2023-12-27 10:22:07
Two thirds of the way through the prestigious sailing race, the two “supermaxi” are held within a few minutes while the weather conditions disrupt the skippers.
The two “supermaxi” Andoo Comanche and LawConnect were neck and neck on Wednesday two thirds of the way through the prestigious Sydney-Hobart sailing race, run in stormy weather conditions.
Title holder, Andoo Comanche had a lead of 9.6 nautical miles, the equivalent of around twenty minutes, over its main competitor around 04:00 GMT, 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the finish in the port in the south of the Australian island of Tasmania, according to the official website of the race which started on Tuesday.
The two boats played a game of cat and mouse during the night, but during the morning the boat skippered by John Winning managed to widen the gap. Andoo Comanche holds the record for the grueling crewed crossing of 1 day, 9 hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds, set in 2017.
Imminent arrival in Tasmania
“We are very close, after being shoulder to shoulder during the night”described Ty Oxley, captain of the LawConnect crew, who remains on three consecutive second places. “It’s raining, and there are clouds on the horizon, with wind”he continued, with gusts exceeding 40 knots (around 75 km/h) in the Bass Strait between the island continent and Tasmania.
The weather got the better of the Hong Kong supermaxi SHK Scallywag, which had a successful start on Tuesday morning in contact with the two favorites, before abandoning in the evening due to a broken mast.
Less than 24 hours after the start in Sydney, 8 boats (out of 103) had abandoned the race, mainly due to equipment breakdown. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the 1998 edition, which was mourned by the disappearance of six participants following a storm. Five boats had sunk, and 55 sailors had been rescued.
If the two “supermaxi” of more than 100 feet (around 30 meters) are virtually less than ten hours from the finish, the race should last several days for the dozens of small sailboats also in competition.
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