John Winning Jr has already set his sights on a different iconic yacht race after falling seconds short of line honours success in the Sydney to Hobart.
The Sydney businessman was chasing back-to-back victories with supermaxi Andoo Comanche in this year's 628-nautical-mile bluewater classic.
Despite leading into the River Derwent, pre-race favourite Comanche was pipped by LawConnect by just 51 seconds - the second smallest margin in race history.
Owner and skipper Winning Jr, whose two-year lease on the 100-foot vessel will soon expire, said a terrible Boxing Day start was to blame.
"We thought we got fouled on the way out," he said.
"We got back in the lead thanks to the boat and its amazing speed."
Winning Jr said the yacht also lost valuable time after being "stuck" in a rain cloud for 10 hours.
"Someone pointed out the Rolex flag wrapped around the runner a couple of times," he said.
"That is literally the boat doing 360s trying to get out of what is the inside of a tornado."
The unconventional Winning Jr, who has skydived some 500 times, said he was not planning to return for next year's Sydney to Hobart.
"(I'm) keen to do an America’s Cup and other side projects," he said.
Comanche was in trouble when winds dried up in the fickle River Derwent, a moment Winning Jr described as perhaps the universe levelling things out after their 2022 success.
"This boat hates having no wind. But I think we lost it well before that," he added.
"We had a chance to still regain the victory at the end and somehow slipped on that as well.
"It wasn’t our finest day sailing."
Winning Jnr gave a lengthy address to crew, which included his sister Jamie and father John Sr, after Comanche was safely secured at Hobart's Constitution Dock on Thursday morning.
"I was talking to (the boat during the race) like it was a plant or a human," he said.
"We’ve put a lot of love into it and she’s given us so much in return.
"The memories we’ll cherish forever and we’ll let someone else have some memories with it."
