Two Frenchmen sailing one of the smallest boats in the Sydney to Hobart have claimed a prestigious first-past-the-post win and could secure a stunning overall victory.
Former Olympic windsurfer Michel Quintin and friend Yann Rigal arrived at Constitution Dock on BNC – my::NET / LEON at 10.40am AEDT on Tuesday, four nights after setting off on Boxing Day.
They sit atop the overall handicap leaderboard on corrected time but could face trouble after second-placed yacht Min River lodged a complaint alleging BNC breached race rules.
The complaint, relating to sheeting sail use, was lodged on Tuesday night and will be heard by an international jury on Wednesday morning.
It is unclear whether a breach by BNC will attract a time penalty. In 2017, Wild Oats XI copped a one-hour time penalty for breaking race rules that resulted in it losing line honours.
The corrected time of Min River is 54 minutes behind BNC.
NSW’s Crux had earlier on Tuesday led the overall standings but ran into a southerly breeze that pushed back its expected arrival time.
Quintin and Rigal, who are based in overseas French territory New Caledonia, have been sailing together for five years and spent the past two preparing physically for the Sydney to Hobart.
“We came here to test [ourselves] … and we didn’t really know what results we’ll have,” Quintin said, after being greeted by family in Hobart.
The duo, along with the rest of the fleet, battled sea sickness in rugged early upwind sailing which forced 34 of the starting 128-strong fleet to retire.
“I’m never seasick but the first six hours I couldn’t eat,” Rigal said. “We didn’t sleep much, it was very busy. The waves and the seas were crazy. I don’t think we’re special, we just found something.”
Quintin, who represented France in windsurfing at the 1988 Olympics, said some electronic equipment failed in Bass Strait so they had no indication of the true wind direction.
“When you have to steer nearly all day and all night long, you’re tired,” he said.
At 35-feet long, BNC is among the smaller Sydney to Hobart competitors and about a third of the size of line honours winner Master Lock Comanche.
More than 60 yachts had completed the race at 6pm on Tuesday, including Bacchanal.
Comanche claimed her fifth line honours on Sunday after outgunning fellow supermaxis LawConnect and Hong Kong’s SHK Scallywag 100 in a dogfight off Tasmania.
