Match race ago-go

Rolex Sydney Hobart gets underway. Thedailysail reports from the race course

The 59th Rolex Sydney-Hobart yacht race got underway in a 10-12 knot southeasterly breeze under an overcast sky.

56 boats took the wide start line located inside Sydney Harbour, 400m north of Shark Island between Steel Point and Bradley Point. The fleet was one short - Geoffrey Hill's MKL49 Strewth withdrew prior to the start with engine problems.

All eyes were on the match race between the supermaxis. The rivalry between these two boats has been hyped heavily in the build-up to the Rolex Sydney-Hobart. Aside from Stewart Thwaites' Zana coming from New Zealand while Grant Wharington's Skandia is from Australia, both boats are almost identical in length but otherwise completely different.

The duo didn't fail to deliver. Immediately after crossing the start line Wharington aggressively headed up, positioning his giant to weather of Zana, driven across the line by former Team New Zealander Cameron Appleton.

The first leg to the Rolex mark just inside of the Heads provided a beam reach for the boats with the varied types of craft in the fleet running different sail combinations. The supermaxis were under full main, jibtop and staysail, the four Volvo 60s sailing deeper under Code Zeros with Grundig and several of the smaller boats flying large asymmetrics. The performance of Sean Langman's super-skiff was particularly impressive tearing down the northern side of the course. Between Grundig and the supermaxis was Ludde Ingvall's maxi Nicorette also under masthead asymmetric heavily emblazoned with the slogan 'welcome to the Nicorette country' and depicting a cigarette/man being chased across the Arizona outback.

They were followed by George Snow's Scott Jutson designed maxi Brindabella and the Volvo 60s led by Andrew Short Marine (the former djuice race boat).

Out of the heads Skandia was still leading Zana.

Of note was the enormous spectator fleet. Estimates are being bandied about of more than 3,000 craft being out on the water from superyachts to jetskis and dinghies, many chasing the fleet out of the Heads. While the size of spectator fleet was large, the size of this Hobart fleet this year is small - 56 compared to 271 for the 50th anniversary event in 1994. This downsizing is partly because this is not an anniversary race and in 1998 the event coincided with the worst storm in its 54 year history. The 'Bass Strait Bomb' that year saw 80 knot winds and 20m seas. The severe weather resulted in six crew being lost among them British Olympic sailor Glyn Charles. Of the 115 starters 71 retired, 56 crew were airlifted off their boats. Since the Inquiry following the 1998 race, the event organisers, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, have been forced to raise their safety requirements for the race and as a result the cost of entry has dramatically increased.