Sydney to Hobart yacht race: LawConnect wins Sydney to Hobart line honours after two-way river battle
Topic: Sailing
In a finish for the ages, LawConnect has sensationally overtaken Andoo Comanche in the final moments to snatch line honours in the 2023 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.
Andoo Comanche held the lead a lot more comfortably when rounding the Tasman Peninsula and entering the River Derwent for the final sprint, but LawConnect started to rapidly gain on them.
LawConnect and Andoo Comanche racing to the finish line. ( ABC News: Maren Preuss )
The two crews could wave to each other, if they wanted to. ( ABC News: Maren Preuss )
The speedier LawConnect closed several nautical miles between them along the river until they were neck and neck to a nail-biting finish.
LawConnect's finish time in the end was 1 day, 19 hours, 3 minutes and 58 seconds. Andoo Comanche's was just 51 seconds behind.
If you're new to the Sydney to Hobart race, we've got a shortcut guide at the bottom of the story. Tap the link below to get the gist of the race: Explained: Common Sydney to Hobart yacht race questions
The LawConnect crew celebrate their win. ( ABC News: Maren Preuss )
LawConnect owner Christian Beck described their dramatic win as a dream come true.
"I can't believe that result. Honestly, it's a dream come true," he said.
"I never thought it was possible, actually."
Despite trailing by a significant margin as they passed the Iron Pot on the final approach, LawConnect had the advantage of being able to watch Andoo Comanche to see where the slow spots were.
LawConnect entered with a protest flag flying, after being on standby for about 30 minutes during the race due to concerns Andoo Comanche was in distress, but a formal protest was not lodged.
There was also some interference from a spectator boat in the final moments, with a catamaran passing close to Andoo Comanche and the crew being seen yelling and gesturing.
Tasmania Police said this afternoon action would be taken against a 57-year-old man for "allegedly breaching" marine and safety regulations.
"The man was skippering a private vessel when it reportedly encroached into the exclusion zone set by Marine and Safety Tasmania," it said in a statement.
The offence carries a fine of up to $3,900.
Sailing master Tony Mutter said spectator boats were something the competitors had to deal with.
"It's pretty fair that everyone had troubles with the spectator boats. That's part of it when it's so busy," he said.
Andoo Comanche skipper John Winning Jr said they only had themselves to blame for the last-minute loss.
LawConnect is racing to the Sydney to Hobart finish line. ( ABC News: Megan Whitfield )
"We should have been miles ahead of them with our boat," he said.
"The conditions suited us, I think they just outsailed us."
First local boat home
URM Group has claimed third place line honours, crossing the finish line at 3:07pm to record a race time of 2 days, 2 hours, 7 minutes and 19 seconds.
The first Tasmanian yacht to finish, Alive, crossed the line almost 12 minutes later.
Alive is currently in first place to win overall handicap honours.
Four yachts have now docked at Kings Pier, with Moneypenny and Wild Thing 100 expected to be the next to arrive.
Live Moment
Join us for the finish of the 2023 Sydney to Hobart yacht race.
Possible problem?
In the final moments, a catamaran appeared to cut in front of Andoo Comanche as the boat turned into the finish.
Eyewitness accounts say crew on Comanche were yelling at the catamaran to move as they tried to turn.
Could this make for an official race protest? We'll have to see.
After leading all the way into the River Derwent, Andoo Comanche won't make it back-to-back Line Honours wins. LawConnect snatched it away from them at the last moment!
How incredible. These boats set off together three days ago and it came down to mere seconds to the finish.
Andoo Comanche was in the lead when it approached the Tasman Peninsula this morning. ( Supplied: Andrea Francolini )
It has been a testing 78th edition of the Sydney to Hobart, with a man overboard, stormy seas, damaged yachts and rapid wind changes.
Eleven boats have retired, including race favourite SHK Scallywag, which broke its bow sprit on the first day.
The skipper of two-handed Rum Rebellion, Shane Connelly, was sent overboard at 6pm on Boxing Day after encountering rapid wind changes off the coast between Cronulla and Wollongong.
Two-handed Currawong also retired, after facing various issues in rough conditions off New South Wales.
Owner Kathy Veel said they were disappointed but believed they made the right decision.
"Last night was quite difficult and there was a lot more of that ahead of us in a long race," she said.
They were the last boat to cross the finishing line at last year's event, making a well-received arrival in Hobart at midnight on New Year's Eve.
Your questions answered
Here are the answers to some of the most common questions.
Who won Sydney to Hobart 2023?
When we talk about the Sydney to Hobart race, there are two major "winners":
- Line honours: This is the order in which boats cross the finish line.
- Overall winners: The order of winners once race times have been calculated to take into account the differences between boats (handicaps). This is because the boats aren't exactly the same — adjustments have to be made for things like the weight and length of the boat.
Line honours will always go to the biggest, fastest yachts (supermaxis) but is likely one of the smaller vessels will be crowned the overall winner (which is seen as the more prestigious of the two prizes).
Here's the line honours as of Thursday morning:
- Andoo Comanche
The difference between the two was just 51 seconds.
But the overall winner won't be decided for days.
Until then, we can only wait.
However, before the race, there were a few main contenders for the overall title – here they are listed in alphabetical order:
- SHK Scallywag
Who owns LawConnect?
Christen Beck.
Mr Beck is the founder of a legal software company, which he created off the back of building a system for his father's legal firm in the 90s.
In 2017, he was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year and in 2018, he was ranked 99th on the Financial Review's Rich List .
Who owns Andoo Comanche?
John 'Herman' Winning Jnr.
He's the chief executive of Winning Appliances, a company started by his great grandfather in 1906.
Mr Winning Jnr took over the role from his father in 2011.
How far is the Sydney to Hobart distance?
