Sail-World News – the eve of the 2014 Sydney Hobart

by Rob Kothe and the Sail-World Team on 25 Dec 2014 The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is unique, it’s a sailing event embraced by Sydney, Australia and the world in a way that occurs with no other sailing event.

This year Sail-World's coverage will be the biggest and best yet, with the live start, lots of video interviews, audio commentary, our best ever streaming HF radio, on all broadcast on our nine racing sites world-wide.

With a first night forecast of 35 knot southerlies and steep seas, the focus for the Supermaxis is on survival.

Mark Richards the skipper of Wild Oats XI, the pre-race favourite said yesterday 'we want to get thru the first night without breaking the boat. Anyone who gets thru the first night will be in with a shot.

David Witt the sailing master of Syd Fischer's Ragamuffin 100 says reliability is the key. He predicts the new Rags, now repaired after the major structural failure will go well. 'We are the lightest 100 on the planet. As long as we stay together that will be the trick.

'On the reliable factor, we are probably just one pip ahead of Comanche, that is all.'

Kwn Read recognises the issue 'On the first night, will there will be too much upwind to be able to send it? It absolutely plays on my mind as the skipper this boat is untested. We’re completely cutting edge, and when it's cutting edge it’s a Formula 1 race car that blows up its engine on the first lap.

Of course there is way more too this race that the five supermaxis, a fact pointed out endlessly in emails, skypes, and texts. The mainstream media will lose interest after the line honours winners reach Hobart but for us the real battle is for the Tattersall's Cup.

But remember this race will not be over for five days or so. The first two will inevitably focus on the fleet leaders, the next two on the Tattersall's Cup, the battle for the handicap honours and the last on the tail gunners, the boats who spent the most quality time on the water and who might once again be out there for New Year.

We once again remind everyone not to get to overwrought about computer predictions on handicap positions, as these ignore the fact that most races are won and lost in the last 40 miles from Tasman Light, then across Storm Bay and up past the Iron Pot and into the River Derwent proper.

It does make us smile, when we read all the messages about we don’t care about the Supermaxis, the America's Cup, the Volvo ocean race etc. because the fact is you do care, if you didn’t you would not make these our top rating subjects.

In this global issue which is almost all about the Hobart race we also bring you the good news from Chris Nicholson's Team Vestas Wind now steaming towards Malaysia on a Maersk container ship. The coverage from Brian Carlin, the embedded reporter on Vestas has been outstanding. Expect to see Carlin's name in media circles sailing or otherwise for years to come, he is bloody star.

It’s Christmas and under the Sail-World tree are our Shiny new sites, you can read below, the alternate configurations in which you can view the new faster, cleaner, simpler to navigate Sail-World sites.

We hope you have had wonderful Christmas so far and that 2015 brings you and yours everything you wish for and more.