Sydney to Hobart 2019 guide: All you need to know about the annual yacht race

Sydney to Hobart. It's that time of year again, when the magnificent yachts light up Sydney Harbour and race south.

The 2019 edition of the famous race features a stack of familiar contenders, with the supermaxis vying for line honours amid a fleet of 157. This is the race's 75th year.

Here is all the key information.

DATE AND TIME

The Sydney to Hobart will start from Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day (December 26), at 1pm AEDT.

HOW TO WATCH/FOLLOW

Channel Seven will broadcast the start of the race live, on 7Mate.

The Sydney to Hobart website will stream the race start and also offers a race tracker throughout the dash south.

Some 600,000 people will stack various vantage points on the Sydney Harbour foreshore to watch the race begin.

LINE HONOURS CONTENDERS

WILD OATS XI ($3.25)*: Competitive in almost all conditions, the peerless supermaxi is still a chance to increase her race record of nine line honours wins despite undergoing significant repairs after suffering damage last month.

COMANCHE ($2.80): Skipper and co-owner Jim Cooney has avoided major modifications to his imposing boat which is almost impossible to beat in favourable conditions and will push for a third line honours win.

BLACK JACK ($3.75): Widely tipped to threaten the Wild Oats XI-Comanche duopoly of recent years, this boat took line honours in 2009 as Alfa Romeo and has raced extensively this year and undergone changes.

SHK SCALLYWAG 100 ($7): The Hong Kong supermaxi has finished second and third across the line in previous attempts and was second in this year's Fastnet Race. Owner Seng Huang Lee has invested in modifications which should make her very competitive.

INFOTRACK ($10): Working on a tight budget and with a smaller crew than last year, this is the outsider among the five supermaxis, but given the right conditions she can trump the rest as she proved in 2016 as Perpetual LOYAL.

*TAB odds, correct at time of publication.

OVERALL CONTENDERS

ICHI BAN: The most consistently-successful boat in major Australian ocean races over the past couple of years, Matt Allen's TP52 looms as the boat to beat after taking overall honours in 2017 and finishing fifth in 2018.

QUEST: A two-time overall winner under different names and skippers, this is another TP52 which is always in the mix for a handicap win.

DAGUET 3: Now representing France, this 46-foot yacht has Hobart form under her original name Patrice, finishing third overall in 2017 and recently won Division 2 in the 2019 Sydney to Gold Coast race.

MAVERICK 49: This well-performed 49-footer from Guernsey has racked up good results in the Transatlantic, Middle Sea Newport- Bermuda and Transpac.races.

MIDNIGHT RAMBLER: One of the best chances if it's small-boat race, this 36-foot yacht scored overall IRC wins in the 2019 RYCT Channel and Maria Island Races.

COURSE

The Sydney to Hobart course is a thrilling 628 nautical mile stretch (about 1163km).

From Sydney Harbour, the fleet sails out into the Tasman Sea, down the south-east coast of Australia, into Bass Strait, along the Tasmanian east coast, then up the Derwent River to the finish line in Hobart.

Bass Strait, the open ocean gap between the Australian mainland and Tasmania known as 'The Paddock', is the race's trademark leg. It can be completely calm or utterly treacherous, with sailors at the mercy of the weather and their own nerves.

WEATHER FORECAST

The heavy smoke from bush fires surrounding Sydney has made weather predictions for the start of the race more difficult than usual.

However, it has become clear that this won't be a record-setting journey. Nor will conditions be extreme. It should be a decently-quick race, starting with nor-easterly winds on Boxing Day. afternoon and evening.

Forecasters are seeing a mixed bag in the looming weather that may actually favour smaller boats, such as 52-footer Ichi Ban, to some extent rather than the supermaxis.

RACE RECORD

LDV Comanche set the Sydney to Hobart race record in 2017: one day, nine hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds (01:09:15.24). The time beat the record set by Perpetual LOYAL the previous year, by more than four hours.

The result was somewhat controversial, given that LDV Comanche actually finished about 27 minutes behind Wild Oats XI. Yet Wild Oats XI was penalised one hour for breaching the rules with a tacking manoeuvre at the start of the race, dropping it to second. LDV Comanche was elevated to line honours and ownership of the race record.

