Light winds to slow fleet
Forecast opens up the race for Sydney-Hobart handicap honours
SAILING: Queensland Supermaxi Black Jack grabbed the early advantage at the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race yesterday as the fleet prepared for a tactically challenging journey south.
Black Jack led the 85-strong fleet out of Sydney Harbour, beating supermaxi rivals InfoTrack and Wild Oats X to the first rounding mark in the 74th edition of the 628-nautical-mile (1162km) race.
Line honours favourite Comanche rounded the mark in sixth but quickly made up ground as she got into clear water and away from the huge spectator fleet.
The fleet set out in 10-12 knots of east to north-easterly breezes and relatively calm seas. The winds were expected to pick up to 25 to 30 knots overnight but the fleet was tipped to encounter lighter and trickier conditions today.
Ichi Ban skipper Matt Allen said the forecast had blown the battle for handicap honours wide open.
Allen is striving to become the first back-to-back winner of the handicap honours in 54 years after Ichi Ban’s 2017 Sydney to Hobart triumph.
Earlier in the week, Allen was confident the winner would come from the the mid-range boats around Ichi Ban’s length.
But he felt the battle had opened up to a greater variety of yachts following the latest weather forecast turning it into a tactical battle rather than one based on boat speed.
“The weather conditions have really been slowing down for the entire fleet,” Allen said yesterday.
“We are really concerned that the transition we are going to get tomorrow and (on) the 28th is really going to slow the whole fleet.
“So we might be the favourite with the odds, but I think it is really wide open for the overall winner of this year’s race.
“It is going to be really hard work.
“Tonight will be really fast and it will slow down eventually.
“But then through the course of tomorrow it is going to be about people avoiding the areas of no wind.
“And there is going to be lots of areas of no wind on this race track right across the whole fleet.
“It is going to be (about) trying to keep the boats moving through the early hours of the morning right across the 27th and 28th. I think the leaderboard is going to change a lot through the course of this race.”
Army sailing boat Gun Runner, the smallest vessel in the fleet, was the last competitor to clear the Heads.