'Very hard': Skipper Sam Haynes wins provisional overall Sydney to Hobart title for second time
Celestial V70 has been named the provisional overall winner of the 2024 Sydney to Hobart.
The 70-foot yacht crossed the line at 5.10am on Saturday, marking the second time owner and skipper Sam Haynes has won the Tattersalls Cup.
Haynes' crew won the race on handicap with a time of one day, 16 hours, 10 minutes and 20 seconds.
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The 79th edition of the event was marred by the death of two competitors who died at sea in rough weather.
"We are very conscious of the events that have occurred in this race," Haynes said.
Sam Haynes, Skipper of Celestial speaks to the media in 2023. Getty
"It's something that is on the mind of myself and the crew. We are very ... saddened and we are thinking about the families of those involved."
The "challenging" forecast went in favour of Haynes' vessel but the always-difficult Bass Strait remained one of his crew's toughest tasks.
"The amount of water coming over the deck and the waves crashing over it, it steers through waves. It doesn't skip across them that much, it just takes it all on," he said, of the Bass Strait stretch.
"It was strong wind and big waves, but it was also the boat's design and the way we were sailing that brought it all together.
"We negotiated that transition between the northerly breeze and into the front, and positioned the boat really well for the crossing. It was very hard."
Supermaxi LawConnect was first to cross the line in Hobart, claiming line honours for the second-straight year.
The yacht finished in a time of one day, 13 hours, 35 minutes and 13 seconds.
