Rough conditions in the 76th annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race has forced almost a quarter of the field to retire. _StephAnderson 9News MORE:
Late last night the Tasmania government made the decision to allow sailors to take part in the event and receive their results mid-race.
Several teams will be sweating if a crew member tests positive, which will see the boat retire immediately and be required to turn back to NSW. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology predicts gusting winds on this afternoon during the start in Sydney Harbour, with the possibility of some thunderstorm activity offshore.
In 2017, Comanche set the race record after finishing in 1 day, 9 hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds, beating Perpetual Loyal's record of 1 day, 13 hours, 31 minutes and 20 seconds, set the previous year. With no recent racing form, she is something of an unknown quantity, though the boat took line honours in 2009 when named Alfa Romeo and finished third, second and fifth from 2017 to 2019 respectively.
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