二人組 戦う／戦い for lead as 嵐／襲撃するs 軍隊 eight out of Sydney-Hobart
Favourite Andoo Comanche (R) competes during the start of the 年次の Sydney to Hobart ヨット race
Two 100-foot supermaxis 戦う／戦いd for the lead Wednesday in a 嵐／襲撃する-struck Sydney-Hobart race (n)艦隊／(a)素早い 減ずるd to 95 ヨットs after eight entrants pulled out of the punishing ocean event.
In a gripping late-morning struggle, LawConnect 辛勝する／優位d いっそう少なく than one 航海の mile ahead of the favourite Andoo Comanche after a "cat-and-mouse" chase, with the lead switching throughout the night.
The 二人組 were left in a duel after Hong Kong-owned supermaxi SHK Scallywag, which had been in a three-way 戦う／戦い for the lead, became the first major 死傷者 on Tuesday evening when it 苦しむd a broken bowsprit.
大勝する and 最近の 勝利者s of the the Sydney-Hobart ヨット race
"We are pretty の近くに after we were neck and neck 夜通し," LawConnect captain Ty Oxley said in a racing update just a couple of hours before 奪い返すing the lead.
"It's raining and there are squalls everywhere, clouds on the horizon," Oxley 追加するd, 報告（する）／憶測ing 勝利，勝つd of more than 30 knots, いつかs 越えるing 40 knots, as the 競争相手s sailed southwards across the Bass 海峡 に向かって the Tasmanian 資本／首都.
Andoo Comanche was first across the line last year and still 持つ／拘留するs the 2017 race 記録，記録的な／記録する for the bluewater classic of one day, nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds.
LawConnect has been 走者-up in the three previous 版s of the race.
Lying third, 68 航海の miles behind LawConnect, was Alive (Tas), a 66-foot ヨット 船長／主将d by Duncan Hine in a の近くに 戦う／戦い with the 72-foot URM Group, captained by Marcus Ashley-Jones.
- '雷 for hours' -
いっそう少なく than 24 hours after the 103-boat (n)艦隊／(a)素早い left Sydney Harbour, eight ヨットs had 孤立した, most with 器具／備品 損失.
Geoff Cropley, on the Hong Kong-owned 72-footer Antipodes, said the sailors had 耐えるd "雷 and 雷鳴 for hours".
They had been "hunkered 負かす／撃墜する", he 追加するd, with the 天候 slowly beginning to 改善する. "There is a little bit of blue sky. It's やめる nice out here."
First held in 1945, this year 示すs the 25th 周年記念日 of a violent 嵐／襲撃する that tore into the 1998 race (n)艦隊／(a)素早い, with wild 勝利，勝つd whipping up 山地の seas in which six people died, five boats sank and 55 sailors were 救助（する）d.
大型船s still on the water on Friday could 直面する a southeasterly swell with waves of three-to-five metres (10-16 feet), the Bureau of Meteorology 警告するd in a final 天候 要点説明 before Tuesday's start.
SHK Scallywag was one of the first major 死傷者s in this year's Sydney to Hobart race
Last year, Andoo Comanche crossed the finish line first after one day, 11 hours, 56 minutes and 48 seconds.
But the 全体にわたる 勝利者 of the race under a 障害（者） system was 52-foot Celestial, which （人命などを）奪う，主張するd the coveted Tattersall Cup.
Another 52-footer, Caro, and URM Group are also の中で the favourites for 全体にわたる race honours this year.
