LawConnect beats Andoo Comanche in thrilling finish to win 2023 Sydney to Hobart yacht race
LawConnect has pulled off one of the great sporting comebacks to snatch Sydney to Hobart line honours from Andoo Comanche — and skipper Christian Beck was left stunned.
NSW
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Christian Beck’s LawConnect has pulled off one of the great comebacks of world sport, snatching the line honours win in the Sydney to Hobart from defending champion Andoo Comanche in an absolute thriller on an almost windless Derwent River.
Interestingly LawConnect was flying a protest flag when she crossed but it is unknown who she is protesting or why.
In a nerve-racking finish the 100-footers came from behind to glide past John Winning Junior and his team just before the finish line.
With former Olympic sailor and round the world gun Chris Nicholson calling the tactics, the yacht caused a major upset with the victory after finishing runner-up in the last three Sydney to Hobart races.
“That’s so, so good,” Nicholson said.
“What a race. It’s unbelievable.”
The crew then threw owner Beck into the water as is traditionally done at the end of every Sydney To Hobart.
It was a finish that will be long remembered with the pair going hammer-and-tong against each other almost from the start.
The official time for LawConnect for the 628-nautical mile course was one day 19 hours three minutes and 58 seconds.
Andoo Comanche finished after one day, 19 hours, four minutes and 49 seconds at sea.
“I can’t believe that result. It’s a dream come true,’’ said LawConnect skipper Christian Beck who has described his yacht as a “s*** box” compared to Andoo Comanche.
“I never thought it was possible actually.
“The lead changed several times and they took the lead pretty close to the line and I thought there was no way we could get it back.
“A wind gust came round and miraculously it happened so it was a complete surprise.’’
Beck was asked if winning his first race was sweeter because of his past results.
“I came 24, fourth, then three times second. It does make you appreciate it more,’’ said Beck, who was also asked if anyone wanted to buy his boat now it had finally won the Sydney to Hobart.
“Do you want to buy it? It’s probably a good afternoon to sell it when it beats Comanche.
“It was the highlight of her career for sure.’’
While the leaders made it to Hobart in quick time, the majority of the fleet will be slowed by hours of upwind sailing now on the menu.
But also expected to make it into Hobart today are overall handicap contenders Alive, URM and Moneypenny. The trio are engrossed in a fierce battle for third place — and potentially the overall handicap victory.
See how all the action in this year’s Sydney to Hobart unfolded below
7.10AM: ANDOO COMANCHE AHEAD AS THRILLING FINISH LOOMS
Andoo Comanche is heading for victory in the 78th Sydney to Hobart, racing on the Derwent River to the finish line with an expected arrival as early as 7.30am.
The John Winning Junior-skippered yacht will finish well outside the race record but will defend the line honours crown she won a year ago.
It could well be the final time Andoo Comanche races in Australia with Winning’s lease on the supermaxi running out.
Andoo Comanche managed to shrug off the close attention of LawConnect early this morning to open up what now appears to be a race-winning gap as she raced on the Derwent River to the finish on a spectacular morning in Hobart.
Daylight finishes are rare in Hobart with a crowd already gathered on Constitution Dock to welcome in the race leaders.
5.05AM: BATTLE GOES DOWN THE WIRE
The 78th Sydney to Hobart is set to be decided on the fickle Derwent River this morning with Andoo Comanche and LawConnect engaged in an extraordinary and nailbiting battle.
The pair rounded Tasman Island just after 4am and gave an ETA of around 8am. But this could change if the pair find a little more pressure on the Derwent River where the finish line is just off Battery Point.
The two 100 footers have been engaged in a close and thrilling battle throughout the night within sight of each other and with crews working overtime to gain a winning edge.
Incredibly, after more than 600 nautical miles of racing in various conditions, including violent thunderstorms and rain squalls, the pair were within cooee of each other on the final approach to the finish line.
URM, Moneypenny and Alive were trailing the two supermaxis by around 90 nautical miles but also engaged in a titanic battle for third place.
9:00PM: SYDNEY TO HOBART COMES DOWN TO TWO
Andoo Comanche and LawConnect are tipped for an early morning battle on the Derwent River to determine the winner of the 78th Sydney to Hobart.
The race turned into a two-boat battle following the retirement of Scallywag with damage on the first day.
But few expected the close combat of the pair as they raced across Bass Strait and down the east coast of Tasmania to the finish.
