Record to stand as protests turned down

By Paul Tait

Sydney - Two protests against Sydney-Hobart winner Nokia were ruled invalid on Wednesday, leaving the hi-tech yacht to enter the history books with a race record which could stand for decades.

"The two protests were thrown out. They were ruled invalid," said a race spokeswoman from Hobart.

Race officials said the protests were "technical" but media reports said they claimed Nokia had too many crew under the rules which allowed the round-the-world racer to use its water ballast system during the race.

The joint Australian and Danish entry's water ballast helped it surf down Australia's east coast at speeds of about 30 knots to smash German maxi Morning Glory's 1996 record by almost a day.

The 60 feet Nokia clocked one day 19 hours 48 minutes two seconds for the 630-nautical mile ocean race, smashing Morning Glory's record by more than 18 hours.

Race conditions were so good for a record-breaking run that 11 boats finished inside Morning Glory's old mark of two days 14 hours seven minutes 10 seconds.

Crewman rescued

However, conditions hardened for the smaller yachts still at sea, with race officials confirming that one crewman had been rescued after being washed overboard from Papua New Guinea yacht Hi Flyer on Wednesday.

Hi Flyer crewman Steve Smith was dragged back on board by crewmates after spending about five minutes in the water off the east coast of Tasmania state.

Smith was in deep shock but otherwise uninjured and was to be transferred to a police boat later on Wednesday, officials said.

Several other crew members on other boats suffered minor injuries after a southerly change with winds gusting up to 50 knots hit the fleet after the leading boats finished.

Twelve yachts have retired with gear damage, most of them in the past 24 hours, race officials said. A total of 26 yachts had finished the race, with 42 still making their way to Hobart.

Australian maxi Brindabella, which came second, lodged a protest flag before Nokia crossed the line on Tuesday, while Sydney maxi Marchioness hoisted a protest flag shortly after the start on December 26.

Newspaper reports said Brindabella claimed Nokia had sailed with 13 crew instead of the 12 limit under its class rules.

Nokia was given permission to use its water ballast system which allows it to pump in seawater to keep it stable in strong winds. But no mention had been made of crew numbers.

The Marchioness protest was believed to also focus on crew.

Nokia co-skipper Michael Spies said the race jury had ruled the protests invalid but had examined the issues and ruled Nokia had complied with race rules.

"The jury went through the motions as if it was a valid protest and found Nokia 100 percent compliant with the rules," Spies said before enjoying a celebratory lunch with his crew. - Reuters