The Australian super maxi, skippered by owner Grant Wharington, crossed the finish line with an elapsed time of 2:15:14:06 for the 628nm Tasman Sea crossing.

That time left Skandia some 20 hours adrift of the race record, set by the Volvo 60 Nokia in the heavy winds of the 1999 event. However she has set other notable benchmarks, including the fact that she is the first yacht with a canting keel to take Sydney Hobart line honours. Wharington expects that there will be as many as 10 more yachts with canting keels in next year’s event.

Second placed super maxi Zana, with New Zealander Stewart Thwaites at the helm, was just three minutes adrift from Skandia as the yachts entered Storm Bay. But the Australian entry accelerated ahead over the remaining 30 miles, building a 34-minute lead that disguised the close duelling that the pair had enjoyed earlier in the race. Zana halved the lead as the pair tacked against an ebb tide and light northerly wind up the Derwent River but did not have enough time to close the defecit before Skandia took the line.

Wharington has stated that the victory is an important step in his Volvo Ocean Race campaign and that he would be bringing his super maxi back for the 2004 Rolex Sydney Hobart event.