HOBART (Australia), Dec 28: Australian maxi yacht Wild Oats XI won the 64th Sydney to Hobart race for a record fourth time Sunday, just narrowly missing out on breaking its own race record time.

The 30-metre maxi finished the 628-nautical mile race down the Australian eastern seaboard in one day 20 hours 34 minutes and 14 seconds.

Wild Oats XI holds the race record of one day 18 hours 40 minutes 10 seconds set in its 2005 win.

The record was under threat up until early Sunday when the prevailing winds subsided in the Derwent River.

Another maxi, 2003 winner Skandia, finished second, one hour and seven minutes behind Wild Oats XI, while Quest was leading the race on handicap.

Wild Oats XI last year equalled the record of the three successive Sydney-Hobart wins of Morna from 1946-48.

Sunday’s record-breaking triumph was not without incident.

The Mark Richards-skippered vessel was forced to stop temporarily late Saturday to free a two-metre (6.5 foot) shark from its rudder.

Richards said the collision with the shark proved a godsend.

He said his boat had underperformed after picking something up on its keel leaving Sydney Harbour on Friday.

Richards said having to stop and reverse to clear the shark also removed whatever was dragging on the yacht.

“The second we got him off, the boat was back to its old self,” Richards told reporters.

He said his crew knew upon leaving Sydney Harbour there was something impeding the yacht.

The skipper said he had contemplated sending a crew member over the side to inspect the keel.

“But we just never stopped. When you are doing 20-25 knots all the time it’s a hard thing to work out what to actually do,” he said.“So we were waiting for the opportunity but in the end we didn’t have one — we had to do it anyway.” Wild Oats XI crew member Peter Shipway said competitors Skandia had them worried throughout the blue water classic.

“She was very competitive against us and we just couldn’t nail her for a long, long while,” Shipway said.

“It was only yesterday (Saturday) when it (winds) got a bit light and flukey that we got in front of her.” Skandia led Wild Oats XI for much of the race but its slight advantage was wiped out late Saturday.

“Once they sailed up to us when the wind shut down last night we knew that was going to be the end of the fun,” Skandia skipper Grant Wharington said.

This year Wild Oats XI did not have a major international maxi to compete against, with the ongoing Volvo Ocean Race depriving the Australian event of some powerful overseas entrants.

Ichi Ban was third across the line ahead of ASM Shockwave 5 and Limit with the remainder of the 2008 fleet expected to finish the race in the coming days.—AFP