‘We were blown away’: LawConnect reflects on dramatic Sydney-Hobart win and crowd reaction
In an incredible addition to the annals of Sydney-Hobart history, the 78th edition came down to the final two nautical miles between duelling supermaxis LawConnect and Andoo Comanche.
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LawConnect’s sailing master has given an incredible insight into what was happening onboard the supermaxi in the final moments of the 2023 Sydney to Hobart yacht race and the nerves of steel it took to beat defending champion Comanche.
In an incredible addition to the annals of Sydney-Hobart history, the 78th edition came down to the final two nautical miles – the stretch between Sandy Bay and the finish line off the CSIRO complex on Hobart’s waterfront.
The result was LawConnect’s first Sydney-Hobart line honours title for its Sydney tech billionaire owner Christian Beck, who was staring down the barrel of a fourth consecutive second place in the race every sailor wants to win.
The winning margin was 51 seconds, which in a Formula One race can be the distance between first and last, but in a yacht race in barely any wind, it is super close.
Crossing the line about a boat length ahead of Comanche, LawConnect took the second-closest win in race history after Condor of Bermuda beat Apollo by seven seconds and the boats were overlapping each other when they crossed the line together in 1982.
While Beck admits to being “ballast” and an observer during the LawConnect-Comanche snail-paced nautical chess match, sailing master and helmsman Tony Mutter was at the height of his game.
A two-time Volvo Around the World Ocean Race-winning Kiwi and now three-time Sydney-Hobart line honours winner, Mutter, 54, of Auckland, helmed the yacht in a way that can only be described as genius.
When the two yachts entered the Derwent at the Iron Pot, Comanche was headed for back-to-back victories and the TV reporters had locked in a Comanche win.
Mutter, whose message to the crew before the race was “never give up,” had other ideas.
“Around the Iron Pot we were about 1.7 nautical miles behind them and you always get that compression as you come down the river so we expected to close more than half of that gap, which we did,” he said.
“In metres, we got it down to 600m or 700m, and from there we could see quite a big, flat area of no wind on the harbour.
“We kept watching behind us for little veins of pressure [breeze] and working them until we could get into a position where we could attack.”
Mutter and Aussie sailing star Chris Nicholson – an Olympian, Volvo Ocean Racer and winner of the Sydney-Hobart on the same boat when it was called Loyal in 2016 – broke all the tactical rules by heading toward Taroona.
“There was no point just following them in, you need a bit of leverage so we took the chance knowing it would either work or it wouldn’t,” Mutter said.
“It went against tradition, the playbook of what you would do coming into the harbour.
“But we could see the pressure on the water and the way it was wrapping around the headland there and we thought we’d give it a go.
“It worked well.”
LawConnect caught Comanche at Sandy Bay and it became a whole new race.
“Then it was boat on boat,” Mutter said.
“Both boats are very similar in those conditions – big wide boats with mast-head Code Zeros [huge lightweight headsails] – and we sail them exactly the same.
“We knew what to expect from them and they would have known what to expect from us.
“It just came down to who worked the puffs the best and jibed at the right time.”
The lead changed five times between Sandy Bay and the finish line and LawConnect had its bow in front when it counted and claimed a famous victory in front of 10,000 people lining the waterfront and docks when they arrived at Kings Pier.
“We were blown away and really grateful for the people who came out to watch us finish the race,” Mutter said.
“Hobart is the best crowd in the world.”
Man overboard: J99 Blue Planet skipper’s harrowing account of rough seas
Sydney to Hobart skipper Chris O’Neill has provided a harrowing account of being washed overboard multiple times in huge seas and sailing the yacht J99 Blue Planet while in the grip of wet and freezing conditions.
O’Neill and co-skipper Michael Johnston, a two-handed entry, said their fifth night pitted them against bitterly cold temperatures, rough seas and plenty of wind.
“It was just relentless; just extraordinarily tiring,” O’Neill said on Sunday morning after finishing the race.
“I’m pretty sure I’ve never been so cold in my life as I was in the last 24 hours of the race.
“I had every scrap of clothing I could find and I was still freezing.
“That was in these tiny little boats with not much freeboard, so there was a lot of water over the top of the boat.”
So variable was the sea and wind, the Sydney owner said he and Johnston were washed overboard during the race.
“We had quite a bit of wind against the current,” O’Neill said.
“Most of the waves were around five metres, but we got the odd nasty wave. At least four times we were washed overboard off the stern, just held by our harnesses. We dragged ourselves back on board.”
Accumulated fatigue over five days also forced the two to adapt their watch system.
“We normally do one hour watches, By the end, we were doing 10 minute watches where you might sleep five minutes. It’s remarkable how refreshing five minutes sleep can be.”
The wet and windy weather on the last nights also took its toll on Blue Planet’s electronic system.
“We lost all of our electronics,” O’Neill said.
“We had to navigate across Storm Bay and up the Derwent with a compass. It was a pretty black night, pretty scary.”
Paul Beath, sailing the two-handed J99, Verite, with co-skipper Richard Hooper experienced a tough and tumble debut in the Sydney to Hobart.
“We were launching off waves and both of us did a couple of tumbles in the in the cockpit,” Beath said. “There was some pretty frightening and difficult stuff for us.”
Saul and Gough battle it out for race result to savour
LawConnect took line honours, Alive won on overall handicap, and if the Sydney to Hobart had a crew of the race award, it could easily go to local legends John Saul and Rob Gough.
On a boat that could fit inside a footy field’s goal square, the two-handed Tasmanians beat more than half of the starting fleet of 103 to Hobart, finished in the top 10 on overall handicap, claimed second in IRC Two Handed handicap, and won IRC Division 5.
They did so while battling challenging conditions and limited sleep, which was par for the course for the 15 crews in the Two Handed division.
Saul said it was “impossible to summarise” their race aboard 10m fighter Kraken 111 because so many elements made up the 628 nautical mile adventure that took 4d3h49m47s for them to complete
“It had everything, and a really tough, hard race,” Saul said.
The thunderstorm in the opening 24 hours put on a show.
“Plenty of interesting stuff to watch out of your hotel room, but not so good out of a boat that you’re trying to make go fast,” Saul said.
“It was a fascinating night for nature at its best but made the race even more challenging.”
Familiar surrounds at Tasman Island, 40 nautical miles from home, were no advantage.
“We had two lots of hail storms and it blew 50 knots – we just arrived there at the wrong time,” Saul said.
“It can be one of the most beautiful places in the world but I’d pass on it today – wouldn’t go anywhere near it.
“We just couldn’t make way. We were under storm sails and just couldn’t get any progress going we just kept being blown flat – hit by solid wave sets in a very confused sea.
Excelling on handicap was satisfying for the Kraken crew – that’s what they are all about.
“We’ve got a great little boat and we certainly gave it some treatment over the past four days,” Saul said.
“We broke a few things but nothing serious. We had some wear and tear and very solid going in two gales – one in Bass Strait and one here [Tasman].
“It was good to get some good results.”
NSW yacht Mistral, a slightly bigger boat, gave Kraken a run for its money, pipping the Tasmanians on Two Handed IRC handicap.
“Rupert [Henry] and Jack [Bouttell] sail that boat perfectly, a great crew, a beautiful preparation, and we have nothing but respect and admiration for them,” Saul said.
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