Sydney to Hobart 2015: American supermaxi Comanche wins line honours

US YACHT Comanche limped across the finish line on the Derwent River just after 10pm last night to claim line honours in a dramatic race.

Comanche leads the super maxis to the seaward mark outside Sydney Heads during Day 1 of the 2015 Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Pic Brett Costello

UPDATE: SHE came, she nearly pulled out but now she has conquered - the US yacht Comanche has limped across the finish line on the Derwent River just after 10pm last night to claim line honours in a dramatic Sydney to Hobart.

Comanche’s battle scars were clear to see - her daggerboard and rudder ripped off and a patch-up job which somehow got the wounded yacht all the way to Hobart to claim a remarkable victory.

Thousands rushed to Constitution Dock to see Comanche arrive after her testing trip which started at 1pm on Saturday and ended more than two days and eight hours later.

Comanche won the race in 2days 8hours 58min 30sec.

It was the slowest line honours winning time since 2009 - coincidentally the last time a foreign boat won the race (New Zealander Neville Crichton on Alfa Romeo).

Skippered by round the world sailor Ken Read and with owner, supermodel and mum Kristy Hinze-Clark aboard, Comanche limped up the Derwent River to the finish line off Battery Point as darkness fell.

Waiting for her was owner Jim Clark, delighted to see his wife safe and well after her first very rugged Hobart race and his yacht claim a victory a year in the making.

“I just got more wet then that I did the entire race,” laughed Hinze-Clarke when showered by champagne on arrival.

“This is one hard race. I though I had seen it all. But I hadn’t, “ said skipper Read.

“And Kristy. She was as tough as nails. There was no babysitting involved.”

America’s Cup-winning skipper and Comanche helmsman James Spithill said: “I can’t believe we are here. What a crazy race.”

It was a popular victory with hundreds on the water to greet the American boat which could have easily given up the first night when severely damaged in a nasty southerly.

But after accessing the damage and making running repairs, Comanche sailed on to become the 71st line honours winner of the Sydney to Hobart.

Fellow American yacht Rambler was expected to cross the finish line in second place with 88-year-old Syd Fischer on course to claim third place.

The owner of line honours winner Comanche, Jim Clark, skipper Ken Read and Clark’s wife, Australian Kristy Hinze, with the winner’s trophy in Hobart on Monday night.

Seasickness has been a major issue this race due to the rough conditions.

Earlier on Monday, Ragamuffin sailing master David Witt revealed the supermaxi had suffered almost identical damage to that of the fleet leaders after “hitting something” the first night of the race.

All three yachts have broken their daggerboards, making it difficult to steer on one particular tack.

Comanche arrives to the tune of Fat Bottom girl @rshyr pic.twitter.com/ftnvVLZBnv

— amanda lulham (@amandalulham) December 28, 2015

“We just dropped of a wave in the fresh conditions, lost the board. It was gone,’’ said Witt whose team have made running repairs to keep on racing. “It’s over the side. We don’t own it.”

To date 32 yachts have retired from the Sydney to Hobart, one the highest attrition rates in more than a decade.

Kristy Hinze, the Australian wife of Comanche owner Jim Clark on board the yacht as it neared the finish on Monday night.

The 71st edition of the Sydney to Hobart was filled with drama with defending champion Wild Oats damaged and out on the first night, a rising toll of damaged boats and widespread fatigue and seasickness across the fleet.

Winner of the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Comanche close to the finish line in Hobart.

“I have more than half the crew down with sea sickness. It’s been hard going for them out here,” Clipper round the world skipper Pete Thornton said from Great Britain.

Thornton said he and his crew had seen gusts of wind as strong as 60 knots as they raced towards the Derwent River finish line.

Read said earlier he was anything but confident about victory of the world record-breaker with owner and super model Kristy Hinze-Clark aboard.

“If we finish this race we will be able to hold our head high,’’ Read said after his crew made running repairs to the steering so Comanche could rejoin the race after losing around 30 nautical miles to her rivals due to the late-night crash.

Read said the boat was significantly handicapped when sailing on starboard tack and slipped sideways without one of her daggerboards.

Skipper Ken Read celebrates Comanche’s line honours win in Hobart.

“I’ve been in some bizarre races but this one takes the cake by a long shot,’’ he said of the loss of Aussie favourites Wild Oats and Perpetual Loyal to damage, his own boats dramas and their remarkable comeback to be either in the lead or vying closely for it across Bass Strait on Sunday night. But Read said he was “bummed’’ Wild Oats and Perpetual Loyal were not still in the race.

Instead fellow American George David and his new 88-footer look to be his major opposition.

Incredibly Rambler also hit an unidentified object at sea and damaged its daggerboard — an appendage which keeps the boat sailing straight and prevents it slipping sideways.

Members of the Comanche cheers squad welcome the yacht to Hobart.

“We have no idea what we hit. We couldn’t see it,’’ said Australian navigator Andrew Cape.

“It might have been marine life or flotsam but it was a solid hit. It shook the boat.’’

While no longer in the race for the fastest time prize this year, Wild Oats skipper Mark Richards has vowed they will return in 2016 in their bid to win a ninth crown after sail damage ended their campaign this year.

Crew member on board retired Black Jack suffers broken leg in Sydney to Hobart race: https://t.co/uPdatKnUc8 #WWOS pic.twitter.com/4UtbheI668

— Wide World of Sports (@WWOS9) December 27, 2015

TIME LINE OF DESTRUCTION

DEC. 26

1.10pm: first collision. Ark 323 out.

1.15pm approx.: Second crash. Cougar II and Lupa of London out.

2.30pm: News M3 out.

6pm: Dare Devil out with broken rudder.

9pm approx.: big southerly buster slams frontrunners. Winds in excess of 40 knots reported.

10pm: Wild Oats appears to be heading north instead of south on race tracker, Soon after it is confirmed she has ripped mainsail in half and has retired.

10.10pm: News Comanche has retired.

11.45 approx.: News Perpetual Loyal out with damaged rudder but Comanche back in the race

Word that Cex Dolce has busted mast.

12am: St Jude confirmed out with broken rudder.

DEC. 27

12.30am: Koa confirmed out with steering damage.

3.40am: Report from Ragamuffin southerly still honking but sea state not too bad.

4.25am: Pazazz out.

4.40am: Pretty Fly III out

5.05am: Takani out

6.36am: Patrice, Brindabella out

7.30am: Gyr Wot Eva out

8am: Dekadence out

8am: Samari Jack out

9.30am: EPIRB accidentally activated. Search and rescue mission initiated.

10.30am: Wild Oats arrives back in Sydney.

10.35am: Confirmation distress signal activation was inadvertent.

11am: Haspa of Hamburg and Black Jack, one of the overall contenders out with damage.

12pm: American yacht Rambler said it hit an unidentified object and tore of it starboard daggerboard.

1pm: Victoire out

1.02pm: KLC Bengal 7 out

1.15pm: Frantic out

2.30pm: Perpetual Loyal arrives back in Sydney.

4pm: Comanche confirms it has steering issues and no daggerboard on its port side but racing on.

4.13pm: Triton out.

Originally published as Sydney to Hobart 2015: American supermaxi Comanche wins line honours