Defending champion LawConnect takes out back-to-back line honours victories in a tragedy-stricken Sydney to Hobart yacht race in which two competitors died.

LawConnect has claimed back-to-back line honours in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, which has been marred by the death of two competitors.

Defending line honors champion LawConnect led the Sydney to Hobart yacht fleet out of Sydney harbor at the start of the 79th running of the 628-nautical mile (722 miles, 1,160 kilometers) race.

Under the cover of darkness a multimillion-dollar supermaxi with a “sad and sombre” crew claimed a bittersweet Sydney to Hobart win with muted celebrations and a quiet tribute to the sailors lost.

Australian yacht Celestial V70 won the overall trophy for the Sydney to Hobart yacht race on Sunday after a blustery race overshadowed by the deaths of two sailors.

There were no such celebrations this year when defending champion LawConnect won the race in the early hours of Saturday morning, and with good reason: It came about 24 hours after two sailors died on separate boats in sail boom accidents two hours apart on a storm-ravaged first night of the race.

Australian supermaxi LawConnect took back-to-back line honours in the Sydney-Hobart ocean race early Saturday, leading a fleet shaken by the deaths of two sailors in wild weather conditions. Wild Thing was further back in third.

Sydney to Hobart organisers are hoping to hold tributes to the two sailors who died at sea on the opening day of the 2024 yacht race.

Two sailors on separate boats have been killed in boom accidents two hours apart on a storm-ravaged first night of the annual Sydney to Hobart race, adding to the event’s long history of deaths at sea