The Phil Turner-owned, mostly Tasmanian-manned craft finished the cherished race with a time of 19:30:52.

This eclipsed a record previously held by Crotty Legal & Dental, set in 2008, by one hour, 31 minutes and 42 seconds.

Alive was skippered by Duncan Hine; he said the crew handled the race well.

"The crew was legendary. There were tough bits in the race - last night for about six hours, we had 40 knots on the nose, which was heavy going but overall, it was a lot of fun, and it's a lovely thing to get a good race in to finish up the year," Hine said.

Launceston to Hobart race director Ron Bugg said after a hectic time for racing, he was thrilled with the outcome of the race.

"It's been fantastic to have Alive sailing in the race," he said.

"It's a great result for them especially considering the hectic night last night.

"We now need the breeze to stay in for the rest of the fleet on the water.

"Jazz Player has a strong chance of taking out all of the handicap categories, but at the moment the weather may be against them."

Alive crew member and Derwent Sailing Squadron Commodore Scott Brain said the team was concerned for the smaller vessels at sea during Sunday night's tough conditions.

"The race was interesting but quite difficult at times" Brain said.

"We've been on the breeze for nearly 90 per cent of the race, through Banks Strait in the rain, then out of Banks Strait we encountered a south easterly, then the wind swung around to the north west extremely hard, which is when I think the problems occurred for the 36-footers last night."