John Winning feeling wistful as Comanche returns to its Singaporean owners

There will be a tinge of sadness for John Winning when he hands back Comanche to its Singapore owners after his high-profile Sydney-Hobart campaign over the past two years.

Andoo Comanche leads over eventual race winner LawConnect in the Derwent River during the 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart yacht race. Picture: Chris Kidd

There will be a tinge of sadness for John Winning when he hands back Comanche to its Singaporean owners after his high-profile Sydney-Hobart campaign over the past two years.

Winning’s first shot at the title on the 100-foot supermaxi landed him the Illingworth Trophy for line honours last summer, followed by second place to LawConnect in the thriller in the 78th edition of the blue water classic.

Rated as the fastest monohull yacht on the planet, Comanche broke the world 24-hour sailing record, Trans-Pacific record, win the Fastnet race, and holds the Sydney-Hobart record as well as winning line honours four times.

Winning, a Sydney-based appliance businessman, rates himself as a 101 per cent chance to take part in the race next summer but the 18-foot skiff sailor has no regrets about his ocean-racing foray aboard the red-hulled sea monster.

“It will be a bit sad to give it back but balanced with happiness that I’ve made life-long friends,” Winning said.

Comanche skipper John Winning after claiming second in the Sydney-Hobart yacht race. Picture James Bresnehan

“The crew were amazing – some I knew before and some I didn’t, and now we’re all best mates from across the globe.”

Comanche set the Sydney-Hobart record under previous skipper Jim Cooney in 2017, clocking 1d 9h15m24s.

Comanche’s time this year was 1d19h4m49s – 51 seconds behind LawConnect – but Winning strongly believes either of them could have set a new mark had they not been stuck in freak micro weather cell off the NSW Coast on day two.

“It was like we were sitting inside a tornado with no wind in the centre and every time we got to the edge a 48-knot wind would spin us around and spit us back into the middle of it,” Winning said.

Eventual race winner LawConnect passes 2nd place Andoo Comanche in the Derwent River during the 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart yacht race. Picture: Chris Kidd

“We could not get out of it for 10 hours. It was one of the worst nights of sailing I’ve ever had.

“I’m not saying we would have beaten LawConnect but if we hadn’t got stuck there the record would have been broken by hours – by one of us.”

Comanche entered the final stages on the Derwent ahead of LawConnect, only to be pipped at the post.

“We knew it was going to be close,” Winning said.

“It was 51 seconds in the end and 49 seconds of that was us yelling ‘nooooo’.

“We could have made it just 10 seconds in the end but once they crossed the line we forgot to finish – I think my dad yelled out ‘we still haven’t finished’.

“But the next boat was six hours behind so it was ‘who cares’.”

Originally published as John Winning feeling wistful as Comanche returns to its Singaporean owners