Boxing Day in Australia simply wouldn’t be the same if not for a few beers, the cricket and start of the Sydney To Hobart Yacht Race. 163 yachts will cast off from Sydney Harbour at 1pm AEDT on Thursday, December 26th for what will be the 75th edition of the Sydney To Hobart, including five super maxis. This will therefore be the largest fleet to set sail since the race’s 50th edition in 1994 and the fourth largest in history.
When: Thursday, December 26th at 1:30PM AEDT
Bet ?: Bet On This Race HERE
Preview:
Line Honours
As is typically the case in the Sydney To Hobart Yacht Race, only the five super maxis are given any real chance of winning line honours in 2019.
Comanche
Jim Cooney and his crew are back and will attempt to sail Comanche to its third line honours victory in the 2019 Sydney To Hobart yacht race.
She remains the fastest ever winner of the Sydney To Hobart, having crossed the line in one day, nine hours and fifteen minutes when triumphant in 2017. Simply put, Comanche can never be left out of the equation and is live chance of line honours in 2019.
She was pipped on the line for second by Black Jack in 2018 and will be eager to respond by winning the 2019 Sydney To Hobart.
Black Jack
Black Jack is primed another another big performance and result in the 2019 Sydney To Hobart.
The Queensland-based super maxi has been around the mark for several years now enters the 2019 edition of the race off the back of an impressive line honours win in the famed Bird Island Race. In what is shaping as the most open edition of the Sydney To Hobart in some time, she looks a serious chance of returning to winning form.
Wild Oats XI
The reigning champion and most successful boat in the history of the Sydney To Hobart, Wild Oats XI will seek an unprecedented tenth line honours win when she casts off on Boxing Day.
Mark Richards will skipper an ever-dangerous crew, but there is no denying that it will take a herculean feat to win this year after the super maxi sustained damage during November’s Cabbage Tree Island Race, throwing preparations into chaos.
Scallywag
A name synonymous with the race, the Hong Kong-based Scallywag will take her place in the 2019 fleet and is sure to garner plenty of interest, particularly from her cult following.
Skipper Seng Huang Lee’s ultimate goal each year is to raise the profile of sailing in Asia and in his own words, “At the end of the day, we are just a bunch of mates sailing together with an ever-growing Scallywag family.”
Of the five super maxis, they tend to always be the least likely to claim line honours but in this open edition of the race, anything is possible.
InfoTrack
Last year’s fourth placegetter is back and rounds out this year’s super maxi fleet. The conditions of the race simply did not suit in 2018, but she still managed an extremely competitive performance and was ultimately lauded by her major competitors.
Winner of the 2016 Sydney To Hobart when sailing under the name Perpetual LOYAL, InfoTrack is an extremely versatile yacht and is perhaps the most capable of adapting to unique conditions in Bass Strait and beyond.
Tattersalls Cup (Handicap)
In theory, every yacht in the Sydney To Hobart fleet is capable of winning the Tattersalls Cup and it is typically taken by a yacht in a class below the super maxi level. It is considered Australia’s foremost offshore sailing prize.
Ichi Ban
Ichi Ban won the Tattersalls Cup in 2017 and was beaten by the conditions in the Derwent River in 2018, ultimately finishing a credible fifth behind Alive.
She has enjoyed another competitive season, highlighted by wins in the Brisbane Hamilton Island, Flinders Islet and Newcastle Bass Island races. She is a fitting occupant of the top line of betting and will take beating again.
Quest
Quest is another smaller yacht that has enjoyed an ideal lead in to the 2019 Sydney To Hobart and looks a touch of overs in Tattersalls Cup betting at around the $11 mark.
Having won the Sydney To Hobart twice previously, she was last seen tuning up for this year’s race with an impressive win in the Bird Island Race.
Odds:
Tip: Comanche at $2.75
*Odds correct at time of posting. Subject to change
