Race record off the charts

IT will be super-fast but a new Sydney to Hobart race record looks unlikely this year despite a dream forecast. It appears all but the smallest and oldest boats in the fleet will dodge a pasting in the 628 nautical mile trek.

Top yachting meteorologist Roger Badham said there was nothing in the weather models to suggest the event would be similar to the 1998 race, which claimed six sailors.

He expects the fleet leaders to be safely docked in Hobart in fewer than two days.