The supermaxis Andoo Comanche and LawConnect are in a two-way battle for Sydney to Hobart line honours as more unpredictable weather looms for a storm-weary fleet.
The reigning line honours champion Comanche held a six-nautical-mile lead over fellow 100-footer LawConnect as the pair tracked off Tasmania’s east coast late on Wednesday afternoon.
LawConnect navigator Chris Lewis stated the crew had skilled “a little bit of everything” on Boxing Day evening.
“The wildest (weather) was literally 180-degree wind shifts,” he stated in a video posted on the yacht’s Facebook.
“It’s been pretty wild.”
The race casualty record grew to 11 on Wednesday after the Rum Rebellion skipper Shane Connelly was briefly thrown overboard off the NSW coast.
Connelly and crewmate Tony Sutton retired on Tuesday evening after considerations the skipper might have suffered concussion.
Connelly stated a “micro-burst” of wind hit his two-handed yacht throughout a ferocious storm, throwing him off the port facet.
He managed to connect his tether and was lifted again on board as the yacht righted.
Comanche and LawConnect, runner-up on the previous three Sydney to Hobart occasions, have each had turns in the lead for the reason that duo crossed Bass Strait.
Cruising Yacht Club of Australia commodore Arthur Lane stated it was a two-horse race and a probable post-sunrise end – a while wanting Comanche’s report of sooner or later, 9 hours, quarter-hour and 24 seconds set in 2017.
“They are watching each other very, very carefully,” he stated.
“Each is tweaking and doing all the little adjustments needed. They know each other’s boats so well.”
Lane stated lots of unease remained in regards to the weather forecast, with a stiff breeze constructing off Australia’s south-east.
A powerful wind warning has been issued for waters off Tasmania’s east coast on Thursday.
The in-form URM Group, a contender for total honours which is set on handicap, was more than 100 nautical miles behind the main supermaxis in third place regardless of struggling jib injury and dropping her code zero spinnaker.
The navigator Alice Parker stated the wind and rain had been inconsistent.
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“I had a good few moments with a bucket between my legs but otherwise everyone is fighting fit and in good spirits,” she said.
“We’re all a bit wet and have been sliding around.”
Wild Thing 100, the race’s third remaining supermaxi, was further afield in sixth position.
Fellow supermaxi, and one of many pre-race favourites, SHK Scallywag sensationally withdrew on Boxing Day night after struggling a damaged bow sprit.
Maritimo 52, one in every of eight TP52s beginning the race, was an early withdrawal on Wednesday after breaking a becoming on her forestay and ripping her mainsail.
Veteran Sydney to Hobart competitor and crew member Peter Jones stated there had been as a lot lightning as he’d ever seen.
“We’re shattered,” Jones stated.
“We were trying to work a million ways around it, but at best we were going to be at 50 per cent.”
The common two-hander Currawong, the race’s equal-smallest boat, was compelled to limp again to Sydney after reporting a number of points.
The co-skippers Kathy Veel and Bridget Canham have been final yr the race’s first all-female two-handed entry and have been greeted by 1000’s of New Year’s Eve revellers once they arrived at Hobart’s Constitution Dock.
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