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Reigning overall winner Alive has become the first yacht to retire from the Sydney to Hobart yacht race as Master Lock Comanche maintains a comfortable lead down the New South Wales coast.
The 66-footer retired off Wollongong with engine issues around 4pm on Thursday’s first day of racing, reducing the fleet to 103 boats amid a strong north-easterly breeze.
Alive had only just returned to the water following last-minute repairs on a damaged canard board that forced her out of the Cabbage Tree Island Race and Big Boat Challenge in the lead-up to Boxing Day.
The retirement was a bitter blow for Alive, which was vying to become only the fourth boat in history to win the race on handicap three times, after Freya, Love & War and Ichi Ban.
The boat boasted an impressive crew, including highly-prized navigator Adrienne Cahalan, the most successful woman in the race’s history.
Instead, Alive began the journey back to land as handicap contenders URM Group, Celestial V70 and Zeus waged on.
Alive was unlikely to be the last boat to retire, though, as the fleet braced for wild conditions in the Bass Strait overnight.
Elsewhere, Comanche had built up a 7nm lead over second-placed LawConnect by 4.30pm after trailing her rival 100ft supermaxi out of the Sydney Heads.
LawConnect gave up her lead when a furling line malfunctioned, but managed to recover, having suffered a similar problem early in last year’s race.
The fast start will be a big confidence booster for Comanche after LawConnect ambushed her in the River Derwent to take line honours by only 51 seconds last year.
The 2023 race was front of mind for Comanche’s two new co-skippers before they set out on Boxing Day.
“We’ve got one goal, we’re going to lock this up,” James Mayo said.
“There’s a lot of people who sailed on this boat last year who missed out narrowly and this year, they’re hungrier than ever.”
Drama unfolded early on as fellow supermaxi Wild Thing 100 narrowly avoided a collision with Celestial V70 before recapturing her speed out of the Heads.
Wild Thing was at the centre of another incident in the harbour that left leading URM Group to complete a penalty turn.
URM Group had been required to keep clear of a cluster of boats on her starboard side but struggled to do so with Wild Thing so close leeward.
Just as Whisper flew a protest flag, claiming the mini-maxi had been too close, URM Group completed a penalty turn to absolve herself for the misstep.
Penalty turns for incidents that take place in the harbour must be completed early in the race, or else the offender risks a time penalty on arrival in Hobart.
Salt Lines was last of the 104 starters out of the Heads around 1.50pm local time.
A west south-westerly change was expected to hit the Bass Strait overnight, bringing strong winds and possible showers that will be particularly challenging for the smaller boats in the fleet.
The race record could be under threat if Comanche or LawConnect was able to capitalise on those conditions, but boats risked damage in the wild weather.
“We’ve got to make sure we sail the boat really smartly and look after the boat and look after the crew,” Mayo said before the race began.
