Wild Oats XI has taken line honours in the 2008 Sydney to Hobart yacht race for a record fourth consecutive time.
Skipper Mark Richards steered across the finishing line in Hobart at 9.34am (AEDT) on Sunday, followed by dozens of spectator craft.
The fleet of 100 in the 64th race left Sydney at 1pm (AEDT) on Boxing Day.
Wild Oats XI took the lead at about 7pm (AEDT) on Saturday and completed the race in the unofficial time of 1 day 20 hours and 34 minutes - a couple of hours outside its own race record.
Skandia finished second, one hour and seven minutes behind. Quest is still leading on handicap.
The skipper of Wild Oats XI Mark Richards says colliding with a shark on his way to a record fourth consecutive line honours win in the Sydney to Hobart race was a godsend.
Richards says Wild Oats XI underperformed after picking something up on its keel leaving Sydney Harbour on Friday.
He says having to stop and reverse to clear a shark from a rudder on Saturday night also served to remove whatever was dragging on the yacht's keel and was instrumental in being able to overhaul Skandia that night.
The ABC reports Wild Oats XI last year equalled the record of the three successive wins of Claude Plowman's Morna from 1946-48.
