New Zealand's Giacomo won the handicap honours Thursday in the record-breaking Sydney-Hobart yacht race after rivals were becalmed on Hobart's breathless River Derwent. The Volvo 70 came in second fastest in line honours early Wednesday, just two hours behind triumphant Australian supermaxi Perpetual Loyal. Both yachts sped into Hobart and easily broke the old record by hours with a time of 1 day 15hr 27min 5sec for Giacomo.
But soon after third-placed and Hong Kong-owned Scallywag finished the race rain began to fall and the wind dropped on the fickle Derwent river leading to Hobart.
With other leading handicap contenders tied up in the doldrums for much of Wednesday, Giacomo sat pretty on corrected time. "Congratulations to the overall winners of the 72nd RolexSydneyHobart - Giacomo, made up of a father, his 2 sons & a talented crew!," the race organisers tweeted Thursday afternoon. New Zealand winemaker and Giacomo owner Jim Delegat described the win as "beyond belief".
"We're feeling wonderful, we're ecstatic and excited... The impressive, hard work of the crew was tireless. It was a race of opportunity," he said. "I would be dishonest if I didn't say we put thought to overall victory 20 hours into the race. We identified our competitors." Giacomo was awarded the Tattersall's Cup, handicap honours for the vessel that performs best according to size, whereas line honours are for the fastest boats. Delegat earlier admitted the downwind conditions suited his 70-footer, allowing it to split the 100-foot Perpetual Loyal and Scallywag. "Still, we're pretty surprised, it's not often that a 70-footer can do this, get second over the line," he said.
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