Check Out These Epic Shots of the Sydney-Hobart Race as Overall Winner Still Unofficial

The mini-maxis and TP 52s took over The Great Race and battled gale force conditions throughout the night, but in the end the 52-foot (15.85-meter) Transpac 52s were the ones to watch if you could.

Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) Vice Commodore Sam Haynes skippered Celestial to the overall lead for the Tattersall Cup after battling Warrior Won throughout the night. Morning brought additional challenges from Gweilo and Caro from New Zealand, with Max Klink at the helm.

Caro would prevail at the finish, but the overall standings sit with Celestial in first, followed by three other TP52s Gweilo, Caro, and Warrior Won, respectively. Gweilo skipper Matt Donald was frustrated at not having a big enough lead on Celestial going into the final stretch up the Derwent River.

"We probably didn’t have a big enough lead," Donald said. "We knew there would be a bit of a tacking duel, [over] that last sort of 10 miles. We probably didn’t have the 15 to 20 minutes that we needed over them. We beat them over the line, we are happy about that; but they well deserve the win."

Now Haynes must wait from the top spot until other boats finish that could best Celestial on corrected time. Even then, the overall winner will not be official until a request for redress is made by GP42, Enterprise Next Generation. The Western Australian boat owned by Anthony Kirke stood by the disabled KOA yesterday when it lost its rudder, which could change the results.

It will be an anguishing wait for Haynes and the Celestial crew and reminiscent of the 2021 Sydney to Hobart race when they were relegated to second after a protest against them did not go their way.

Regardless of the final call on the Tattersall Cup winner, the 77th edition of one of Australia's greatest sporting spectacles will be remembered for epic downwind battles at sea in predominantly consistent wind conditions and, of course, the memorable start.

Folks will remember the throngs of fans lining the shores of the panoramic harbor as well as the vast number of spectator boats out in the harbor itself that witnessed all the pre-start drama. All four of the super-maxis would come close to colliding and both the eventual winner Andoo Comanche and Wild Oats would be forced to make penalty turns while Black Jack and LawConnect speed away.

The race will also be remembered by those avid offshore yacht racing fans that were able to follow the entire race via a live stream aboard LawConnect.