Supermaxi yacht LawConnect faces a tough battle to defend its Sydney to Hobart line honours crown after suffering mainsail damage, skipper Christian Beck says.
Four leading yachts - LawConnect, Master Lock Comanche, Hong Kong-owned SHK Scallywag 100 and Lucky - were within sight of each other off the coast of Tasmania on Sunday morning.
Comanche had led for the majority of the sailing down Australia's east coast with LawConnect in second but light weather specialist SHK Scallywag 100 has managed to get her nose in front.
It sets up a potentially thrilling finish on Hobart's River Derwent, expected on Sunday evening or night.
LawConnect, which had earlier suffered a broken outhaul and mainsheet and is without working wind instruments, suffered mainsail damage on Saturday night.
"We haven’t given up but to be honest our odds of winning aren’t very high," Beck said on Sunday morning.
"There is a lot of light weather to get through and sometimes luck can play a part, or choosing the right path.
"We’re still in it, just not as competitive as we probably would (otherwise) be."
Beck hoped light winds on the River Derwent would maximise his crew's chances of pulling off a "fairytale" third line honours win in succession.
The retirement list grew substantially overnight in gruelling upwind conditions, with 33 of the starting 128-strong fleet now out of the race.
"It was pretty rough. It’s the longest upwind I’ve ever done. It was pretty unpleasant. I was pretty sick myself," Beck said.
Tasmania-owned Kraken 42S was forced to head for the NSW coast after a crew member suffered suspected broken ribs and the yacht had electrical issues.
Last year's 31st yacht across the line, Ragtime, was among those to retire after the boat's life raft was lost overboard.
Her retirement came after Moneypenny, a former third overall and division winner, also lost a lift raft overboard when it self inflated.
Crews have battled 25 knot winds and four metre swells in the 80th edition of the race, with some earlier retirements citing crew sea sickness.
LawConnect was first out of Sydney Heads at about 1.10pm on Boxing Day, but surrendered her lead to Comanche tacking out to sea after 6pm.
The Matt Allen and James Mayo skippered Comanche is out for redemption after being forced to retire in 2024 with mainsail damage.
SHK Scallywag 100, skippered by David Witt, is hunting a maiden Sydney to Hobart win after a broken bowsprit ended its most recent entry in 2023.
URM Group, a contender for the handicap trophy, was out of the race on Saturday afternoon with hull damage - marking a second retirement in two years.
Supermaxi Wild Thing 100, which finished third in line honours and in overall standings in 2024, has been another high-profile casualty.
Skipper Grant Wharington said the seas had been "nasty" and he wasn't confident makeshift repairs would hold up in tough upwind conditions.
"When you’ve got $4 million of mast in the air and no insurance you analyse these things a bit more carefully than you might have otherwise done," he said.
