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A18 SPORTS
Saturday 28 december 2019

Competitors, back, race past spectators at the start of the 75th
Sydney Hobart yacht race in Sydney Harbour, Thursday, Dec.
26, 2019.
Associated Press
Comanche wins 75th

Sydney to Hobart race,

Italy's Dominik Paris, winner of an alpine ski, men's World Cup downhill, celebrates on the podium InfoTrack in 2nd
with second-placed Switzerland's Beat Feuz, left, and third-placed Austria's Matthias Mayer, in
Bormio, Italy, Friday, Dec. 27, 2019.
Associated Press HOBART, Australia (AP) — after taking the wider
'I own this track': Paris feels Comanche won the 75th Bass Strait route to pick up
edition of the Sydney to winds.
Hobart yacht race on Sat-
"It was a long night. Ev-
at home on Stelvio course urday by claiming line hon- erybody is pretty tired,"
ors for the third time.
Cooney said. "We treat-
The Jim Cooney and Sa-
ed the race as a sprint,
mantha Grant-skippered we didn't take too many
BORMIO, Italy (AP) — Gardena, last Saturday fourth-place Aleksander super maxi made the most breaks. We wanted crew
Dominik Paris mastered the due to heavy snowfall. Aamodt Kilde of Norway, of strong overnight winds on deck all the time. It was
Stelvio course once again While Friday's race was re- finished more than a sec- to cross the River Derwent relief more than elation."
on Friday, becoming the duced to 2.95 kilometers, ond off the pace. finish line just after 7:30 a.m. Comanche ran into more
first skier to win three con- the regular full-length 3.23K Feuz remained in the lead local time. problems near Tasman Is-
secutive downhill races Stelvio downhill is sched- of the discipline standings Comanche earlier broke land, where an unknown
on one of the World Cup's uled for Saturday. with 240 points, with Paris away from a five-strong object wrapped around
most demanding tracks. Racing in cloudy conditions closing in on 204. pack of super maxis down the yacht's rudder ren-
The Italian won a shortened on a bumpy course, Paris The Italian also climbed Tasmania's east coast hav- dered it immobile.
race with a gutsy run, de- attacked from top to bot- to second in the overall ing taken a wider route "We were in a little bit of
feating Switzerland's Beat tom, pushing all the way as World Cup standings, 30 across Bass Strait on Friday. drama for a short period of
Feuz and Austrian Matthias he came off the ideal race points behind leader Hen- She stalled at one stage on time," Cooney said.
Mayer. line several times. rik Kristoffersen. The Norwe- a windless River Derwent Comanche's previous wins
"I feel a bit like the owner of "It wasn't my best-ever run gian does not compete in before crossing the line in a were in 2015 and 2017, the
this track. On this track it's in Bormio, but for sure one downhills. time of 1 day, 18 hours, 30 latter coming in race-re-
as if I were really at home," of the most brutal ones. It Austria's Vincent Kriech- minutes and 24 seconds. cord time of 1 day, 9 hours,
Paris said. was on the limit," said Paris, mayr, who won a super-G " That was dramatic. That 15 minutes after Wild Oats
It was his 13th downhill win, who won the super-G world in Val Gardena last week, was 30 minutes of my life XI was stripped of the title in
and fourth in Bormio. He title last season. caught a bump at full that I'll never get back. It a post-race protest.
also triumphed in 2017 and "I lost some time when I speed and lost his left ski was really very stressful," Minerva became the fleet's
2018, and won the first race bumped against a gate," halfway down his run, but Cooney said. third retirement overnight,
of his career here, in 2012. he added. "When you the Austrian avoided a InfoTrack, which was the reducing the number of
"Each race is a new chal- achieve these results, it's crash. first yacht out of Sydney yachts in the race to 154.q
lenge. I put everything on even more beautiful to look Getting his third top-10 Harbour on Thursday, fin-
the track to do the best for the limit." result of the season, Tra- ished second, about 45
possible, you never know Feuz, who won the previous vis Ganong led the U.S. ski minutes behind Coman-
how it ends and this is the downhill in Beaver Creek team in eighth, 1.48 off the che. The three other super
beauty of sport," Paris said. three weeks ago, came up lead. The race weekend in maxis filled out the top
The race replaced the 0.39 seconds short, while Bormio will be concluded five placings — nine-time
downhill that was canceled Mayer trailed by 0.42. by an Alpine combined line honors champion Wild
in another Italian resort, Val The rest of the field, led by event on Sunday.q Oats XI was third, Scally-
wag fourth, just 38 seconds
behind, and Black Jack
fifth.
Comanche's celebrations
were subdued at Hobart's
Constitution Dock after
several nights of intense
racing.
The yacht fell behind on Fri-
day morning but regained
the lead in the afternoon