Rod Daniel described the 2018 Sydney to Hobart win on Wild Oats XI as one of the sweetest.
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“We’ve had a couple of setbacks over the last couple of years,” Rod said after the boat was stripped of line honours in 2017.
It was almost a case of a case of deja vu after runner-up Black Jack claimed Wild Oats XI’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) had been turned off during the race and they were disadvantaged because they couldn’t, at times, detect where the boat was on the water.
“This (win) shows the boat still has potential,” Rod said of the vessel he had been sailing on since 2005 and which has taken line honours on 12 occasions, including nine Sydney-Hobarts.
“The protest didn’t sit so well with me. A lot of people put a lot into this sport.”
Rod was adamant the race tracker was not turned off.
The protest didn’t sit so well with me.
- Rod Daniel
“Our machine was telling us that we were transmitting fine.
“There were times through the race when we could see each other.
“We had a nice sale down the Derwent (River); in years past the wind has been a bit fickle.”
An 18-time Sydney-Hobart veteran, Rod has two race records and two overall wins on his impressive Boxing Day race resume.
The former Forster High School student, who now lives in California with his American wife Aimee and 10-year-old daughter Mackenzie, paid tribute to his parents Phyll and John and his country-coastal upbringing.
The one-time ship wright, who had a hand in building the super maxi, transitioned into the professions sailing ranks in the early 2000s.
Rod’s role in Wild Oat XI’s win was as a pitman – for the uninitiated this is someone who sails in the middle of the boat and changes the sails.
He was one of two in the pits from a crew of 20.
Following a family holiday in Forster the Daniel family will return home to prepare for the next big sailing event before jetting to Valencia in Spain for a training camp and the commissioning of a boat.
At 46 Rod is pretty chuffed he can continue competing in up to 20 events across Europe, the United States and Australia annually.
“I really love sailing; to be able to do it on a grand prix scale with some of the best sailors and owners in the world.”
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