RS2H: WILD OATS XI and LDV COMANCHE are trading the theoretical lead; under 90 miles to the finish

CLOSING IN ON HOBART, TASMANIA – It's gotten very close as the two lead Super Maxis, WILD OATS XI and LDV COMANCHE fly down the east coast of Tasmania both with a SOG (Speed Over Ground) in excess of 30 knots. Both yachts have just jibed to starboard, but it looks like each will have to jibe at least a couple more times before turning northwest for the final approach to Hobart. At this moment, LDV COMANCHE appears to have a small, 4nm lead in terms of the DTF (Distance to Finish). For the past several hours boat speeds have been similar, but WOXI appears to be able to sail slightly lower, hence a shorter distance, than LDVC.

Below is a screengrab from a couple minutes ago from a custom Windy.com based race tracker that, frankly, is much better than the "official" race tracker on the Rolex S2H website. We commend it to you.

It should be an exciting finish, and don't forget that LDV COMANCHE is protesting WILD OATS XI from the incident shortly after yesterday's start. Sailing Illustrated has covered that incident extensively, and intensively, most recently with a second-by-second analysis here. That protest could yet turn out to be the deciding factor.