SYDNEY, Australia -- Australian super maxi Skandia claimed line honors in the 59th Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race Monday after holding off New Zealand rival Zana in a tense tactical battle to the finishing line.

Skandia sailed slowly across the line in the Derwent River in the island state of Tasmania just after 4 a.m. (5 p.m. GMT Sunday) to record a time of 2 days, 15 hours 14 minutes and 6 seconds, almost a day outside the race record.

Melbourne property developer Grant Wharington tacked his blue-hulled boat more than a dozen times in the final minutes as he sought one last puff of wind to carry it across the finish line before dawn in Hobart.

Wellington businessman Stewart Thwaites' Zana finished 14 minutes behind Skandia, which became the first Australian yacht to win the Sydney-Hobart race since 1997.

"How good is that," said Wharington, who sold his family home to help finance his multimillion-dollar boat.

Skandia and Zana, two state-of-the-art 30-meter (98-foot) carbon fiber boats, had sailed within sight of each other for most of the 630-nautical mile race, with the New Zealand yacht briefly leading Skandia not long after the start Friday.

But Wharington fought back, holding off multiple challenges from Zana in an engrossing tactical battle between the two biggest boats to compete in the race and claiming his first line honors victory in his 16th Sydney-Hobart.

"We could see them the whole way except for 30 minutes this morning," he said of Zana. "It could have gone either way."

Thwaites said he was disappointed to finish behind Skandia but happy with his new boat and crew.

"Being that close is hard in some ways because you go through all the what-ifs, but it's a lot better than being a long way back," Thwaites said.

The skiff-like Australian yacht Grundig crossed in third place about four hours later. Sean Langman's 66-foot (20-meter) Grundig is built for downwind conditions but was a surprise leader Friday night.

Skandia's highly experienced crew had to endure several anxious moments during the race.

The boat crossed the notoriously rough Bass Strait between the Australian mainland and Tasmania in headwinds of up to 30 knots, conditions Skandia sailing master Ian Walker described as "horrendous".

Bass Strait claimed a high-profile victim Sunday when Swedish maxi Nicorette, the 2000 winner, suffered damage to its sophisticated new keel and hull while ploughing through three-meter seas.

Skandia was lucky to avoid damage when it hit a huge sunfish just below the surface in Bass Strait on Saturday. Its crew fashioned makeshift repairs by jamming screwdrivers into cracks appearing in a carbon fibre steering pillar Sunday.

Melbourne 47-footer Dysons Cobb & Co, which won the 1993 race as Ninety Seven, was dismasted later Monday off Tasmania.

Sydney 10-meter (38-foot) Dodo withdrew late Saturday with mainsail damage, small Australian yacht Strewth was unable to make the start because of a broken starter motor and local boat Obsession will not be awarded a finish time for failing to report its position, leaving 52 boats from an original fleet of 57.

Prevailing headwinds meant Danish downwind flyer Nokia's 1999 race record of 1 day, 19 hours, 48 minutes and 2 seconds was never under threat, and Skandia's fairly slow time leaves it with little chance of claiming handicap honors on corrected time.

Several smaller boats, some still more than 200 miles from the finish, are in contention for overall honors.