While the pair were romping home late Wednesday, the rest of the fleet were bracing for a torrid time at sea on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and potentially even until Sunday.
Mass retirements in the fleet are being tipped as the weather intensifies for the majority of the fleet already making slow progress to Hobart.
“The could easily be 30 retirements by tomorrow night,’’ predicted metrologist Roger Badham 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.’’
12.20PM: ‘IT’S BEEN PRETTY WILD’
What is life like on a boat in the Sydney to Hobart?
Well, even on one of the Supermaxis it is ‘as wet as can be’ after nearly 24 hours of battling horror conditions.
Chris Lewis, the onboard navigator of LawConnect, shed some light on the conditions in a short video that set the scene perfectly.
With rain and seawater dripping from his clothes, he explained how his crew is faring.
“Everybody’s pretty pruny right now. As wet as can be,” Lewis said.
“We’ve had a little bit of everything. The wildest was literally 180-degree wind shifts. It’s been pretty wild.”
LawConnect has been neck and neck with current leader Andoo Comanche throughout the evening - with the two the clear frontrunners for overall line honours.
“We were playing cat and mouse all night long," Lewis said.
11.30AM: SKIPPER SPEAKS OF ‘MAN OVERBOARD’ RETIREMENT
One of the first retirements from the Sydney to Hobart has spoken about a drama at sea which saw his little yacht knocked flat on its side and him being flung in the water in a man overboard incident.
Shane Connelly from Rum Rebellion and crewmate Graeme Dunlop were hit by a “micro burst of wind’’ between Cronulla and Wollongong five hours after the race start.
Connelly, who had unclipped briefly to move up the boat after seeing a ferocious storm behind, found himself about 2m from the boat but was able to swim back to it.
In a testament to their adherence to safety and drills prior to the race, Connelly said their life jackets and safety systems all worked perfectly and they were back on the boat in a prompt fashion but then opted to retire.
“We are both well and the main thing is our systems and drills all worked well,’’ said Connelly, who had bruising on his arm and a suspected concussion.
Some of the strictest safety rules in world sailing were introduced into the Sydney to Hobart in the wake of the deadly 1998 race which claimed six lives..
10:44AM: ‘GUTTED’ SCALLYWAG SKIPPER
As Georgia Express became the eighth retirement in the stormy Sydney to Hobart with rigging issues, Scallywag skipper David Witt has spoken of the devastation of he and his crew when their bow sprit broke into three pieces just five hours after the start.
“We are gutted,’’ Witt said after he and his crew arrived in Sydney early this morning after more than 10 hours of motoring upwind.
“This was looking to be a good race for us.
“I’ve never heard the boat so silent after it happened. Everyone is devastated.’’
In a “spooky coincidence”, Witt was on a yacht where the bow sprit exploded into pieces back in 2018, also ending his Sydney to Hobart campaign.
“Same place in almost identical conditions. How spooky is that,’’ he said.
8.37AM SIXTH CASUALTY
The smallest yacht in the Sydney to Hobart fleet has become its sixth casualty with the two-hander Currawong retiring from the race after a torrid and stormy night
Currawong was the last to arrive in Hobart at the end of the 2022 event, arriving just before New Year’s Eve.
The 30-footer is now on her way back to Sydney with her reason for retirement unknown.
This now leaves 97 yachts still racing and 16 in the two-handed division following the earlier retirement of Rum Rebellion on the first afternoon
8:15AM RIPPED AND SHREDDED RETIREMENT
LawConnect sailing master Ty Oxley said he and crew mates were happy with their first night at sea despite the testing conditions – and rain and thunderstorms.
“It was a mix bag. Lots of squalls and wind shifts,” he said.
“Plenty of rain but some great reaching as well.”
Not enjoying it so much were the crew on Maritimo, which was forced to retire with rig and boat damage.
“The fitting on the deck for the forestay shredded, which ripped the No. 4 headsail and the mainsail. We tried to work a million ways around it, but we would have been sailing at 50 per cent. We are shattered,” said crewman Peter Jones.
“The weather (was) shocking overnight. We had as much lightning as I’ve ever seen.
The sou-west front came through, we saw high 20s to early 30s (knots) and had solid rain for three hours.”
5:30AM TWO RETIREMENTS ON FIRST NIGHT
The Sydney yacht Sticky and Queensland entry Maritimo 52 joined the retirement list on the first night of the Sydney to Hobart as John ‘Herman’ Winning’s Andoo Comanche and Christian Beck’s LawConnect led the fleet down the New South Wales coast early this morning.
