Australian boat Balance is firming as the overall winner in the Sydney to Hobart, with its closest challenger failing to meet an early morning finish deadline.
French entry Teasing Machine was sitting on top of the handicap standings overnight but needed to finish by 5.30am (AEDT) on Wednesday for a shot at the title.
However with the deadline missed, the race debutante is still on her final approach to Hobart, having fallen victim to the Derwent River's pond-like morning conditions.
Teasing Machine was clocked travelling at less than one knot as the crew searched for wind.
It means the 52-foot Balance, owned and skippered by Paul Clitheroe, looks most likely to claim the Tattersall's Cup.
The TP52-class boat finished on Tuesday afternoon in three days, three hours and 50 minutes, giving her a corrected time of four days, seven hours and 27 minutes.
The win is not a certainty, though, with the greatest threat to Balance's chances fellow-NSW boat Quikpoint Azzurro.
The Shane Kearns-owned boat needs to finish by 4.43am (AEDT) on Thursday to beat Balance, but is still mid-way down Tasmania's east coast and current projections have her reaching Hobart more than three hours late.
French boat Courrier Leon and 2014 handicap winner Wild Rose are outside chances at best and look certain to fail to meet finish deadlines on Wednesday afternoon.
When Clitheroe finished seventh in line honours he was unaware of the boat's overall standing and surprised to hear it was so high given the "really awful conditions" the crew had endured.
"We got six hours of beautiful running then absolutely smashed," he said of the 628-nautical mile course.
"The bottom of my mainsail is torn to pieces.
"It was a terrible, terrible seaway, lumps and bumps. Most of the crew have got the usual bruises and bashes.
"What surprised us was that it persisted, and it persisted, for nearly 18 hours."
Balance also finished first in her class in 2014, but quickly slipped in the overall standings to 36th.
Line honours this year went to Jim Clark's American supermaxi Comanche.
The 100-footer was steered across the line on Monday night by co-owner and Australian model Kristy Hinze-Clark.
Syd Fischer's Ragamuffin found some late wind on Tuesday to take second place, just four minutes ahead of US-flagged Rambler.
