Wild Oats XI is a state-of-the-art maxi yacht designed by Reichel/Pugh and built by Mcconaghy Boats, five months after her near-sistership Alfa Romeo II, from which she borrowed extensively.

She is distinctively narrow with a 5.1 m (17 ft) beam and originally featured "canting ballast twin foil" appendages enabling her to carry a large sail plan without compromising stability.

In the 2008 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, Wild Oats XI broke the record, winning an unprecedented fourth consecutive line honours.

Arriving at 9:52 pm, the yacht sailed into Sullivans Cove to rapturous applause by a large crowd gathered on the docks, who were appreciative of her achieving her 'double' despite being battered in heavy seas.

[7] The 2007 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race saw Wild Oats XI equal the 59-year-old record of Morna, by winning a hat-trick of line honours titles.

[9] Wild Oats XI won line honours for the fifth time in the 2010 race, although the yacht's crew faced a protest against their win which could have resulted in disqualification.

[16] In 2017, Wild Oats XI finished the race in the shortest time period; however, the international jury subsequently held that she had fouled Comanche breaking Rules 10 and 13.

After arguably the best start of the maxis, Wild Oats led the fleet until essentially coming to a stop just short of the first buoy, allowing Black Jack to slip past.

Heading out furthest to the East, Wild Oats had a short lived advantage, overtaking then race leader Comanche early on the morning of Day 2.

However, things swayed to Wild Oats' advantage on the morning of Day 3, when she overtook Comanche and Black Jack rounding Port Arthur, and led for the rest of the race, taking out a several-mile lead.

Despite this redemption, Black Jack's owner, Peter Harburg, suggested that Wild Oats had violated race rules when their Automatic Identification System (AIS) was allegedly turned off to prevent other boats identifying her location.