Both frontrunners appeared unscathed after a night of fast conditions – just not fast enough to put them on record pace.
Just before 6am this morning, they were on the approach to Bass Strait but behind the record run of LDV Comanche back in 2017 of one day, nine hours and 15 minutes.
Andoo Comanche was just ahead of Christian Beck’s LawConnect, which was being followed by the former overall winner Alive from Tasmania, the Sydney pair URM and Moneypenny and the revamped Wild Thing from Queensland which has been converted from an 80 footer to a 100 footer for the 78th Sydney to Hobart.
Richard Harris’ Cookson 50 Sticky, with electrical damage, and the Michael Spies skippered Maritimo 52, with rigging damage, joined Scallywag, Rum Rebellion and Arcadia as race retirements.
There are now 98 yachts, still heading to Hobart, including 17 two handers and three 100-footers.
At the rear of the fleet near Wollongong was the New Zealand yacht Silver Fern and the two-hander Sylph.
Scallywag skipper David Witt and his devastated crew arrived back in Sydney this morning after snapping their bow sprit just hours after the start of the race on Boxing Day.
All crew were safe and well but the boat was unable to sail on in the race without the bow sprit, which carries the yachts biggest sails.
Scallywag was doing her last Sydney to Hobart for at least a few years as she will be shipped to Europe for a big campaign of overseas racing in the New Year.
7.45PM FIRST CASUALTY OF THE SYDNEY TO HOBART IS A FAVOURITE
David Witt and his crew on Scallywag are out of the Sydney to Hobart with the skipper contacting us directly to deliver the bad news.
Witt said the bow sprit of the 100-footer broke early evening as the yacht was flying down the NSW coast.
It’s a bitter blow for the team who were considered a major contender to claim line honours this year.
“We’re out,’’ Witt said, sending a photo of the damage aboard his yacht.
Scallywag was vying for the lead at the time disaster struck.
Earlier, she had been involved in a non-contact altercation with Andoo Comanche and had done two 360 penalty turns to exonerate herself.
Soon after, it was confirmed the yacht Arcadia was also heading back to Sydney with a torn mainsail and the two-handed Rum Rebellion is the third race casualty for an unspecified reason.
4:55PM: SUPERMAXI TRIO “TRUCKING’’
The supermaxi trio of LawConnect, Andoo Comanche and Scallywag were “trucking’’ down the NSW coast at high speed and just behind the race record of LDV Comanche set back in 2017.
The trio had hooked into good breeze and were sailing at speed.
‘We are ripping along doing about 20 knots in a nor’easter,’’ said LawConnect boat captain Ty Oxley.
Oxley said their sail drama at the start was due to a snapped furling line which they have managed to repair.
“We have managed to come out of that OK actually,’’ he said.
Sam Fay on Andoo Comanche said they could see LawConnect and Scallywag off their boat.
“We are trucking along’’ he said. “All is good.’’
2.30PM: SCALLYWAG CONFIRMS PENALTY
Skipper David Witt has confirmed he has done two 360 degree penalty turns to exonerate Scallywag from a potential issue at race end arising from close combat with arch rivals Andoo Comanche just after the start of the Sydney to Hobart.
“We just did circles,’’ Witt told The Daily Telegraph around 2.20pm.
Andoo Comanche sailing master Iain Murray indicated he was unhappy with an incident not long after the start where they and Scallywag came close after Scallywag tacked in front of them.
If Scallywag had not done her penalty turns and was found at race end to have infringed in the incident they could have been slugged with a time penalty or worse.
1.30PM: DRAMA AS YACHTS BEGIN CLEARING THE HEADS
Christian Beck’s LawConnect has claimed the honour of being the first yacht to Sydney Heads and out to sea after a thrilling start of the 78th race.
But the yacht then caused confusion when she did a 360 degree turn.
It was unclear at first if this was to sort an issue with the furler or for a penalty.
But soon after the yacht had more issues with their furler in a major early drama for the supermaxi.
Meanwhile Defending champion Andoo Comanche has claimed Scallywag has tacked too close to them in an hair-raising incident soon after the start which will require the later to do a penalty turn or potentially face a protest.
Comanche sailing master Iain Murray said the incident between the pair was a “classic port and starboard” with Scallywag tacking too close to Comanche.
It is unclear if Witt and his team on Scallywag agree or if they will do exonerating turns at a later date.
