Runner-up for line honours in the last three Hobarts, LawConnect had enjoyed the faster start of the two boats but found herself overtaken off the coast near Port Kembla on Tuesday afternoon.
The race has remained a tight tussle between the two behemoths since then, with a variable weather forecast giving nothing away as to the likely outcome.
“After 16 hours of racing, Comanche is going toe-to-toe with LawConnect around 90nm SE of Green Cape,” an update from Comanche read just before 7am.
“She is doing 17.2kts having averaged 12kts for the journey and has only a half mile lead over her rival.”
In-form 72-footer URM Group, 2018 overall winner Alive, Moneypenny and the race’s third supermaxi Wild Thing 100 were closest in pursuit of the leaders further up the course.
On Wednesday morning, race officials confirmed Maritimo had retired overnight with rigging damage, while 50-footer Sticky pulled out with electrical issues.
The retirements came after line honours contender SHK Scallywag was among the three boats to pull out on the evening of Boxing Day, having broken her bow sprit.
Sun Hung Kai Scallywag 100 has retired from the 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart with a broken bow sprit.
The team are...
Posted by Scallywag on Tuesday, December 26, 2023
On the starting line, Maritimo had been one of eight TP52s, a highly competitive model on the international rating certificate - the handicap system used to determine the race’s overall winner.
Last year’s overall winner Celestial and Caro, the favourite among some bookmakers this year, are both TP52s as well.
Maritimo was skippered by two-time Hobart winner Michael Spies and boasted an experienced crew but underwent too much damage to continue.
She retired just south of Jervis Bay after breaking a fitting on her forestay and ripping her mainsail amid stormy conditions.
“We’re shattered, actually,” said crew member Peter Jones.
“We were trying to work a million ways around it, but at best we were going to be at 50 per cent.”
The damage came as stormy weather hit the fleet on the NSW south coast as the Bureau of Meteorology had predicted on Boxing Day.
Jones reported a south-westerly front had come through and that three hours of heavy rain had fallen, with winds reaching past 30 knots.
“There was as much lightning as we’d ever seen,” he said.
