SYDNEY: Andoo Comanche took a penalty turn inside the opening 20 minutes of the Sydney Hobart yacht race on Monday but still managed to get ahead of the pack, with fellow contenders LawConnect, Black Jack and Wild Oats close behind.

Wild Oats also took a penalty turn in an action-packed start that allowed LawCo­nnect to grab the early advantage, only for Comanche to surge ahead after taking the wide line.

The annual 628 nautical-mile (1,170-km) race in the Tasman Sea from Sydney and across Bass Strait to Hobart is one of the world’s most difficult yachting events.

A fleet of 109 had lined up for the race after heavy early morning fog on Sydney Harbour, with Comanche’s 2017 line honours race record of one day, nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds up for grabs in favourable winds.

The yachts are set to cross the finish line on Wednesday.

“We always think we’re going to be the best boat out there and do as well as we can,” Comanche skipper John Winning said ahead of the race. “We’ll just try and outsail the others and win it on that.”

Mark Richards, skipper of nine-time line honours-winning supermaxi Wild Oats, said his crew was buoyant after preparing for exactly these conditions.

“We put all our eggs in one basket and we put all our money on black for a downwind forecast and we have ended up getting it,” he told public broadcaster ABC. “I think Wild Oats is going to be very fast. “The world is going to find out who is the fastest boat downwind. Is it Comanche? Is it Black Jack? Is it LawConnect? Or is it Wild Oats? The weather’s fantastic and we couldn’t have asked for a better forecast.”

Weather is a critical factor in the race, which was first held in 1945.

Though the supermaxis are expected to be powered by northerly winds to a quick finish as early as Tuesday, slower mid- to small-sized boats will still be in the water in the following days facing possible gales and changes in wind direction.

In 1998, when a deep depression exploded over the fleet in the Bass Strait, six men died, five boats sank and 55 sailors were rescued.

Black Jack took line honours last year after a tight tussle with LawConnect, ending years of frustrating near misses to cross the finish line on the River Derwent after two days, 12 hours, 37min and 17sec.

Ichi Ban, which is not racing this year, was the 2021 winner of the overall handicap prize, which takes into account the yachts’ sizes. The boat pipped rival Celestial in a race where dangerous waves and weather conditions saw many withdraw.

International boats are making a return after the race was cancelled in 2020 for the first time due to the pandemic, and Covid hit the fleet last year.

Entrants come from Germany (Orione), Hong Kong (Antipodes), Hungary (Cassi­opeia 68), New Caledonia (Eye Candy and Poulpito), New Zealand (Caro), Britain (Sunrise) and the United States (Warrior Won).

Sunrise is a proven ocean racer, winning the 2021 Fastnet Race in Britain, while Caro has been tip­p­ed to take overall handicap honours, although skipper Max Klink played down his prospects ahead of the race saying: “I do not think we are the favourite.”

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2022