The drama happened in the opening 20 minutes of the 628nm race.
1.00PM: 78TH SYDNEY TO HOBART UNDERWAY
The 78th Sydney to Hobart has begun under ominous skies, in light winds and with a strange forecast hanging over the heads of the 103 starters who set sail at 1pm in a spectacular sight on Sydney Harbour
The fleet, slammed by a violent downpour before the start, set off in sunshine from four start lines with defending champion Andoo Comanche and her rivals for line honours – Scallywag, LawConnect and Wild Thing – all in pole position.
Spectator fleet numbers were down but anticipation high as the yachts jockeyed for the bets position at the start.
On the front line, that honour went to LawConnect on one end Scallywag on the other end of the line.
12.45PM: FREAK STORM HITS RACE START
A torrential downpour just before the start of the Sydney to Hobart was a preview of what is to come in the 78th race south.
As nervous crews prepared for the action-packed start they were hit by a violent rain cell which also packed some thunder and lightning.
More of the same is forecast for the first afternoon and night at sea.
Yachts left the dock early on Tuesday to check the conditions and do practice runs at the four start lines being used.
This year’s fleet boasts both the line honours and overall winners from a year ago in Andoo Comanche and Celestial.
11AM: SAILORS ‘NERVOUS’ AMID OMINOUS FORECAST
The fleet has started to leave the dock at the CYCA well in advance of the 1pm start with some nervous sailors aboard the 103 starters.
A forecast with everything and anything – including electrical storms, rain, erratic winds and a big bash – has sailors a little nervous and apprehensive.
“You’d think after so many races you wouldn’t be nervous but you are,’’ said Alive navigator Adrienne Cahalan, preparing for her 31st race south as the most capped woman in the race.
“This forecast is a tough one. It will be like a chess game.’’
Prior to the start sailors must parade by race officials to show they have their storm jibs, the smallest sails on a boat and bright orange – aboard.
And they may need them with wild winds forecast for most of the fleet in Bass Strait later in the race, along with 3m seas.
It’s plainer sailing for the line honours contenders who may sidestep almost all of the upwind on the menu for the majority.
The 2023 Sydney to Hobart fleet are on alert for things that go bump in the night and halt boats dead in their track in the light as they prepare for the start of the famous ocean race on Sydney Harbour at 1pm today.
Race management has warned sailors to watch out for sunfish and other obstacle in the water which have over the years included submerged containers, debris, sharks, whales and most commonly sunfish.
These speed bumps have ripped off keels, holed yachts and sheered rudder off, triggering major rescues at sea.
Just a year ago Huntress lost her rudder after hitting a sunfish. DRAMA AT SEA
Numerous line honours contenders, including yachts steered by Grant Wharington, aboard Wild Thing 100 in this race, have had their rudders, daggerboards or keels torn off, ending their races and victory dreams.
“Be conscious there are a lot of wildlife out there,’’ said had of the race committee,’’ Lee Goddard at the race briefing.
“There are large concentrations for this race.’’ RACE GUIDE
SYDNEY TO HOBART FAVOURITES
The two major awards are the line honour win and the overall corrected time victory.
The four supermaxis Andoo Comanche, the defending champion, Scallywag, LawConnect and Wild Thing 100 are the big contenders for the line win.
The overall is still very much in the air but the likes of URM and Monneypenny and an assortment of TP52s are considered movers and shakers in this race. There’s also some hope for the two-handed boats in this class.
The defending overall champion is Celestial owned by Sydney sailor Sam Haynes.
CRAZY RACE
The weather forecast for the Sydney to Hobart is one of the most unusual in years.
Rather than being firmed up days in advance, it has kept sailors guessing right until the last minute – with potentially more changes ahead.
The good news is there isn't any indication of severe weather like the low which exploded over the fleet back in 1998 triggering mass search and rescue missions and claiming the lives of six men.
However the smaller boats in the fleet can still expect a torrid time at sea. WEATHER AND
FAMILY TIES
There are numerous family connections in the 2023 race with one skipper sailing with his daughter for the first time and a sister joining her father and brother at sea.
Grand Wharington’s daughter Georgia is jumping aboard his 100-footer Wild Thing while Jamie Winning-Kermond is aboard for her first race south on Andoo Comanche.
Her brother John “Herman’’ Winning is the skipper an her father John Senior, or Woody as he is known in sailing circles, is back after racing the supermaxi to victory in 2022.
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