Here’s Hint No. 1 for Winning: Stay Afloat

Australia’s Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race is grueling at the best of times. This week was close to the worst of times.

“I feel more tired than I’ve ever felt in my life,� Finland’s Ludde Ingvall said after winning the 628-nautical-mile event for the second time. “This is the toughest two days you can spend in ocean racing. It feels like three weeks.�

Wind speeds reached gale force during the race, and waves soared up to 30 feet, forcing 55 of the 116 starters to drop out.

Last year’s winner, Skandia, was among the vanquished, suffering a damaged keel and having crew members transferred by life rafts to a police rescue boat that trailed the yachtsmen.

Another favorite, Konica Minolta, which finished second in 2003, was smashed by a giant wave.

Even Ingvall, aboard Nicorette, was forced to improvise madly simply to stay afloat, with his crew using bolts from bunks to patch up ominous cracks in the yacht’s hull.

“We were boat-building all the way,� Ingvall said.

Trivia time: Cleveland Cavalier LeBron James, who turns 20 today, has yet to achieve what feat in an NBA game?

Not you, babe: Count Greg Cote of the Miami Herald among those not at all surprised by Indianapolis Colt quarterback Peyton Manning’s breaking Dan Marino’s single-season touchdown record.

“Manning getting the record was hardly news,� Cote wrote, “it’s been so expected for so long. It ranked third in a recent survey of inevitable occurrences, trailing only tomorrow’s sunrise and the next Cher Farewell Tour.�

Unrecognized: Vijay Singh won nine tournaments and $10 million in 2004, but John Daly thinks the Fijian golfer didn’t get his due.

“What Vijay did is remarkable,� Daly said at the recent Target World Challenge. “It’s the most unappreciated season of any human being that’s ever played the game of golf.�

This date in history: Call him a patriot if nothing else. Iowa offensive lineman Blake Larsen told the Iowa City Press-Citizen how he met his wife-to-be in his freshman year as a Hawkeye.

“One night I saw her, I made a joke, we ended up talking, went out on a date, and the rest is history,� Larsen said.

“I was intoxicated, and I started singing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ because she was wearing a red, white and blue outfit.�

Slap shot: NASA scientists say there is a 1-in-300 chance that a newly discovered asteroid could hit Earth in 2029.

That prompted Dave Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to observe: “NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman releases a statement that says in 2029 not even an asteroid will be able to break the solidarity of his league’s owners.�

Trivia answer: A triple-double.

And finally: Noting that San Francisco’s Barry Bonds, 40; Marquis Grissom, 37; and Moises Alou, 38; will be even older next season, Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle says the Giants “will combine the three cake celebrations into one event due to concern over global warming.