Sydney-Hobart preview

James Boyd looks at what's going on for this year's annual blast south to Tasmania

The entry list is as international as ever with boats from New Zealand to Sweden, Norway, the US and UK. But one of the highlights of this year's race is that the Volvo Ocean Race has incorporated the Sydney-Hobart into its third leg. When they finish the Hobart race, the Volvo boats will suspend racing for three hours 30 minutes and will escorted down the Derwent river to Hobart where they will be obliged to spend a minimum of 90 minutes at the dock.
During the pitstop in Hobart no crew changes are allowed and no outside assistance is permitted except for "the repair of equipment provided by the Volvo Ocean Race organisers and the provision of hot food and drinks by the Race Committee." They will then continue on the remaining 1,420 miles to Auckland.

To accommodate the Volvo boats the CYCA have given them their own start line 200m ahead of the main line. The starting sequences will take place at the same time for both lines. To make up for their 200m advantage there is an extra mark they must run which is 200m further north of the main fleet's seaward turning mark (used to encourage the boats to stay offshore). They also have slightly different rules - for example infringements on the line will result in boats having to restart, but the Volvo boats will be given a time penalty which they will have to take at the seaward mark.

While the eight Volvo will feature strongly at the front of the pack, there are several larger boats taking part that are hungry for line honours and just maybe the elasped time record for the course. As a benchmark is the course the record, set by the Whitbread 60 Nokia in 1999, who covered the course in 1 day 19 hours 48 minutes and 2 seconds. That year Bob Miller's 147ft maxi ketch Mari Cha III taking part as an unofficial entry was one hour and 16 minutes faster. In comparison a 33ft yacht that year took 7 days, 10 hours, 4 minutes and 48 seconds.

Ludde Indvall, skipper of Nicorette, the line honours winner last year says that nobody will break Nokia's record unless the wind comes from the north "which it does once every 100 years".

The battle for line honours will be between the big boys Nicorette, George Snow's Brindabella and Grant Warrington's green-hulled Wild Thing, which like Nicorette graced the Solent with her presence during Cowes Week and the Fastnet. While Nicorette remains favourite and beat Wild Thing in the Fastnet, it is hard to know how she will stack up against the Scott Jutson-designed Brindabella, which has recently been lengthened by 5ft to 80ft and has been given a new keel. Two other contenders are John Kahlbetzer's Bumblebee 5, which recently won the Canon Big Boat Series in Sydney Harbour helmed by designer Iain Murray and Sean Langman's turboed Open 60 Grundig.

On handicap favourite must again be Kevan Pearce's Farr 47 SAP Ausmaid, which won the IMS division last year, their second win in the event. Other boats to watch out for are Terry Mullens' Farr 49 Sting, which as Yendys took top honours in 1999 and Ed Psaltis and Bob Thomas' Hich 35 AFR Midnight Runner which won in 1998. Another contender could be Ray Roberts' Holywood Boulevard, a brand new Farr 52 built in Malaysia by DK Yachts.