It's a 628-nautical-mile course – that's 1,163 kilometres .
Starting at Sydney Harbour, the course runs down the south-east coast of Australia, across the Bass Strait before turning into the Derwent River to finish in Hobart.
It usually takes about 48 hours for the first boat to cross the finish line.
What is a nautical mile?
A nautical mile is the equivalent to 1.852 kilometres .
It's an internationally used standardised term used for maritime navigation, based on the Earth's latitude and longitude coordinates.
A nautical mile is the equivalent of one minute of latitude.
Because of this, a nautical mile is slightly longer than land mile.
How many boats are in the Sydney to Hobart race?
There's 103 this year.
What is the prize for Sydney to Hobart?
There's no prize money – just trophies. Here's the two main ones:
- JH Illingworth Challenge Cup: This is for the line honours winner – which is the first boat to cross the finish line.
- Tattersalls Cup: This goes to the overall winner.
What's the Sydney to Hobart record?
The line honours record is 1 day, 9 hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds .
It was set in 2017 by LDV Comanche.
If you've got even more questions, go read out Sydney to Hobart explainer or tap the link below to jump back to the top of the story.
Take me back to the top to read the recap
- More Sports
‘All hell broke loose’: LawConnect wins Sydney to Hobart in wild finish
The Sydney to Hobart has witnessed one of the great race’s craziest finishes with high drama unfolding on Thursday morning.
LawConnect has produced one of the great comebacks to win line honours in the 78th Sydney to Hobart.
Skipper Christian Beck’s crew looked to have been blown away by rival Andoo Comanche after they entered the Derwent River within sight of each other.
However, it was LawConnect that mastered the flat Derwent conditions to storm home to win by just 11 seconds.
After 628-nautical miles and more than 19 hours of racing, there were just metres separating the pair as LawConnect crossed the line with a time of 19 hours, three minutes and 58 seconds.
LawConnect took the lead at about 7.55am (AEDT) before Andoo Comanche surged back to the lead with the finish line in sight.
It took a final masterstroke move from LawConnect’s Chris Nicholson to discover the wind pocket that picked them up past their rivals and over the finish line moments later at 8am (AEDT).
“That’s so, so good,” Nicholson said. “What a race. It’s unbelievable.”
There was late drama when a spectator craft came close to Andoo Comanche in the final seconds of the race, foxsports.com.au reports .
A catamaran moved narrowly past the front of Andoo Comanche as it prepared for its final jibe, with Andoo Comanche sailors heard yelling and gesturing at the catamaran to get out of the way.
No protest has been lodged, and vision appears to show Andoo Comanche was marginally behind her rival at the time.
LawConnect’s sailing master Tony Mutter said: “It’s pretty fair that everyone had troubles with the spectator boats. That’s part of it, when it’s so busy.”
Andoo Comanche and LawConnect had left the rest of the fleet in their wake with the battle for third position unfolding 90 nautical miles behind them.
URM Group currently leads Alive and Moneypenny in the race for third – still more than 70 nautical miles away from Constitution Dock.
Earlier, it appeared a technical problem was going to cost LawConnect a famous win.
LawConnect’s Tony Mutter described the drama on the first night when his yacht lost a main sail in the wild weather, News Corp first reported.
“The first day went OK through the daylight hours, and when night time came all hell broke loose because there was plenty on,” he said.
There have now been 11 retirements from the fleet of 103 yachts – but there are fears the number will grow dramatically on Thursday when the conditions are set to take a turn for the worse across Bass Straight.
The problems are with the rest of the fleet, with only a handful of boats having actually cleared Bass Strait so far.
“There could easily be 30 retirements by tomorrow night,’’ meteorologist Roger Badham told News Corp late on Wednesday.
“There’s far worse to come for them. It’s not a nice place to be, Bass Strait tomorrow (Thursday). It just gets increasingly bad all day.’’
Scallywag was the first big casualty of the race after the Hong Kong-based sailing team’s bow sprit – which carries the yachts biggest sails – broke just hours into the race.
Scallywag had been the early leader and was in a fight with Andoo Comanche and LawConnect before it was forced to abandon its campaign.
Two more vessels were forced to retire in the early hours of Wednesday morning with Sticky and Maritimo 52 pulling out.
Sticky was forced to pull out with electrical damage, while Maritimo 52 had damage to rigging.
Small yacht Rum Rebellion was hit by a burst of water between Cronulla and Wollongong sending the boat on its side.
Shane Connelly was taken overboard and was a few metres from the boat but was able to swim back to it.
“We are both well and the main thing is our systems and drills all worked well,’’ he told News Corp.
As first reported by News Corp , Arcadia on Tuesday returned to Sydney with a torn mainsail and Rum Rebellion also turned back due to an unspecified reason.
Reigning champions Andoo Comanche and LawConnect are continuing to battle for line honours as they head towards Bass Straight.
Tuesday’s retirement was a gut-punch for the Scallywag crew which had already declared the 2023 Sydney to Hobart would be its last.
News Corp reported skipper David Witt and his crew were “devastated”. The vessel has returned safely back to Sydney.
The team earlier confirmed their sad news via its social media channels.
RETIREMENTS IN THE 2023 SYDNEY TO HOBART
Arcadia: Retired – mainsail damage
Currawong (TH): Retired – electrical issues
Maritimo 52: Retired – rigging damage
Pacman (TH): Retired – runner damage
Rum Rebellion (TH): Retired – minor injury
SHK Scallywag: Retired – broken bowsprit
Sticky: Retired – electrical damage
Georgia Express: Retired – rigging issues
Millennium Falcon: Retired – crew illness
Tumbleweed (TH): Retired – crew illness
Luna Blue: Retired – damaged equipment
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