![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1767151629_407_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
But on Wednesday, that title was stripped after photographs emerged of an incorrectly secured sail in the dying stages of the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure for them it\u2019s very disappointing,\u201d Race Committee Chairman Lee Goddard said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rules are the rules.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has to be fair \u2013 yes it is disappointing the result \u2026 but in reality it\u2019s actually fair.\u201d<\/p>\n
An aerial shot showing the pole used to extend the spinnaker, which saw BNC\/Leon penalised.Source: SuppliedAlexis Loison and Lin Jiang of yacht Min River.Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
With a one-hour penalty applied to BNC, it left second-placed Min River to be elevated into overall race winner \u2013 after they finished 54 minutes behind.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot in my wildest dreams did I think this would come true for me,\u201d Min River co-skipper Jiang Lin said, after learning she had become the first woman to win the race, which was in its 80th edition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not have hopes of winning. You think about all the 100-something boats, all the big boats and superb sailors out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hasn\u2019t sunk in yet. <\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe I will wake up and say: \u2018Oh that was a dream\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n
Jiang was one of just 13 woman owners and skippers among the 128 vessels that left Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day.<\/p>\n
While it was elation for Jiang and her crew mates, there was devastation for BNC for incorrectly deploying a sheeting sail in the final 2NM.<\/p>\n
Comanche wins 2025 SYD-HOB line honours | 04:34<\/p>\n
\u201cWe made a mistake in the two last nautical miles before the finishing line,\u201d Quintin told media on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t know we were breaking a rule as we didn\u2019t know this rule.\u201d<\/p>\n
A protest was initially lodged by Min River after the race\u2019s end \u2013 but later withdrawn.<\/p>\n
Goddard then explained how the international jury then applied the penalty to BNC.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis morning, in hindsight and reflecting and seeing the photograph, BNC Leon then made the decision to declare to the race committee that they had broken a rule. Therefore, I am absolutely obligated as the race committee chairman to then protest,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat (one hour) penalty is absolutely proportionate. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve used their spinnaker in an inappropriate way. They did not deliberately do it. But it was photographed with two nautical miles to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
It had been celebrations for BNC-my::NET\/Leon duo Michel Quintin and Yann Rigal.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n
Comanche wins 5th Syd to Hobart | 01:52<\/p>\n
The rule currently states: \u201cNo sail sheet be sheeted over or through any device that exerts outward pressure on a sheet or clew of a sail at a point from which \u2026 a vertical line would fall outside the hull\u201d.<\/p>\n
Rigal later claimed he and Quintin were cleaning the vessel, knowing there would be media waiting at the finish line when the incorrect sail was used.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it was just the finishing line, we wanted to prepare the boat, to clean the boat \u2026 because we knew the media was here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided together, let\u2019s put the pole so I don\u2019t have to stand like that until the finishing line, so I can prepare the boat for the media and for everything after.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe speed is nearly the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brutal toll overnight as 33 yachts out | 02:23<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not the first time the overall winner has had the title stripped \u2013 with Celestial copping a 40-minute penalty for failing to maintain continuous radio watch after its distress beacon went off, costing them the overall handicap win to Ichi Ban.<\/p>\n
In other Sydney to Hobart results, Master Lock Comanche took the honours Sunday as the first boat to cross the finish line in Hobart, ending LawConnect\u2019s bid for a third straight win in the annual bluewater classic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This year\u2019s prestigious Sydney to Hobart yacht race title has been stripped from a French duo over an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382373,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[205658,205651,64,63,9203,205646,205647,205662,13038,205652,205653,205654,205666,205660,205649,205644,205664,205659,205657,205650,205661,43359,205663,205665,205648,85,205656,205645,205655],"class_list":{"0":"post-382372","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-aerial-shot","9":"tag-annual-bluewater-classic","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-catherine-healey","13":"tag-complicated-handicap-formula","14":"tag-crew-mates","15":"tag-distress-beacon","16":"tag-finish-line","17":"tag-finishing-line","18":"tag-french-duo","19":"tag-incorrect-sail","20":"tag-jiang-lin","21":"tag-lee-goddard","22":"tag-leon-michel-quintin","23":"tag-line-honourssailing","24":"tag-master-lock-inc-comanche","25":"tag-nautical-miles","26":"tag-photo-evidence","27":"tag-race-committee","28":"tag-race-title","29":"tag-race-winner","30":"tag-river-honours","31":"tag-sail-sheet","32":"tag-sheeting-sail","33":"tag-sports","34":"tag-woman-owners","35":"tag-yachts-outsailing","36":"tag-yann-rigal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}