The United States yacht Comanche has won line honours in the 71st Sydney to Hobart race.
Comanche is the first international contender to cross the finish line first in over a decade.
But low winds around the mouth of the Derwent River also contributed to a very late finish.
Julia Calixto reports.
It was a welcome into Hobart like no other for the US yacht Comanche, the crew of the 100-footer celebrating to Queen's hit song Fat Bottomed Girls.
Fat Bottomed Girl was a nickname given to the huge vessel by rival and pre-race favourite Wild Oats XI.
Comanche completed the race in a time of two days, nine hours, 58 minutes and 30 seconds.
It staged an incredible comeback after losing its dagger board and part of its rudder in rough seas.
The US skipper of the supermaxi, Ken Read, says, at that point, he had almost quit the race.
"So that's when we said, 'Oh, we're done.' And we stopped, and we took all the sails down, and we actually started kind of drifting back towards Sydney. And then, all of a sudden, I see the tools come out. And when I see the tools come out with these guys, that's usually a good sign that they have an idea. There's three stainless threads holding the whole steering system together right now. And then it was my decision, 'Is it safe to do it? Is it safe to carry on?' And, um ... we all decided unanimously, 'We're here to finish this race.'"
The supermaxi left behind its fellow US yacht Rambler 88 to take advantage of southerly winds as it swept up the Derwent River, finishing ahead by more than 50 nautical miles
A strong southerly had blasted the yachts, forcing 32 of the 108 entries that began the race from Sydney Harbour on Saturday to pull out of the journey down Australia's east coast.
Among the casualties were two strong contenders for line honours.
The eight-times fastest finisher Wild Oats XI was forced back to Sydney after her mainsail ripped, and the supermaxi Perpetual Loyal exited with rudder damage.
The Comanche victory was also a sweet moment for the owners, the husband-and-wife team of Jim and Kristy Hinze-Clark.
Ms Hinze Clark, a former Australian model, has become the first woman owner of a line-honours-winning yacht.
"There was a bunch of emotions that went on. Pure terror at one stage, excitement, now just total joy and fulfilment. I mean, it's just one of the best things I've ever done."
With Comanche winning line honours, attention turned to who would take out handicap honours for the overall victory.
Comanche was still in the running to win both line and handicap honours.
But Ken Read, the skipper, was already convinced he will need some time to rest before thinking about the possiblity of taking on the tough race again.
"That's one hard, hard body of water. I've sailed around the world two-and-a-half times, and I thought I'd seen it all, but that is one really tough body of water, so, the people who have done this race something like 25 times, God bless them. And hats off to everybody from Hobart and all the ... I mean, just the masses. This race and how it encompasses all of Australia is something for sailors to just cherish. We feel lucky to be part of this whole thing."
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