The coast of Tasmania threw a few spanners in the works, but Australian supermaxi Comanche has crawled to her third Sydney to Hobart line honours win on a dramatic morning.
The wind died as the yacht made its way to the finish line on the Derwent River accompanied by a large flotilla of spectator boats.
After leading the racing fleet out of Sydney on Boxing Day, Christian Beck’s InfoTrack finished in 2nd place.
Comanche opened up a big lead thanks to the downwind and passed the finish line at 7.30am on Saturday morning.
The now three-time winner took an interesting and risky move down the Bass Strait, staying well east of the rest of the boats - but the gamble clearly paid off.
Some sailing fans were left frustrated however when major broadcasters went to ad breaks during the finish.
There is the winner of the #sydneytohobart on the Derwent river about to cross the line #nikon #snapbridge pic.twitter.com/id1Qp2niGL
— AJNitz Images (@ajnitzimages) December 27, 2019
Winner line honours #Comanche #sydneytohobart pic.twitter.com/oR016R9Zbs
— Barry Rutherford (@barryrutherford) December 27, 2019
Hey @9NewsAUS why would you go to an ad during the @TheTodayShow , knowing that #comanche was just about to cross the finish line in the #sydneytohobart then go to a replay. Shame on you
— Col Copeland (@Colincopeland2) December 27, 2019
A good indication of our poor #ABC and its treatment of sport has fallen; ‘commentators’ didn’t even know the position of the finish line in the #sydneytohobart on @ABCTV Embarrassing. Nugget May just turned over in his grave.
— Peter Wilkins (@WilkoSport) December 27, 2019