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American supermaxi Comanche took line honours in the Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race just before midnight last night. The Jim Clark-owned 100footer crossed the finish line at Hobart’s Constitution Dock in 2 days 8 hours 58 minutes and 30 seconds.

It was the slowest line-honours winning time since 2009 — coincidentally the last time a foreign boat — New Zealander Neville Crichton’s Alfa Romeo — won the race, news. com.au reported early this morning.

Comanche’s win was also the first by a United States boat since 1998.

Last year on race debut, Comanche came second to defending champion Wild Oats XI, which in 2015 retired on day one with sail damage.

But the race was far from smooth sailing for Clark’s boat. On Saturday, it hit something in the water and suffered a damaged rudder and dagger board, which caused early steering problems.

That prompted the boat to turn back to Sydney, surrendering the lead to fellow US yacht Rambler. The crew made repairs and decided to push on.

After a 13-hour chase, Comanche overtook Rambler and held the lead all the way to Hobart. Rambler remained on track to finish second.

Earlier last night, as Comanche headed up the Derwent River towards Constitution Dock. the supermaxi’s pace had dropped to less than eight knots.

Earlier forecasts that it would cross the finish line between 10pm and 11pm (NZ time) blew out as the wind weakened following a torrid race that had forced more than 30 boats to retire among the 108-yacht field.

After Saturday’s damage, Comanche’s crew adapted, skipper Ken Read said. They “learned how to sail the boat a little differently, without a dagger board [and] with only part of a rudder”.