SYDNEY (Reuters) - The crew of Australian super-maxi Wild Oats XI retained their ninth Sydney to Hobart yacht race line honours victory after a protest lodged by the independent race committee was deemed invalid by an international jury on Saturday.
The Mark Richards-skippered yacht clinched line honours early on Friday, about 28 minutes ahead of fellow super-maxi Black Jack, whose owner claimed Wild Oats XI had not activated their Automatic Identification System (AIS) during the race.
The rules require the AIS transponder to be activated throughout the race as a safety measure.
The race committee, which is independent of organisers the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA), lodged the protest after they conducted an investigation and concluded that Wild Oats XI may have breached the rules.
The jury, however, said after a hearing on Saturday the protest was invalid as it had to have been made by a competitor.
"The Race Committee's investigation and subsequent protest arose from the report from the owner of Black Jack, a competitor in the race and therefore a person with a conflict of interest within the meaning of the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS)," the CYCA said in a statement.
"The Race Committee's investigation was prudent, however in these circumstances, for the protest to be valid under the Racing Rules of Sailing, a competitor with information about a potential rule breach must lodge the protest.
"It was found that the protest was invalid and so Wild Oats XI retains her line honours crown."
Richards had told state broadcaster the ABC earlier on Saturday the AIS system was operational and it indicated it was transmitting the yacht's position throughout the race.
It is the second successive year that Wild Oats XI's line honours victory had been the subject of a protest.
Last year, they stormed across the line in a race record, only to incur a one-hour penalty following a near-collision with Comanche about 15 minutes after the start of the 630-nautical mile (1,170 kilometre) race.
Comanche were then awarded line honours in a race record time of one day, nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds, with Wild Oats XI relegated to second.
(Reporting by Greg Stutchbury in Wellington; Editing by John O'Brien/Peter Rutherford)
