Great day sail expo Pittwater last weekend.
Tours of Wild Oats , auxiliary motor was used to show how effective the canting keel can be , canting position
was set so boat would list to 45 degrees at wharf .
Very sparse inside.

Aluminium and carbon fibre is the bees knees if constucted right!

Canting keel is great if it doesn't fail.
I read in the current Afloat that some racing people are a bit miffed at the mega yachts using stored energy for canting keels, water ballast pumping etc. Not in the spirit of man against the elements. They called it cheating.

I have no problem if the energy used is derived from the wind or man (maybe solar?), but the yachts that can only "sail" with a diesel generator running 100% of the time are not what I consider a sailing yacht. They do have amazing performance though.

motor sailers are fine but its hardly yacht racing when the engine runs non stop to power the boat

What you are touring on and looking at on the photo is Wild Oats X.

Not Wild Oats XI.

The smaller older sister?

Yes. Instead of 100 feet (sn 10001) is 'only' 65 feet (sn 7001).
Both are Raichel-Pugh designed built by McConaghy.

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sirgallivant said..
What you are touring on and looking at on the photo is Wild Oats X.

Not Wild Oats XI.

Yep as seen on the second pic of the bow an X
She must be getting on a bit with XI being built 2005

I am pretty sure I read somewhere that X was built as Bob Oatly's private boat but proved so quick it became a race boat.

A racing boat by mistake not by default?
I didn't hear of that, Ross, but it is an interesting thought.
I passed it every week for years as our boat is housed next to it.
Remember Bob Oatley in a wheelchair being lifted onto the boat few months before he died.