Crew safety came first as Victorian yacht Tina of Melbourne became the first yacht to pull out of the Sydney to Hobart race.
The 37-footer which was just off Bondi when the crew discovered a problem with her hull leaking after sustaining damage in rough conditions outside Sydney Heads.
"We fell off probably a metre and a half, two-metre wave," skipper Andy Doolan said.
"We heard a bit of rattling down there.
"We noticed a bit of water ingress, so at that point I notified the crew.
"They were all okay, there was no imminent danger.
"I switched the pumps on and noticed that we couldn't fix the problem there and then so I made the decision to retire.
"Our number one priority was the safety of the crew. There was no point continuing on."
Three other boats - Bear Necessity (rudder), Occasional Coarse Language (steering) and Willyama (main sail) - also withdrew in the first four hours.
