Sydney sailor Sam Haynes rued his lack of luck after becoming the first casualty of this year's Sydney to Hobart race.

Sydney sailor Sam Haynes was ruing his bad luck after Celestial became the first casualty of this year's Sydney to Hobart - the second straight year the boat has been forced to retire.

A break to the gooseneck - which holds the boom to the mast on the mainsail - prompted Haynes to pull his 46-footer out of the race.

She was the first of the 88 starters to retire, though she was joined on Tuesday morning by the 42-foot Accenture Yeah Baby, which suffered gear failure.

Celestial turned around from Ulladulla on the NSW south coast and arrived back in Sydney around 9:30am AEDT Tuesday.

In 2010 the boat completed more of the course before pulling into Eden after mainsail damage.

Haynes became aware of the problem to his gooseneck around 7:30pm AEDT on Monday, as the southerly front hit the fleet.

While the boat continued to race for a few hours, he recognised it wouldn't be possible to complete the course given the nature of the damage.

"It's just a vital part of the rig and that was it, game over," Haynes said upon the boat's arrival back in Sydney.

"It's gutting really, it's pretty hard to take."

Haynes said his crew of 12 had been well prepared for the race and the rig had been checked and fully serviced beforehand.

"The boat has done plenty of miles, it does all the races, so it's one of those things it's just really super bad luck, I think," Haynes said.

His dispiriting experiences of the past two years haven't discouraged him from having another crack.

"It's a pretty big challenge so yeah, definitely," Haynes said.

"It's a mountain to climb. It's a great race.

"We'll probably do it again next year I guess.

"At the moment that seems like a long way away."

Asked if he hoped it would be a case of third time lucky next year, Haynes said:

"Hopefully.

"Luck plays a big part in all these things."