Not even Maritimo 100’s crew expect the supermaxi will push her rivals for Sydney to Hobart line honours.
But with the five-star luxury they’ll enjoy on board, you mightn’t blame the sailors for just wanting to enjoy the trip.
Entering her first Sydney-Hobart, Maritimo is one of only two 100ft supermaxis made by the British luxury yacht designer Oyster. The other, Serafim, was listed for sale in 2022 for €6,300,000 ($A10.5million).
Maritimo can lay claim to being the most decadent boat in the race fleet of 104 boats, boasting marble ensuites, stunning views and separate lounge and dining spaces.
As her rivals chow down on freeze-dried food or whatever they’ve cooked at home this week, Maritimo features a professional chef’s gallery with an elaborate menu.
“It’s roast ham tonight and a potato bake,” skipper Peter Jones said of the menu on Thursday.
The array of features means Maritimo weighs in at more than 100 tonnes, a major stumbling block in the push to reach Hobart before rival supermaxis LawConnect, Master Lock Comanche or Wild Thing 100.
The world’s most impressive 100-footer, Comanche is the favourite for line honurs, but the varied conditions forecast will also suit her nearest rival and reigning champion LawConnect.
But bookmakers aren’t even offering a price for Maritimo to claim the John H Illingworth Challenge Cup as first past the post, with her rivals similarly sceptical of her chances.
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“Maritimo 100 will certainly be having better food and a more enjoyable ride than us but she won’t be anywhere near the leaders as we head into Bass Strait in the early hours of tomorrow morning,” said Comanche co-skipper Matt Allen.
That won’t surprise Maritimo, with the crew keen to prioritise enjoyment over accolades.
“We’re not in any hurry,” Jones said.
“We really are out just to compete this time and make sure we change back down through the gears and get through the first couple of days of weather and enjoy our trip down there.”
That said, the forecast appears favourable for a big boat like Maritimo.
The fleet was expected to travel down the NSW coast in north-easterly winds before a west-southwesterly change comes through over the Bass Strait.
That’ll make for heavy gusts and possibly showers.
“(The forecast) will actually be quite good for us,” Jones said.
“The boat’s quite heavy and it’ll handle the bigger seas a lot better than a lot of the lighter boats so we should be able to cruise down through tonight.”
The crew needn’t fret if the weather becomes too wet and wild.
“Each of the cabins have all got hot showers in them. We’ll be able to sneak a shower in occasionally,” Jones said.
Master Lock Comanche will resist the urge to dream of a rare line honours and handicap double win as the Sydney to Hobart fleet prepares for an action-packed race from Boxing Day.
In 78 previous editions of the 628NM race, only seven times has the boat that crossed the line first also been awarded the overall victory once handicap has been factored in.
Today, only an 100ft supermaxi can realistically claim line honours, and those boats typically score poorly on handicap due to their larger masts and size, water ballast and other high-tech features.
Legendary supermaxi Wild Oats XI, the most successful yacht in Hobart history, was the last to achieve the double, doing so when she broke the race record in both 2005 and 2012.
Before that, the feat had not been achieved since 1987, when the largest boats did not yet measure 100ft.
But this year’s weather forecast has created expectations of a “big boat race” in sailing parlance, one in which conditions will allow for the 100ft supermaxis to make fast passage to Hobart and dominate their smaller competitors.
The fleet of 104 boats is expected to begin the race from 1pm in a north-easterly that will propel the four supermaxis down the NSW coast at speed.
Provided they can avoid storm damage, a west-south-westerly change in the Bass Strait should allow those four big boats – Comanche, LawConnect, Wild Thing 100 and Maritimo 100 – to maintain their pace on the first night of racing.
There’s a chance the winning supermaxi will go fast enough to balance out her unfavourable handicap, says James Mayo, one of two new co-skippers on line honours favourite Comanche.
“Anything’s possible when you go racing,” he told AAP.
“Definitely the forecasts presents some possibilities. But we don’t think about that (double win) at all.
“It’ll be what it’s going to be. If you focus on the process, the outcome will generally look after itself.”
Keeping the asset and her crew safe on the water will be a higher priority particularly across the first 24 hours of racing, when the forecast is wilder.
As the boats enter the River Derwent, the race will become highly strategic as Comanche looks to avoid a repeat of last year’s 51-second loss to LawConnect, which took line honours.
“It’s going to be pretty much keep the boat together for the first bit of the race and then it’s going to get quite tactical in terms of how you close the Tasmanian Coast,” Comanche co-skipper Matt Allen told AAP.
“If you get too close you might run out of breeze, but if you get too far out, you might be against the shift of the breeze.
“It’s really going to be a tactical, complicated race towards the back end, but it’s keep the boat together for the first bit.
“It’s going to be a challenging race.”
© AAP