The Sydney to Hobart line honours battle could go down to the wire, with the two leading supermaxi yachts fighting a tight duel across Bass Strait.
Sydney to Hobart heavyweights Master Lock Comanche and LawConnect are in a neck-and-neck battle for the lead as more yachts join the retirement list amid “uncomfortable” conditions.
Comanche was a mere four nautical miles ahead of its rival supermaxi at 3pm on Saturday, heading the fleet across Bass Strait in the race’s 80th edition.
Supermaxi Wild Thing 100, considered a line honours long shot pre-race, pulled out in the early hours of Saturday following rigging issues off the NSW South Coast.
The list of race retirements grew from three yachts on Friday to 11 by Saturday afternoon, including previous division winner Moneypenny which lost its life raft overboard.
LawConnect, aiming for a third line honours win in a row, was forced to contend with a broken mainsheet and halyard on the first night of sailing.
“It’s been a tough night, we had a lot of breakages,” LawConnect skipper Christian Beck told AAP. “It’s been quite difficult. We’re still together, we’re still in the race.”
Beck was bracing for tough sailing in “worse” conditions later on Saturday.
LawConnect crew member Chris Nicholson said it had been a “bit of a horror show” after the yacht lost its wind instruments at the beginning of the event.
“[We were] looking forward to daylight so we could see the sails again,” he said.
An afternoon line honours finish on Sunday is on the cards, well behind last year’s 2.35am arrival and the race record of one day, nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds set in 2017.
Comanche, skippered by Matt Allan, was seeking redemption after being forced to retire with significant mainsail damage in 2024.
Supermaxi SHK Scallywag and American 88-footer Lucky were close behind in third and fourth respectively, with NSW’s Palm Beach XI a touch further back.
Wild Thing’s withdrawal was gutting for veteran skipper Grant Wharington, who oversaw significant upgrades to her this year.
Wild Thing 100 is forced to retire from the 2025 Sydney to Hobart yacht race. Photograph: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images
Wild Thing was third on line honours in the deadly 2024 Sydney to Hobart, even with a smaller rig than usual for a 100ft supermaxi, and had a larger one installed in May.
“Very disappointing, this morning about 3.30 we were trying to repair a problem with the rudder,” Wharington said.
“We got that fixed but we just weren’t happy with the set-up. We kept breaking runner tails and had some other rigging issues as well.
“Conditions were pretty testing and we lost quite a lot of time in trying to fix those problems so we decided it was prudent to pull out.
“It’s a tough race, isn’t it? It’s something that pushes the limits of technology and people’s endurance. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be our year.”
LawConnect was first out of the Sydney Heads on Boxing Day but surrendered her lead after tacking out to sea after 6pm.
The fleet sailed upwind in tops of 25 knots on the first night with seas of 2-3 metres.
“It’s really uncomfortable and tough on the body with confused big seas,” Jo Clarke, crew member aboard cruiser Rum Bucket, said. “Lots of seasickness but people are starting to recover.”
Conditions were nowhere near as treacherous as last year’s first night, when two sailors were killed in violent storms.
Awen retired with a broken forestay around 5.30am on Saturday, before engine issues left Trouble & Strife as the sixth boat to pull out about an hour later.
Two further yachts, Troubadour and Roaring Forty, retired with crew members suffering seasickness.
