Super-maxis Andoo Comanche and LawConnect yesterday dueled for the lead as the pair of 100-foot (30.5m) yachts separated themselves from the rest of the Sydney to Hobart fleet.
Wild weather on the first night ended any hopes of a race record, and eight of 103 starting boats had withdrawn 24 hours into the race.
Reigning line honors champion Comanche was exchanging the lead with LawConnect, runner-up at the past three events, as the pair crossed Bass Strait.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We’ve had a little bit of everything. The wildest [weather] was literally 180-degree wind shifts,” LawConnect navigator Chris Lewis said in a video on social media.
Late yesterday afternoon, Comanche led LawConnect by about 10 nautical miles (18.52km) ahead of their expected overnight finish of the 628 nautical mile race at Constitution Dock in the Tasmanian state capital of Hobart.
Shane Connelly, skipper of two-handed yacht Rum Rebellion which retired on Tuesday night, said that he was briefly thrown overboard during a storm.
Connelly said a “micro-burst” of wind hit his yacht during a ferocious storm, throwing him off the port side. He managed to attach his tether and was lifted back on board as the yacht righted.
The skipper said he and crewmate Tony Sutton decided to retire as they were concerned he might have concussion.
“The safety drills and systems all worked and we could sort ourselves out,” he said.
Comanche and LawConnect have been clear front-runners since just out of Sydney Harbour. The pair began the trip down the New South Wales south coast at a fast clip, but have fallen off the pace of the race record of one day, nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds, set by Comanche in 2017.
“The race record is no chance,” said veteran sailor Peter Shipway, who has won the Sydney to Hobart twice on handicap and five times on line honors.
“They’d have to finish by quarter-past 10 tonight, and they are still not even halfway,” Shipway said. “We’re probably at least 24 hours, maybe 30 hours, from a finish. It could be a daylight finish.”
The highest-profile retirement has been SHK Scallywag, one of four 100-foot super-maxis jostling for line honors, which sustained a broken bow sprit and withdrew on the first evening of the race.
LawConnect was the first yacht out of the harbor.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their