Australian super maxi Perpetual Loyal has won the Sydney to Hobart yacht race in a blistering race record time.
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Wild Oats XI retires from Sydney to Hobart
Perpetual Loyal hits the front of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race after the race favourite was suddenly forced to pull out. Vision courtesy ABC News 24.
The Anthony Bell-owned and skippered boat from Sydney crossed the finish line at approximately 2.30am on Wednesday in an official time of one day, 13 hours, 31 minutes and 20 seconds.
The result carved almost five hours off the previous record of one day, 18 hours, 23 minutes and 12 seconds set by Wild Oats XI in 2012.
Bell initially won line honours in 2011 with his first super maxi, Investec LOYAL, the first time the Sydney accountant had sailed the 628 nautical mile race. Then in 2013 he finished second to Wild Oats XI, but the last two years have been unkind.
Bell had purchased Speedboat/Rambler, purportedly the fastest racing super maxi on the planet, but the boat has failed to deliver. In the 2014 Rolex Sydney Hobart she retired with hull damage after hitting an unknown object, then in 2015, another retirement, with rudder damage early on.
This time, no such worries. Bell left behind the celebrities of previous years, replacing them with some of Comanche's finest, along with his regular crew. And like last year, Perpetual LOYAL was first out of Sydney Heads and this time she kept going, sailing steadily in Wild Oats XI's shadow until the leader retired when the hydraulic ram failed.
From there, Bell and his crew sailed steadily in ideal running and reaching conditions all the way to the finish line and into the history books.
![Perpetual Loyal has won the Sydney to Hobart in record time.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170723103533im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/h/z/l/u/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtil7l.png/1482882230072.jpg)
Eight-time line honours winner Wild Oats XI was more than four hours ahead of her record when forced to withdraw on Tuesday morning with hydraulic problems impacting the ability to control the keel.
She is due to reach Eden on the NSW far south coast about 10pm where she will undergo works while the crew is bussed to Sydney.
![Perpetual Loyal crossed the finish line in the early hours of Wednesday morning.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170723103533im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/h/z/l/n/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gtil7l.png/1482882230180.jpg)
Meanwhile, a New Zealand father-and-sons trio has taken out second place line honours.
The Volvo 70 Giacomo reached the southern capital about 4.30am (AEDT) on Wednesday, almost two hours behind winner Perpetual LOYAL, but still well ahead of the previous race record.
Owner and skipper Jim Delegat praised his sons Nikolas, 19, and James, 18, who were among the crew of 14.
"This type of yachting is a boyhood dream come true," Jim said after pulling into Hobart's Constitution Dock.
"(James is) quite an experienced sailor for his age and he's fearless. They're very fearless and talented young men."
The senior Delegat, who's found success in the global wine industry, said reading the weather when setting off from Sydney proved instrumental in the race result.
"The key really is we picked a good plan, a good strategy, we really thought about the weather and we looked at where we had to be in the first 18 hours," the skipper said.
"We figured that the first 18 to 20 hours was going to win the race for us and we went out far, a little wider and that enabled us to take a couple of jibes later on at the top of Tasmania.
"The weather is really what it was about."
Despite coming within eight nautical miles of LOYAL, Jim said they were always out of reach.
"It was good to know we were in the play but I didn't ever think we'd overhaul them."
The boat finished in one day, 15 hours, 27 minutes and five seconds, just a couple of minutes ahead of third-placed Hong Kong supermaxi Scallywag.
Fellow NZ boat Beau Geste remains in a tight tussle for fourth in line honours with NSW entry Maserati.
AAP