Smaller yachts boosted

A SPECTACULAR and colourful spinnaker start is on the cards for the Sydney to Hobart, when yachts half the size of the fleet frontrunners will be the early favourites to outmuscle their bigger rivals in the race for the overall win.

But the general consensus among top navigators aboard the line honours favourites is that the race record is safe for another year. The stumbling block to a record is the longrange forecast of lightish winds at the start and finish.

“I think it needs a bit more in it,” LDV Comanche navigator Stan Honey said.

But happy with the forecast are the mid-sized yachts in the fleet, which are now in the box seat to claim a major share of the limelight.