Tactics in play early for Sydney to Hobart

THE “Fab Four” – the quartet of multi million-dollar ocean racers favoured to dominate the Sydney to Hobart – won’t compete against each other until the starting cannon fires on Boxing Day.

InfoTrack, which last year smashed the race record as Perpetual Loyal, is avoiding rivals until the 1pm start.

Neville Crichton and his team on LDV Comanche, which won line honours in 2015, are adopting the same approach.

“We start training on our own,” Crichton said of his 100footer, borrowed from Netscape founder Jim Clark.

“We won’t be doing any races at all, just training.”

InfoTrack skipper Christian Beck said he and his crew would also use private training sessions, rather than racing, to prepare for the main event.

A novice to offshore racing, Beck said his personal goal was to win the race up the harbour and through Sydney Heads on Boxing Day.

Under skipper Anthony Bell, Perpetual Loyal achieved this feat last year before slashing five hours off Wild Oats’ race record with her new mark of one day 13 hours.

While the past two winners of the Sydney to Hobart will miss today’s Big Boat Challenge, Wild Oats and Black Jack will contest the annual curtain-raiser to the Sydney to Hobart.

Wild Oats, an eight-time line honours champion, and Black Jack, which won the Hobart race as Alfa Romeo in 2009, have been trading blows for months.

This is the latest foray for the two boats expected to dominate the Sydney to Hobart in pretty much anything except strong winds – the weather window for InfoTrack and LDV Comanche.

In a race on Saturday, Wild Oats pipped Black Jack by about three minutes.

A fleet of about 100 yachts is set to contest the 73rd Sydney to Hobart.

Veteran sailor Gordon Ingate will fire the start cannon and skipper John Keelty the warning gun.