Battered after six days at sea, veteran NSW yacht Freyja crossed the Sydney to Hobart finish line on New Year's Day, bringing a dramatic race to a close.
The 11-metre wooden ketch, built in 1945 and one of the oldest boats in the field, was the last to dock in Hobart on Monday morning.
While northeasterly winds set up line honours winner LDV Comanche's race record victory, the smaller boats copped a pounding as conditions turned sour over the weekend.
It was so rough down Tasmania's east coast, Freyja was forced to take shelter.
"We got hammered and we had to pull out and go into Wineglass Bay for a couple of hours," assistant navigator Ernie Thirkell said.
"We got to (Tasman) Island - the wind died down and we were going backwards.
"Then we got caught in another lull going up the river. It was hard."
Freyja's time of five days and just over 19 hours was nearly four times more than that of LDV Comanche.
"We were the first line honours in 2018," 75-year-old Thirkell quipped, describing finishing the 628-nautical mile race as a moral victory.
A race jury controversially awarded LDV Comanche the win on Thursday after the supermaxi's crew lodged a protest against rival Wild Oats XI.
Skippered by Mark Richards, Wild Oats XI crossed the line 26 minutes ahead of LDV Comanche but was penalised an hour for breaching sailing rules over a near collision between the pair on Boxing Day in Sydney Harbour.
LDV Comanche slashed more than four hours off the race record set in 2016 by Perpetual LOYAL - racing this year as InfoTrack - who suffered an embarrassing end to the 2017 event.
The supermaxi's crew didn't lodge paperwork on time and dropped from fourth to 24th in line honours.
Ichi Ban took out the handicap win, giving Matt Allen his maiden Tattersall's Cup in 28 attempts.
