Investec LOYAL crossed the line first on Wednesday, but the result was placed under protest by the race committee, which alleged Investec Loyal had used a television helicopter pilot to spy on defending champion Wild Oats XI.
The protest under rule 41 was heard today by the jury, which ruled that the information on Wild Oats XI's sails received by the winning yacht did not affect the race outcome and was not done to seek any unfair advantage.
Last year, the race committee protested against Wild Oats XI for allegedly not radioing in before crossing Bass Strait, but the protest was also later dismissed.
In an audio recording, Investec Loyal tactician Michael Coxon was heard asking a media helicopter pilot: "Can you confirm, does Wild Oats have their trysail up? What colour is the mainsail they've got up?"
Coxon was interested because he is chief executive of the company that supplied the sails to Wild Oats XI and asked out of concern about his business reputation.
Investec LOYAL skipper Anthony Bell said he relieved that the protest was dismissed.
"There's rules in every sport and while it wasn't ideal to have to go through this, I think that ultimately it gets beyond any question and whatever those questions were that were asked have been properly answered," Bell said.
"If there is any doubt about it, it's probably better off to have it out like it is and have a panel of peers to come up with the answers to what that was."
Wild Oats XI skipper Mark Richards said before the jury met that he hoped "common sense will prevail" and that his yacht and crew would refuse to be presented with the trophy if Investec LOYAL was disqualified.
"It was a great race, great for the sport, Richards said. "It's (the protest) a real shame. We wouldn't accept it, it wouldn't be the right outcome at all."
In a dramatic final day on Wednesday, Investec LOYAL overtook Wild Oats XI midafternoon and held on in a tight, tactical tussle to reverse last year's finishing order, crossing the line just ahead of its rival after 628 nautical miles of racing.
The 100-foot Investec LOYAL, with a crew including former Australia rugby internationals Phil Kearns and Phil Waugh, finished at 7.17pm local time, 2 days, 6 hours, 14 minutes, 18 seconds after leaving Sydney.
The race was the first since 1997 to still be actively contested in the Derwent River, which leads to the finish line off Constitution Dock in Hobart, capital of the island state of Tasmania.
Wild Oats XI led for most of the race but finished three minutes, eight seconds behind Investec LOYAL. The finish was the closest in a generation but well outside the narrowest margin in the race's history: the seven-second gap between Condor of Bermuda and Apollo in 1982.
Lahana crossed the line in third place, more than six hours after Wild Oats XI, while Loki was fourth.
"It was one of the great experiences in my life," Bell said. "The whole thing from the very start, right through to the finish line was exhilarating."
Coxon said credit for the win belonged to Investec LOYAL's American navigator.
"The difference is a gentleman called Stan Honey," he said. "He is an absolute legend, just amazing. His knowledge of weather and weather routing and the information he provides to me ... at the end of the day he is just so good."
The yachts remained in sight of each other in the final hours of the race, and were seldom separated by more than a third of a mile. Wild Oats XI set the race record in 2005 and showed greater speed at times, but Investec LOYAL was able to cover its every move in the last 20 miles.
Just over three days into the race, 10 yachts had finished and there had been 11 retirements from the original 88-yacht fleet that left Sydney Harbour on Monday.
The most illustrious finisher today was 84-year-old skipper Syd Fischer's Ragamuffin in 10th place. Fischer won line honours twice - in 1988 and 1990 - with a different version of Ragamuffin and has completed 43 Sydney to Hobart races.
