Master Lock Comanche skippers Matt Allen and James Mayo have toasted Sydney to Hobart redemption after overcoming gruelling upwind sailing and a supermaxi dogfight to win line honours.
They flew past the River Derwent finish line just after 6pm on Sunday, atoning for the disappointment of being forced out of the 2024 race with mainsail damage.
Comanche was earlier in the day locked in a tense battle with fellow supermaxis, defending champion LawConnect and Hong Kong-owned SHK Scallywag 100, off the coast of Tasmania.
Allen said Comanche had to "win the race twice" after seeing the lead they held down the coast of mainland Australia and in Bass Strait disappear.
"It's absolutely amazing. We had a great lead during the race. It evaporated," said Allen, a previous winner competing in his 33rd event.
"We've never seen anything like that in a Sydney to Hobart where all the boats were all so close together."
Scallywag managed to get her nose in front on Sunday morning before winds picked up, allowing Comanche to pull ahead as she rounded southeast Tasmania.
Comanche finished with the time of two days, five hours, three minutes and 36 seconds, a little over 47 minutes ahead of LawConnect, for her fifth line-honours win.
Allen and Mayo agreed over a cup of coffee to go around again in 2025 after the heartbreak of being forced to pull out while leading the race last year.
"Last year was brutal, but it was unfinished business. We wanted redemption and we said let's do it again," Mayo said.
It was far from smooth in an upwind sailing battle that has forced 33 of the starting 128-strong fleet to retire.
Mayo said a bowman was wiped out three minutes from the start of the race with potential broken ribs, and another crew member was tossed out of their bunk in rough seas.
"They were going down like flies at one moment," he said.
A tactical call to defend from the inside off Tasmania's coast paid dividends when a breeze started to build up.
"We saw some puffs developing near to shore, then we took off … and suddenly we had a boat race," Mayo said.
"There was a length between us for 100 miles going down the coast. It was special."
The run home along the Derwent, in front of a packed Hobart waterfront in the 80th edition of the event, was the best of all his races, Allen said.
LawConnect, which was gunning for a third consecutive line-honours win, was hindered by mainsail damage on Saturday night.
It added to an extensive repair list that included a broken outhaul and mainsheet and no working wind instruments.
Mid-afternoon Sunday, crew member Tony Mutter declared the yacht was a "wounded animal" but was still in the fight.
"It was a funny morning, the three (supermaxis) were all side by side, dogfighting our way down the coast," he said.
LawConnect was first out of the Sydney Heads on Boxing Day but surrendered her lead to Comanche after tacking out to sea after 6pm.
Comanche also took out line honours in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2022.
Conditions are expected to ease for the remaining yachts at sea, with a wind change set to help the fleet down to Hobart.