RECENT WINNERS (LINE AND HANDICAP)

There are a raft of trophies on offer in the Sydney to Hobart, but the main prizes are the The George Adams Tattersall Cup, for the overall winner (on IRC rating corrected time), and the John H Illingworth Challenge Cup, for the line honours victor.

2018: Wild Oats XI (line), Alive (overall)

2017: LDV Comanche, Ichi Ban

2016: Perpetual LOYAL, Giacomo

2015: Comanche, Balance

2014: Wild Oats XI, Wild Rose

FULL FLEET (name, sail number, state/country, type)

2 Unlimited : AUS615, TAS, Farr 40 MOD

Abbotts Vamp : 43218, WA, Corby 49

About Time : 7700, NSW, Cookson 50

Abracadabra : 5612, NSW, Tripp 47

Active Again : JPN4321, QLD, Humphreys 54

Admiral : 7272, NSW, Sydney 38

Airstream : 6597, NSW, Wauquiez Centurion 40s

Alive : 52566, TAS, Reichel Pugh 66

Allegro : 6723, NSW, Warwick 67

Anger Management FLG : 6836, WA, Salona 44

Another Painkiller: 7447, QLD, Beneteau 44.7

Arcadia: S17, VIC, Archambault 40 RC

Arch Rival: 415, NSW, Inglis/Jones 40

Audacious: SA332, SA, Sydney 38

Audere: B454, VIC, Beneteau First 45

Banter: 6669, QLD, Beneteau First 45

Black Jack: 525100, Monaco, RP100

Black Sheep: 33345, TAS, Beneteau First 45

Blink: B40, NSW, Beneteau First 40

Blue Water Tracks: B1, VIC, Moody DS54

Bounty Brassware Our Rush: RQ432, QLD, DK46

Bush Paul Group: 5200, NSW, TP52

Business as Usual: 6262, NSW, Sydney 40 CR

Cailin Lomhara: USA61268, USA, Tayana 52

Carrera S: AUS49005, VIC, Marten 49

Cartouche: B10, VIC, Beneteau First 50

Celestial: SM9535, NSW, TP 52

Chancellor: 8824, NSW, Beneteau 47.7

Charlotte: AUS257, NSW, CNB76

Chinese Whisper: AUS13, NSW, JV 62

Chutzpah: R33, VIC, Caprice 40

Cinquante: 5038, NSW, Sydney 38

Comanche: AUS12358, NSW, 100 Supermaxi

Copernicus: 6689, NSW, Radford 12

Crush: EF3601, WA, Jeanneau Sunfast 3600

Crystal Cutter III: 6661, NSW, Beneteau 40.7

Daguet: FRA43842, France, Mylius 50

Dare Devil: RF5095, NSW, Farr/Cookson 47

Dark and Stormy: SM69, VIC, Custom 37

Diamach Enterprise: 77011, NSW, Lexcen 40

Dream: RP118, QLD, Inglis 38

Dreki Sunnan: 1545, NSW, Beneteau First 45

Enchantress: SA346, SA, Muirhead 11

Encore: 00100, QLD, Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 49

Enigma: GBR5790R, NSW, Beneteau First 47.7

Enterprise: F1701, WA, Farr 40

Envy Scooters: RQ0052, QLD, TP 52

Euphoria: 7133, NSW, J133

Eve: 8565, NSW, Swan 65

Extasea: G10007, VIC, Cookson 50

Faster Forward: R6155, VIC, Sydney 38

Fidelis: 45, NSW, Knud Reimers 61

Filepro: A22, TAS, Lyons 40

Flying Fish Arctos: 7551, NSW, McIntyre 55

Frantic: GBR5211L, NSW, TP52 Donovan

G.Y.R. Ragamuffin 50: AUS70, NSW, Farr 50

Galaxy III: R261, NSW, S&S 39

Goat: 7027, NSW, Sydney 38

