motor back to Eden into a gusty north-easterly wind and against the current.
Perpetual Loyal was seven nautical miles behind Wild Oats XI and radioed the race leader when they noticed Richards' yacht was in trouble.
Navigator Tom Addis said Perpetual Loyal's crew initially feared Wild Oats XI had lost a man overboard before being informed of the hydraulics issue.
For Oatley, a ninth line-honours win in the race has to wait at least another 12 months.
"That's life unfortunately, that's Murphy's Law," Oatley said.
"It's one of those things, it's very frustrating, there's been a lot of preparation for the boat and the crew training, but Mother Nature, someone else is controlling all the little bits and pieces.
"I'm sure that Mark and the team would be itching to get back there next year to finish what they started last year and to finish what they started this year.
"Hopefully next year you can say third time lucky when we get there."
As Richards steered the yacht back to Eden, Perpetual Loyal remained on track to break the race record, leading from the impressive Volvo 70 Giacomo.
The yacht was estimated to arrived at Tasman Island around 11pm Tuesday before turning west and heading across Storm Bay and up the Derwent River for the final stretch.
"Yachting is a sport where nothing matters until you cross the line," Addis said.
"There's no such thing as a leader halfway through the race, it only matters when you cross the line, so it's absolutely just about trying to get there.
"We've got the last 40 miles in a coastal bay where the breeze isn't the most reliable, we've just got to deal with what we're given at that time of night."
As of Tuesday evening, Wild Oats XI was one of two retirements on the second day of the Sydney to Hobart, with KOA forced out late on with a broken starter motor.
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