INTERNATIONAL: Black Jack beat LawConnect and SHK Scallywag to claim line honours in the Sydney Hobart yacht race in the early hours of Wednesday, a morning after battling some of the toughest conditions in the event's recent history.

Mark Bradford has stated: "You know, we had a lot of infrastructure behind the tactical side of the race, and I feel like we did a pretty good job ultimately."

The three 100-footers were involved in an intense tussle for the lead before SHK Scallywag encountered problems, leaving Black Jack and LawConnect to fight it out for victory.

Black Jack, skippered by Mark Bradford, took a six nautical-mile (11.1-km) lead over LawConnect on Tuesday morning and crossed the finish line in Hobart at 1:37 am local time.

Weather wreaked havoc throughout the 628 nautical-mile (1,170-km) course as heavy winds of up to 30 knots forced more than a third of the 88 entrants to retire from the race, which was among the slowest in the competition's history.

Last year's edition of the race was cancelled due to COVID-19.