Comanche on war path

SKIPPER Jim Cooney has bought in one of the world’s top navigators to fill the shoes of an injured member of his brains trust for his supermaxi Comanche’s defence of the Sydney to Hobart line honours title.

Veteran round-the-world navigator Simon Fisher has been added to the crew list of one of the most star-studded teams in the race south this year.

He is replacing American Stan Honey, sidelined with a hamstring injury, who has played a hand in the success of numerous boats, including Perpetual Loyal’s fastest time win in 2011 and LDV Comanche’s victory just a year ago.

“We’re very happy to have him aboard. It was good to get him,’’ said Cooney of Fisher, who will race alongside America’s Cup and Volvo round-theworld big names aboard the 100-footer.

Comanche’s major rivals this time will all race in today’s annual Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour.

But Cooney has opted to by- pass the event, preferring to continue training alone for the Boxing Day Sydney-Hobart start.

“The major difference for us from last year to this year is the amount of preparation,’’ said Cooney of a program that involves contesting ever major offshore lead-up race to the Sydney-Hobart while also spending hours training and preparing for the race south.

A year ago, Cooney only took possession of Comanche in the final weeks heading up to the Hobart race start.

Despite the short lead-in, he and his team claimed the fastest time honours when Wild Oats X1 incurred a time penalty for an infringement soon after the start of the race.

Wild Oats X1, Scallywag, InfoTrack and Black Jack headline the fleet for today’s Big Boat race — the final time they will meet before the starting canon fires on Boxing Day.

The short harbour course helps forecast the yacht most likely to claim the honour of clearing Sydney Heads and leading the fleet at the start of its journey south on Boxing Day.