The battle for the first-across-the-line honours in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race is shaping up as a four-way fight, as a quartet of supermaxis charge down Tasmania's east coast.
As of 7pm, favourite Andoo Comanche is still in the lead, with LawConnect, Hamilton Island Wild Oats XI and Black Jack all within striking distance of the JH Illingworth Trophy — also know as Line Honours.
Currently, it is expected the first yacht to cross the finish line 22.2 kilometres up the River Derwent will do so around sometime very early on Wednesday.
That will not threaten the record set by LDV Comanche in a time of one day, nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds in 2017.
On Tuesday afternoon, Koa retired due to rudder damage, extending a run of bad luck for the boat from New South Wales, with engine failure ending the team's race in 2016.
NSW Police have advised "everyone on board [Koa] safe and well".
Koa is the third retirement in this year's race.
The two-handed boat Avalanche retired early in the race, with a reported damaged bowsprit, while Yeah Baby retired early on Monday evening.
Earlier on Tuesday, Tony Mutter, sailing with LawConnect, said the contrast in weather between this year and last year's event had been startling.
Mutter told the ABC "conditions are pretty nice" for the crew, as they raced towards Tasman Island before the right hand turn to Hobart.
He said it was a "polar opposite" to last year's experience, weather-wise.
"I was wearing thermals, we were in thunder and lightning," he said.
"Now, I am in a T-shirt, shorts and life jacket."
Mutter said LawConnect lost ground to Black Jack during a sail switch, when the team anticipated a weather change, but then reverted to what they had previously when that did not happen.
"We are back up to 100 per cent speed now. We have Black Jack breathing down our neck, Wild Oats over my shoulder over the horizon," he said.
"We are pretty happy with it all, we have surprised ourselves and everyone, we didn't know we would be as good as we are."
Justin Schaffer, on board Andoo Comanche, said his team have had "a great night, a dream run" leading into Tuesday.
"The crew is holding up well and so is the boat."
In the race for the Tattersalls Cup — also known as overall honours — a number of boats are neck and neck, including Mistral, which is a two-hander team (two people), as of 6pm Tuesday.
Earlier, Commodore of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Arthur Lane, said that, although the leaders were behind the race record, the breeze would pick up into Tuesday afternoon.
"You might then find them catching up on that race record time," he said.
"At this stage, they have very good seas. They are not large seas but, as the breeze increases in the afternoon, the waves will get bigger, but these boats were made for it. They won't be too concerned about the size of the water.
"I think, as they get closer to Tasmania and down to the south end of it before they go up the Derwent, there could be a southerly change, in which case it will be a spinnaker finish ... this year will be an exhilarating finish."
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds from early Wednesday morning, saying averages of 60 to 70 kilometres per hour were likely over parts of the state, with peak gusts in excess of 100km/h.
Monday saw a chaotic start to the 77th edition of the bluewater classic, with near-misses, protests and penalties for the big four.
Hamilton Island Wild Oats skipper Mark Richards let loose a number of audible obscenities on the TV coverage as he and his crew tried to navigate their way to the Sydney Heads and out into the ocean for the trip south.
Andoo Comanche had a poor start, not getting enough clear wind to move ahead of its rivals, and was then jammed by other craft. It then misjudged a turn and hit the mark, losing even more ground.
On board Hamilton Island Wild Oats, a spirited conversation took place between skipper Mark Richards and navigator Stan Honey, with suggestions the boat may have infringed rejected by Richards.
Finally, Richards relented, ordering the crew to "Deploy the jib! Deploy the jib!" before completing a 720-degree turn.
At one point, Black Jack cut back across two of its rivals, running a fine line between LawConnect and Hamilton Island Wild Oats.
Wild Oats crewman Chris Links said the drama continued overnight, with a seam splitting across one of their downwind sails.
The crew were forced to pull the sail down to repair it, which took them an hour and a half, Links told NewsLocal this morning.
