HOBART - Super maxi Nicorette today claimed line honours in the 60th annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race, crossing the Derwent River finish line at 5.10am (7.10am NZT).
The New South Wales 90-footer, skippered by Ludde Ingvall, finished the 628-nautical-mile bluewater classic in 64 hours and 44 seconds, outside therace record of 43 hours and 48 minutes set by Nokia in 1999.
The win is the second for Ingvall under the Nicorette banner, having taken line honours with a previous boat baring the same name in 2000.
After taking the lead early yesterday following the dramatic retirement of super maxis Konica Minolta and Skandia, Nicorette sailed conservatively down the Tasmanian coastline in seas of up to nine metres and south-westerly squalls of up to 50 knots.
It finished about 60 nautical miles ahead of Sean Langman's dogged 66-footer AAPT, with George Snow's Brindabella a further 10 miles astern in third.
Nicorette was vying for the handicap stakes early today with Jez Fanstone's British 55-footer Aera, which was a little over 100 miles off the pace in fifth-place.
The line honours winner was an unknown quantity before the race, having been launched in December.
It made its debut in Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day.
After facing the worst storm since the 1998 race that claimed six lives and sank seven boats, the number of yachts still in the race has dropped to 62, with 54 having retired.
Among those to pull out were New Zealand super maxi Konica Minolta, which led until 8am (10am NZT) yesterday when the impact from a freak wave creased its cabin top and keel tower and forced it to pull into Binalong Bay on the Tasmanian east coast.
Also on the casualty list is 2003 champion Skandia, which is drifting upside down in the Tasman Sea without a keel after its own misadventure with a large wave about 2am yesterday.
Grant Wharington, Skandia's owner and skipper who joined his crew in being rescued by police boat, said the retrieval mission for the uninsured A$5 million ($5.43 million) yacht would start early today.
