Australia’s 52-footer (16m) Balance was yesterday crowned the overall winner of the Sydney to Hobart race, after overcoming some of the roughest conditions in many years, which forced dozens of yachts to retire.
US 100-footer supermaxi Comanche on Tuesday won line honors over the 628-nautical-mile (1,163km) course in 2 days, 8 hours, 58 minutes and 30 seconds, the first victorious US entry since 1998.
Balance took out the Tattersall’s Cup — handicap honors for the vessel that performs best according to size — after main rival and one of the smallest competing boats, local 33-footer Quikpoint Azzurro, missed a pre-dawn arrival deadline.
Photo: AFP
Balance — which won the race in 2008 under the name Quest — had finished seventh in line honors on Tuesday with a race time of 3 days, 3 hours, 50 minutes and 45 seconds.
Owner-skipper Paul Clitheroe, 60, said it was an “absolute honor” to win the blue water classic with his 10-year-old yacht, which has now taken out handicap honors in two out of five Sydney to Hobart attempts.
“I thought the little boat had beaten us, until the Derwent River decided otherwise,” the financial guru added.
One hundred and eight yachts had left Sydney on Saturday last week, battling strong winds and punishing conditions as they headed towards Hobart’s Constitution Dock on the island state of Tasmania, with more than 30 boats left unable to complete the race.
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