Last yacht finishes Sydney-Hobart race, 4 days after winner

HOBART, Australia (AP) — The final yacht has finished the annual Sydney to Hobart race — more than four days after the line honors winner.

After six nights at sea and with rations low, Tasmanian 30-foot yacht Take Five crossed the finish line Wednesday in 5 days, 23 hours, 41 minutes for the 628-nautical-mile course in the 75th edition of the race.

Comanche, one of five 100-foot super maxis among the 157 starters, finished Saturday morning in a time of 1 day, 18 hours, 30 minutes and 24 seconds to take line honors for the third time. Ichi Ban took handicap honors on Monday for the second time in three years.

“It took a few days longer than I was hoping but it’s bloody awesome,” Take Five owner and skipper Ian Gannon said of the six-night trip. “We did plan for a seven-day voyage, with emergency rations as well. Another day out there would have finished up everything that we had.”

Gannon and his six-person crew were forced to spend four hours on Monday tucked into Tasmania’s east coast when thunderstorms struck. They were not able to see the New Years’s Eve fireworks in Hobart because they were blocked by Tasman Island off the southeast coast of Tasmania.

Only three yachts — Faster Forward, Hollywood Boulevard and Minerva — failed to finish. There were no reported serious injuries.

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