Sydney to Hobart skipper relives terrifying man overboard incident as his boat was hit by a freak weather event

A Sydney to Hobart skipper has spoken of the harrowing moment he was blown overboard when his yacht was hit by a freak weather phenomenon on Boxing Day.

Supertaxis Andoo Comanche, the defending champions, and LawConnect remain neck-and-neck at the head of the fleet as competitors face unpredictable conditions off Australia's southeast coast.

The fleet was reduced to 95 boats after a night of stormy weather, with rigging problems making Georgia Express the eighth boat to retire about 11am on Wednesday.

One of the race's first retirees has spoken of the terrifying incident at sea that saw his yacht flip flat on its side and throw him into the Pacific Ocean.

Two-Handed Rum Rebellion's Shane Connelly and his teammate Graeme Dunlop were hit by a 'microburst of wind' between Cronulla and Wollongong at 6pm on Boxing Day.

Microbursts are columns of sinking air produced during a thunderstorm and can result in wind speeds of up to 100 mph.

Connelly, who had briefly broken free to get onto the boat, suddenly found himself in the drink and about two meters from the boat, but was fortunately able to swim back to the ship and reattach.

Connelly and Sutton chose to withdraw from the race afterward due to concerns that Connelly had a concussion.

“We are doing well and the most important thing is that our systems and practices were all working well,” Connelly said.

Comanche and LawConnect, runners-up in the online awards at the last three Sydney to Hobarts, were the two clear frontrunners since fresh out of Sydney Harbor and stayed in step overnight.

The two supertaxis started the journey along the NSW south coast at a decent pace, but have since fallen off the pace of the race record – one day, nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds, set by Comanche in 2017.

At 10:30 am on the second day of racing in 2017, Comanche was 130 nautical miles further than this year's two leaders.

LawConnect skipper Christian Beck revealed that his yacht managed to survive the horror conditions.

“It's a bit of a battle now to survive to the finish,” he said.

Sydney-Hobart veteran Peter Shipway has stated that the race record will not be broken in 2023.

“The race record stands no chance,” said Shipway, who has won the Hobart twice on handicap and five times on line distinction.

'They have to be ready at a quarter past ten tonight and they're not even half way yet.

“I think we're probably at least 24 hours, maybe 30 hours away from a finish. It could be a daylight finish tomorrow.”

Alive, the 66-footer who won on handicap in 2018, was in third place at 10.30am, leading a group of boats including the race's third supermaxi Wild Thing 100.

The in-form URM Group, a contender for overall honors, suffered damage to her jib and lost her code zero spinnaker during a stormy first night at sea, but remains in the race.

Hobart veteran Peter Jones, crew of Maritimo 52, said there was “as much lightning as we had ever seen” before his boat became one of seven to be retired early on Wednesday morning.

The most famous of these was SHK Scallywag, one of four 30m supermaxis vying for honors in the line, which suffered a broken bowsprit and withdrew at around 7pm on Boxing Day.

One of eight highly competitive TP52s to start the race, Maritimo was captained by two-time Hobart winner Michael Spies and had an experienced crew.

But she retired just south of Jervis Bay after breaking a fitting on her forestay and tearing her mainsail, while the 50-footer Sticky also retired during the night.

“Basically, we're devastated,” Jones said.

“We tried to work around it a million ways, but at best we would end up with 50 percent.”

The damage came as stormy weather hit the fleet on the NSW south coast as forecast.

The popular two-hander Currawong, the smallest boat in the fleet, became the sixth competitor to withdraw from the race just after 8am on Wednesday.

Co-skippers Kathy Veel and Bridget Canham were the first all-female two-handers in last year's race and had thousands of spectators greet them upon arrival in Hobart on New Year's Eve.

But there was no repeat of the jubilant scenes as the pair reported 'multiple problems' with their boat to the race crew, which turned south of Wollongong.

Fellow two-hander PacMan retired less than an hour later with runner chainplate problems, leaving the two-hander division at 15 boats after Rum Rebellion withdrew on Tuesday evening.