Wild Oats XI wins third Sydney to Hobart

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian maxi Wild Oats XI became the second yacht in the 63-year history of the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race to take line honours for three successive years on Friday.

The hi-tech 30m carbon-fiber yacht lived up to its pre-race favoritism, leading out of Sydney Harbour on December 26 and all the way down the Australian east coast to the island state of Tasmania.

The Mike Richards-skippered yacht crossed the finish line on the Derwent River at 10:24 a.m. (2324 GMT) to match the record set by Claude Plowman's Morna from 1946-48.

"We came here to do a job and that was to claim the treble," Richards told the race Web site (rolexsydneyhobart.com).

"We were challenged, we were chased and we were constantly looking over our shoulders but we are here now and it's time to celebrate."

British maxi City Index Leopard, which won the 2007 Fastnet Race, finished about 30 minutes later after chasing Wild Oats XI all the way in the 628-nautical mile blue water classic.

In 2005, Wild Oats became the first yacht in 60 years to win the triple honours of race record as well as line and handicap honours. Light winds on Thursday ruined any chances it had of breaking the one day, 18 hours, 40 minutes and 10 second record.

The yacht was dismasted while racing off Sardinia in September and only relaunched earlier this month.

Australian maxi Skandia, which took line honours in the 2003 race and had been running third, broke its mast overnight about 150 miles from the finish line.

The crew had set up a jury rig and was limping towards the finish, though it has been overtaken by Ichi Ban and handicap leader Rosebud.

All three are expected to finish later on Friday, with the next batch of yachts not expected until the early hours of Saturday.

While almost all of the fleet is expected to have completed the race by December 31, the last-placed yacht, Britain's Capriccio of Rhu, is not expected into Hobart until January 4.

(Reporting by Greg Stutchbury in Melbourne; Editing by John O'Brien)