THE co-owner and skipper of Sydney to Hobart favourite Maximus was close to tears yesterday when a severely damaged keel forced him to withdraw the Kiwi super-maxi from the bluewater classic.

Bill Buckley had no choice but to pull the 30-metre yacht out of the race immediately upon inspecting the damaged keel when the boat was lifted onto a dry dock at Woolwich yesterday afternoon.

But as gut-wrenching as the decision was, Buckley also realised how perilously close he and the seven-member crew, who were delivering the boat from Auckland to Sydney for the race, had been to ending up overboard in the Tasman Sea on Sunday morning.
.. snip ..