LawConnect has opened up a lead over her supermaxi rivals in the early hours of the Sydney to Hobart race.
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The Sydney-based boat, owned and skippered by Christian Beck, headed the fleet of 88 after four hours of the 76th edition of the event.
It held a two-and-a-half nautical mile lead over Monaco's Black Jack, with the same margin to Hong Kong's SHK Scallywag100 .
LawConnect had been widely tipped to start the best of the supermaxis In the forecast conditions with the other two trying to stay in touch.
All 88 starters were still racing with no retirements reported.
The fleet could still face challenging conditions on Sunday evening with the possibility of stronger southerly winds.
Grant Wharington's 80-foot Stefan Racing was the boat closest to the supermaxis, three miles off third place.
Rupert Henry and Greg O'Shea's EORA was the early line honours frontrunner among the 17 boats in the Two-Handed division, which is part of the race for the first time.
They held a two nautical mile lead over Kayimai
SHK Scallywag 100 was the first boat out of Sydney heads, but soon surrendered the lead to LawConnect after it suffered a technical issue with its J2 foresail tack fitting.
It was a spinnaker start for the fleet, who were spread across four start lines.
They were watched by a significantly smaller spectator fleet than usual.
The fleet was reduced shortly before the race when the 49-foot Vamp withdrew because a crew member had close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID.
Two other boats pulled out earlier on Sunday.
Two-Handed boat Min River withdrew after owner Jiang Hui Lin, injured a hand and the 40-foot Protagonist pulled out after reporting a positive COVID test.
LDV Comanche's 2017 race record of one day nine hours 15 minutes 24 seconds won't be threatened, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting south to south-easterly winds through the event.
In the battle for overall honours the smaller boats are more likely to be favoured by the forecast according to Matt Allen, whose TP52 Ichi Ban is trying to become the first boat in 57 years to win the main handicap prize in back-to-back races.
Australian Associated Press
