Sydney to Hobart: LawConnect wins line honours in ‘sombre' end to race that claimed two sailors’ lives

A “sombre” LawConnect has delayed celebrations after claiming back-to-back line honour wins in a Sydney to Hobart race marred by the death of two sailors.

The Christian Beck-skippered supermaxi was first across the River Derwent finish line at 2.35am on Saturday in a time of one day, 13 hours, 35 minutes and 13 seconds.

The usual champagne and trophy presentation were absent, in respect to the two men who died at sea during rough weather on Thursday’s first night of sailing.

South Australian Nick Smith, 65, was aboard Bowline when he was thrown across the yacht, struck by the boat’s main sheet, and hit his head on a winch.

In a separate incident, Roy Quaden, 55, from Western Australia was struck by the sailing boom while on Flying Fish Arctos.

Both crews retired from the event and limped back to shore, where police awaited to seize the boats and commence an investigation on the sailors’ deaths.

“We’re not doing any celebrations on the boat. We’ll be doing that quietly later on,” LawConnect crew member Tony Mutter said.

Mutter spoke to the media instead of Beck, who got knocked about with food poisoning in the final few hours of the race and rushed to a hotel.

Mutter said he was told about the fatalities the morning afterwards.

“We were pretty busy. We were 100 per cent focused on the race,” he said.

“Our navigator knew and he had to just pick the right moment to let us know.

“(The mood onboard) absolutely became more sombre. We were absolutely surprised and just felt for the other competitors.”

An investigation will be held into the fatalities — the first deaths in the event since 1998 when six sailors perished in wild storms.

Mutter said the conditions were the worst of his 11 Sydney to Hobart races.

“I know my wife appreciated my texts from the boat, as did my adult kids,” he said.

“They were very grateful to hear that we were okay.”

LawConnect’s hopes received a boost when rival and fellow supermaxi Master Lock Comanche retired with mainsail damage early on Friday morning when leading the fleet.

Strong winds forecast pre-race prompted some to predict the record time of one day, nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds would fall, while Beck tipped yachts would be damaged.

At 8am on Saturday, 29 of the 104-strong starting fleet had retired citing problems including electrical issues and crew injuries.

The vast majority of the yachts were battling it out across Bass Strait, with just a handful expected to finish on Saturday.

But Cruising Yacht Club of Australia vice commodore David Jacobs maintained conditions were not “excessive” and organisers would not be calling off the race.

Mr Jacobs said the ill-fated Bowline and Flying Fish Arctos crews were dealing with winds of 30-38 knots and seas of two to three metres high in some areas.

He was adamant forecasters did not warn organisers of dangerous weather, but conceded conditions played a part in the incidents, which will be investigated.

“The forecast was strong winds to gale force winds,” Jacobs said.

“The weather … these boats and these crews are used to, they train for, the boats are prepared for, but they were challenging conditions.”

The Bureau of Meteorology said it didn’t observe any major wind changes or exceptionally dangerous conditions for crew overnight.

Mutter said LawConnect escaped sail damage, with his crewmates only picking up “bumps and bruises”.

NSW 70ft Celestial V70 was second across the line in the 79th edition of the 628-nautical mile event, with supermaxi Wild Thing 100 in third.

It could take days for the overall handicap winner to be decided.

LawConnect was the first yacht out of Sydney Heads on Boxing Day, but Comanche powered ahead down the NSW coast in a blustery north-easterly.

After finishing second in three consecutive races, LawConnect pipped Comanche by just 51 seconds in 2023 in a battle up the River Derwent.

It is the third time LawConnect has claimed line honours, after initial success in 2016 as Perpetual Loyal.