Quest on the verge

Sydney yachtsman Bob Steel is on the verge of his second overall win in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

Six years after winning the race on corrected time with a previous Quest, Steel now faces a not-so nervous wait to see if he has won again.

Quest crossed the finish line at 2pm this afternoon, four and a half hours after Wild Oats XI, nearly twice as long in length, had taken line honours.

"A fantastic sleigh ride," is how Steel described his 16th Sydney to Hobart race as he led Quest’s two TP52 sisterships, Syd Fischer’s Ragamuffin and Alan Whiteley’s Cougar II across the line by 12 minutes and 46 minutes respectively.

"It looks like we could do quite well on handicap, now we've just got to wait for
the big result."

"This Rolex Sydney Hobart was very kind to us, probably the easiest race I've
done but there were parts you wished you were somewhere else," he said.

"We've got so much experience on the boat, around 160 Hobarts between us
and we've got a very good yacht, one of the leading TP52s in Australia."

Only Secret Mens Business 3, Pale Ale Rager and Ragtime can cause an unlikely upset over Quest, leaving Steel with a relaxing wait for them to finish.