Comanche wins line honours in 75th Sydney to Hobart yacht race
Comanche skipper Jim Cooney has revealed the secret to the supermaxi’s success after it crossed the Sydney to Hobart finish line well ahead of its nearest rival. Tune into the live stream now.
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Comanche may have been crowned line honours winner of the 75th Sydney to Hobart, but there’s still plenty of yachts yet to complete the 628-nautical-mile journey.
As of 4.30pm on Saturday, the final boat was not expected to arrive in Hobart until New Year’s Day.
You can cheer every boat across the finish line on the Mercury live stream above.
HERE’S HOW COMANCHE’S WIN UNFOLDED:
11.30AM: AFTER claiming his second Sydney-Hobart line honours title and third for the boat in the 75th anniversary race on the Derwent today, Comanche skipper Jim Cooney has revealed the secret to its success.
Built by USA software mogul Jim Clark, the radical supermaxi with the “big butt” was designed as a 100-foot version of a racing dinghy along the lines of a Laser or 49er skiff.
Cooney bought the ocean racing machine from Clark in 2016 and has won two Sydney-Hobarts in three years, claiming the 2019 edition this morning in one day, 18 hours, 30 minutes and 24 seconds.
That was well ahead of its nearest rival InfoTrack, owned by Sydney IT millionaire Christian Beck, then came Wild Oats XI, which pipped Scallyway by 38 seconds for third, and Black Jack was fifth.
“It’s fantastic the way it has been designed and built for a specific purpose – to go as fast as we possibly can,” Cooney said.
“Throw the rating book out the window and throw the rule book out the window, just make it fast and that’s what she does, go very fast.”
10.15AM: ALL five supermaxis in the 2019 Sydney to Hobart have now finished the 628-nautical-mile blue water classic, with race-record holder Comanche taking line honours
The Jim Cooney and Samantha Grant-skippered Comanche made the most of strong overnight winds to cross the River Derwent finish line just after 7.30am today.
InfoTrack finished in second place at 8.14am, followed by nine-time winner Wild Oats XI (9.12am), SHK Scallywag (9.13am), and then Black Jack (9.28am).
Tasmanian boat Alive, is currently in sixth place and positioned off Tasman Island.
Comanche earlier broke away from a five-strong pack of supermaxis down Tasmania’s East Coast having taken a wider route across Bass Strait on Friday.
Comanche stalled at one stage on a windless River Derwent before crossing the line in a time of one day, 18 hours, 30 minutes and 24 seconds.
The crew on Christian Beck’s InfoTrack threw all they had at Comanche, but they could not consistently match the boat speed of the leader.
Comanche’s previous wins were in 2015 and 2017, the latter coming in race-record time after Wild Oats XI was stripped of the title in a post-race protest.
NSW boat Minerva became the fleet’s third retirement overnight, reducing the number of yachts in the race to 154.
8.30AM: A TACTICAL error cost Comanche victory in last year’s Sydney to Hobart yacht race but strategic genius saw Jim Cooney’s all-conquering supermaxi go into the record books as line honours winner of the 75th anniversary of the blue water classic on the Derwent this morning.
Its race time was one day, 18 hours, 30 minutes and 24 seconds.
Cooney’s red-hulled rocket passed the Iron Pot, the last navigation point before entering the river, at 5.51am — well ahead of its nearest rival InfoTrack, owned by Sydney IT millionaire Christian Beck.
Cooney was cool and calm as he stood on deck, at one stage sitting down to use his phone before taking over on the helm, his 100-footer surrounded by spectator craft and police maintaining a perimeter.
There were several heart-in-mouth moments when Comanche’s 15-knot run up the river turned into a no-breeze drift, at one stage actually edging backward as InfoTrack’s mainsail grew ever-larger in the distance.
Cooney sent a crew member up the mast where he sat on the second-highest spreader to spot for breeze, and when it eventually returned so did the smiles for a 10-knot run to the line.
Comanche finally took the gun at 7.31am, sealing a famous victory.
“That was pretty nerve wracking — last year was playing over in my mind,” Cooney said.
“The race wasn’t without its issues for us.”
Comanche bungled the start on Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day — it was the last boat over the front starting line for the big boats.
It stormed into the lead after 38 minutes of racing and led until dawn on the second day, when the weather threw up more twists and turns than a Hitchcock classic.
Comanche’s navigator Stan Honey took the yacht well out to sea to pick up a nother-easterly weather system and that is where Comanche grabbed the lead and could not be caught by InfoTrack, Scallywag, Black Jack and Wild Oats XI.
On-board Cooney’s speedboat was his wife Samantha Grant and their son James.
It was Comanche’s third Sydney-Hobart win and Cooney’s second, after buying the American-made, Verdier Yacht Design & VPLP-designed yacht from US billionaire Jim Clark and his Australian supermodel wife Kristy Hinze, who won the race in 2015.
Cooney’s first win was marred by controversy.
He won the 2017 race in the protest room after the first boat over the line, Wild Oats, was stripped of its line honours win over a controversial manoeuvre just minutes after the start.
This time Comanche’s dominance was clear.
As well as holding the Sydney-Hobart record of 1 day 9 hours 15 minutes 24 seconds, Comanche has also broken the Transpac race record, the Transatlantic record, won the Fastnet yacht race, and claimed a clean sweep in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup.
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