LawConnect secures back-to-back line honours title at Rolex Sydney to Hobart - but there were no festivities
No trophy, no cheers for LawConnect’s second consecutive line honours crown in Rolex Sydney to Hobart. Here’s what happened.
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There was no trophy, no champagne, no skipper and no cheering for the winner of this year’s Rolex Sydney to Hobart yacht race after LawConnect claimed its second line honours title in a row.
The death of two sailors in the storm that smashed the fleet on the opening night put a black cloud over the 79th Hobart and instantly changed the mood on Sydney tech billionaire Christian Beck’s all-conquering 100-foot supermaxi.
LawConnect crossed the finish line at 2.35am on Saturday to a muted welcome, having clocked 1 day 13 hours 35 minutes 13 seconds for the testing 628 nautical mile ocean race.
There was only a small flotilla of spectator craft to shadow LawConnect along a darkened Derwent to the finish and a smaller than usual crowd on the dock to welcome the winner.
As well as the absence of the traditional jubilation at winning the world’s most prestigious blue water classic, Beck was also missing _ struck down by food poisoning according to sailing master Tony Mutter.
For the final five hours Beck was confined to a bunk down below, and after crossing the finish line was plucked off the boat by a tender and taken to his hotel room to rest and recuperate.
Mutter was unsure what caused the stomach upset – it might have been the chicken schnitzel Beck ate on the first night or the left-over Christmas ham he brought along in a zip-lock bag.
“Unfortunately Christian had a stomach bug _ he has somehow given himself food poisoning,” Mutter said.
“He got off the boat right at the end and he’s had to go to the hotel – he’s quite sick, he’s been throwing up for the last four or five hours.”
The traditional champagne finish and trophy presentation were scrapped under the circumstances.
The one thing the crew received for their efforts was the Rolex race winner’s “battle flag”, which is now flying proudly on the yacht’s forestay.
“We are very happy to be here and have our second win in a row,” Mutter said.
“We are hugely disappointed in the news during the race with the loss of fellow competitors.
“Our heartfelt condolences go out to all the friends and family of those competitors.
“It’s very sad news.”
The first yacht to go back-to-back since Wild Oats XI claimed three on the trot between 2012-14, this year’s win was bitter-sweet.
“We are not doing any celebrations on the boat – we will do that quietly later on,” Mutter said.
Like every other boat, LawConnect had it tough, especially on the first night.
“It was probably the toughest race out of the 11 I have done,” Mutter said.
“But we came through ok.
“We didn’t break too much stuff and our people are ok.
“We had no sail damage whatsoever, so I’m totally surprised by that.
“We’ve got a few bent stanchions and we had a few issues with what I call crew screw-ups, myself included, and there’s a few bumps and bruises.”
Personally, Mutter said he had experienced conditions more challenging when asked about the dangers of sailing in the Sydney-Hobart.
“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 times around the world and I’ve seen conditions way worse than that for weeks on end.”
The NSW 70-footer Celestial V70 finished second on line honors at 5.10 am and was the leader on overall handicap.
The Queensland supermaxi Wild Thing was in third position on the water ahead of the NSW 62-footer Whisper.
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LawConnect snared a third Sydney to Hobart line honours win under the cover of darkness but her crew were sombre and sad remembering the sailors who would not be docking.
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