Tim Wiseman, Wild Oats XI bowman Andrea Francolini

Wild Oats XI’s bowman Tim Wiseman is this morning at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney awaiting surgery on his index finger which was injured yesterday afternoon four hours after the start of the 25th Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race.

After having x-rays last night at John Hunter Hospital at Newcastle, Wiseman was driven to Sydney where he has arranged for hand surgeon Tony Beard to operate shortly. The x-rays showed there are no fractures or breaks to the index finger, which is intact but damaged, and middle finger, which was also injured during the accident.

Wiseman described the incident, “I was fixing something near the mainsheet block at the end of the boom and had my hand in the wrong place when the main was sheeted on.

“Our boat medics Josh Whittaker and Chris Harmsen looked after me really well, they strapped me up. Everyone was really calm, the boys kept the boat sailing pretty much flat out.”

Wiseman admitted he’s in a lot of pain but managed to sleep a few hours last night at home before arriving at the hospital this morning for assessment and treatment.

This is the first serious injury for the daredevil for’ard hand with the nickname ‘Crackers’, but he believes he’ll be back to full strength by Audi Hamilton Island Race Week later this month followed by the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the Swan Worlds in Port Cervo, Italy in September.

Messages of support for the popular sailor have been sent from around the world, particularly from his fellow bowmen who understand that the hands are their tools of trade.

	Wild Oats XI heading offshore after the start of the 25th Audi Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race Andrea Francolini

Back on the racetrack Peter Harburg’s Black Jack and Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats X, both Reichel Pugh 66’s, are boat on boat east of the South Solitary Island with 133 nautical miles to go to the finish line and making good time, averaging 13 knots of boat speed as they slice through the water.

“We are not quite close enough to see the whites of their eye balls,” laughed Black Jack’s navigator Ed Smyth just now. “We are currently half a mile directly in front of Wild Oats X, tight reaching doing 15kts. The breeze is good and so far there’s no sign of a transition. It’s just starting to white cap out here.”

Six miles astern of the sisterships are Loki and Wild Oats XI, the latter still trying to regain yesterday’s lead from the two frontrunners whose crews are staging a thrilling duel to hold out the 100 footer and be first across the finish line later this afternoon, but possibly early evening with winds light inshore off Southport’s Main Beach and nothing in the SE Queensland coastal waters forecast to suggest a late surge.

Fleet positions are available via Yacht Tracker at http://goldcoast.cyca.com.au

By Lisa Ratcliff, CYCA Event Media