Mustafa Ingham and his Infotrack team-mates finished fourth in the closest battle for line honours in the 73-year history of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race.

Christian Beck’s 100-foot yacht completed the 628 nautical-mile course yesterday morning in an elapsed time of one day, 19hrs 49min 31sec after setting sail from Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day.

Wild Oats XI claimed line honours for a record ninth time, and with it the JH Illingworth Trophy, after covering the distance in an elapsed time of one day 19hr 7min 21sec

Black Jack was second in an elapsed time of one day 19hr 35min 6sec followed by race record-holder Comanche, a minute and three seconds slower.

Ingham was making his offshore racing debut on board Beck’s super maxi, having obtained his offshore yachtmaster status after completing an apprenticeship at the Volvo Ocean Race Academy last summer.

n Sebastian Kempe made a flying start during the opening races of Orange Bowl International Youth Regatta in Miami, Florida, yesterday. He won all three races contested in the Optimist class to take the early lead in an overall fleet of 212.