Sydney to Hobart yacht race: LawConnect claims line honours, finish order

Under the cover of darkness a multimillion-dollar supermaxi with a “sad and sombre” crew claimed a bittersweet Sydney to Hobart win with muted celebrations and a quiet tribute to the sailors lost.

LawConnect on her way to victory. Picture: Linda Higginson

Under the cover of darkness a multimillion-dollar supermaxi with a “sad and sombre” crew claimed a bittersweet Sydney to Hobart win with muted celebrations and a quiet tribute to the sailors lost.

When LawConnect raced across the finish line on the Derwent River around 2.35am on Saturday the 100-footer owned by Christian Beck - suffering a suspected bout of food poisoning and raced off the boat - her crew just quietly shook hands.

There were no celebratory yells or fist pumps with the crew showing quiet respect for Nick Smith and Roy Quaden, who died at sea in separate incidents during the 628nm race.

“You never know what to say or think but you think about the families and the crews on the boats and even the rescuers, everyone that had anything to do with it’’ said crew boss and Sydney Olympian Chris Nicholson.

Sailing maser Tony Mutter said the crew were shocked and saddened when hearing the news of the tragedies which unfolded during the first night and morning of the race which started on Boxing Day.

Screenshot from aboard the yacht during the racing.

“It absolutely became more sombre,’’ Mutter said.

“We were surprised and obviously sad.’’

“We are very happy to be here, very challenging conditions, probably the toughest race I have ever done.’’

LawConnect finished the race in one day, 13 hours, 35 minutes and 13 seconds, well outside the record of just over one day nine hours she had been hunting for much of the race.

The 100-footer, which beat Andoo Comanche by 51 seconds to win last year, came home in good wind, her sails lit up by camera lights and her crew decked out in full wet weather gear after a torrid Sydney to Hobart.

In the wake of the deaths, Mutter was asked how dangerous the Sydney to Hobart can be.

“That’s a hard one, it’s like asking an F1 driver if he thinks it’s dangerous,’’ he said.

“For me, I have raced six time around the world and I’ve seen way worse conditions than that for weeks on end

“For us it was part of our management of the boat – to finish first you must look after the asset so we were certainly mindful of that

“We pushed when we could and we certainly had to take the foot off the throttle when it was too much.’’

Law Connect returns to the dock after crossing the line to win the 2024 Sydney to Hobart. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty Images

The yacht on its way to victory Picture: Steve Bell/Getty Images

The yacht recorded its win by crossing the Derwent River finish at 2.35am after starting the race at 1pm on Boxing Day.

She had to overcome an early glitch with sails that saw her overtaken by Master Lock Comanche soon after the start but reclaimed the lead when her rival was forced to retire after its giant mainsail split.

“We knew something was up,’’ Mutter said.

“We saw we were closing and figure they had some issue. It’s not easy to gybe on these 100 footers.

“We had no sail damage, zero, total surprise on that. We have a few bent stauncions and a few issues with crew screwups, myself included, and a few bumps and bruises.’’

LawConnect’s finish time was four hours, 19 minutes and 49 seconds outside the race record of 01 day 09 hours 15 minutes 24 seconds set by LDV Comanche in 201.

LawConnect also won the line honours race as Perpetual LOYAL back in 2016.

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Originally published as Sydney to Hobart yacht race: LawConnect claims line honours, finish order