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French duo stripped of Sydney-Hobart race overall win / Photo: © AFP
NYSE - LSE
French duo stripped of Sydney-Hobart race overall win
A French crew were on Wednesday stripped of overall victory in the prestigious Sydney to Hobart yacht race over a rule infringement.
New Caledonia-based duo Michel Quintin and Yann Rigal claimed victory for BNC in the overall Tattersall Cup, determined by a complicated handicap formula which allows smaller boats to compete with bigger and faster rivals.
But a race panel later added more than one hour to their finishing time after upholding a complaint by second-placed Min River over an incorrectly secured sail.
"Not in my wildest dreams did I think this would come true for me," said Min River co-skipper Jiang Lin after learning she had become the first woman to win the race, which was in its 80th edition.
"I did not have hopes of winning. You think about all the 100-something boats, all the big boats and superb sailors out there." said Jiang, one of just 13 woman owners and skippers among the 128 vessels that left Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day.
"It hasn't sunk in yet. Maybe I will wake up and say: 'Oh that was a dream'."
Master Lock Comanche took the honours Sunday as the first boat to cross the finish line in Hobart, ending LawConnect's bid for a third straight win in the annual bluewater classic.
S.Mazur--GL
