Kiwi maxi heads for Hobart line

New Zealand maxi Alfa Romeo has rounded Tasman Island first and turned for line
honours in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.
It will be the global yachting titan's 146th consecutive ocean classic victory after
she was last defeated in 2005 by Wild Oats XI in this race.
Kiwi skipper Neville Crichton said his 100-footer had "a very comfortable lead"
before the critical Tasman Island turn on Monday afternoon.
Four-time defending line honours champion Wild Oats is in second place in sight of
the leader, 16 nautical miles and more than an hour astern, but Crichton said he had
her covered.
"We certainly won't be letting them go out on a flyer without us being there," he
told reporters in Hobart.
Crichton said if conditions prevail "there's no way anybody would catch us".
The skipper said Alfa's accomplished crew asserted its credentials from the start,
just gradually building its lead throughout the race.
But the winner of just about every other off-shore race in the world also caught a
decisive breeze in waters off the NSW/Victoria border on the first morning that
eluded her rivals.
"When it got light off Gabo Island we did open a great gap up on both ICAP Leopard
and Wild Oats," he said.
Crichton said Alfa was due in Hobart at about 10pm (AEDT).
Should Alfa win the race on handicap, which is less likely than its line honours
victory, she will be only the seventh boat in the history of the classic to take the
double of line honours and the overall winner on corrected time.
Yendys, Ran and Shogun were heading the handicap honours predictions on Monday
afternoon. They are due in Hobart on Tuesday.
Wild Oats meanwhile was running out of chances to claim a record fifth straight line
honours win.
Tactician Iain Murray described the lead as "a reasonable gap" and he said he
doubted she would cross the finish line before midnight.
"There's been very few opportunities to catch up," he said.
Wild Oats meteorologist Roger Badham says it's possible Alfa will have to contend
with two wind changes at the mouth of the Derwent River and that is where his yacht
will get her best chances to close on the leader.
But Alfa is on course to pass the danger zone before the predicted changes arrive,
leaving Wild Oats to deal with them there.
ICAP Leopard has slipped back to third place, 30 nautical miles behind Alfa.