Great Xpectations: 6343, NSW, X43

Gun Runner: 3867, NSW, Jarkan

Gweilo: 052, NSW, TP 52

Happy Wanderer: ESP6100, NSW, JV52

Hartbreaker: B330, VIC, Reichel Pugh 46

Helsal 3: 262, NSW, Adams 20

Highly Sprung: AUS7771, NSW, Beneteau 45

Hollywood Boulevard: AUS8899, NSW, Farr 55

HYC Breakthrough: AUS6834, Ireland, Beneteau First 40

Ichi Ban: AUS001, NSW, Botin 52

Imagination: 35, NSW, First 47.7

Imalizard: 6893, NSW, Welbourn 12

InfoTrack: SYD1000, NSW, Juan-K 100

Insomnia: 65007, NSW, JV 42

Jaffa: R39, WA, Runnalls 39

Katwinchar: CYC8, NSW

Kialoa II: AUS7742, NSW, S&S Yawl

King Billy: 4966, NSW, Custom/John King

Kioni Robotic Automation: 0477, NSW, Beneteau First 47.7

Koa: 52152, NSW, TP52

Komatsu Azzurro: 3430, NSW, S&S 34

LCE Showtime: 8338, NSW, Ker 40

Lexi: 7234, NSW, X-412 Modern

Local Hero: 1236, NSW, BH36

Love & War: 294, NSW, S&S 47

Magic Miles: TYC4, TAS, Dynamique 62

Mahligai: NZL1, NSW, Sydney 46

Mako: N40, NSW, Sydney 40

Maserati: ITA70, Poland, Volvo 70

Matrix: 41, QLD, X 41

Maverick: SM3600, VIC, Jeanneau Sun Fast 3600

Maverick 49: GBR4945R, Guernsey, Infiniti 46r

Mayfair: W1424, QLD, Beneteau First 40

Midnight Rambler: ST36, TAS, Sydney 36

Mille Sabords: 7174, NSW, Sydney 38

Minerva: 6837, NSW, DK 43

Mister Lucky: RQ3600, QLD, Jeanneau Sun Fast 3600

Mistral: M1, NSW, Lombard 34

Moody Buoys: G54, VIC, Moody 54DS

Natelle Two: 2555, TAS, Peterson 41 2 Tonne

Nautical Circle: A169, NSW, A40

Naval Group: AUS1, NSW, Reichel Pugh 69

Navy One: 040, NSW, Beneteau First 40

Night Nurse: 9009, QLD, Farr 40

No Limit: AUS98888, NSW, Reichel Pugh 63

Ocean Crusaders: RQ4077, QLD, Beneteau 40.7

Ocean Gem: 8810, QLD, Beneteau 445

Optimus Prime: CR1, WA, Marten 49

Oroton Drumfire: CAY6536, NSW, Hoek TC78

Oskana: AUS5299, TAS, Cookson 50

Packaponch Scamp: B45, QLD, Beneteau First 45

Papillon: 6841, NSW, Archambault 40RC

Patriot: SM133, VIC, J133

Pekljus: 6419, NSW, Radford 50

Pretty Woman: 545, NSW, IC 45 MOD

Primitive Cool: S777, VIC, RP51

Protagonist: H140, VIC, Beneteau First 40

Quest: 52002, NSW, TP 52

Quetzalcoatl: 2001, NSW, Jones 40

Reve: 5930, NSW, Beneteau 45F5

Rogue Wave: 6921, NSW, Sigma 36

Rush: B45, VIC, Farr 45

SailExchange: 7709, NSW, Cookson 12

Santana: M236, NSW, Swan 43

Secret Mens Business 1: 8300, NSW, Murray 42

She: 4924, QLD, Olsen 40

She's Apples II: 4527, TAS, Jarkan 12.5

She's The Culprit: 370, NSW, Inglis/Jones 39

SHK Scallywag 100: HKG2276, Hong Kong, Dovell 100

Sintara: YC110S, SA, Beneteau 47.7

Smuggler: 6952, NSW, JV TP52

Snowdome Occasional Coarse Language Too: 8008, NSW, Sydney GTS 43

Solutions: 3242, NSW, Dehler 41

Soozal: 60408, NSW, King 40

Spirit of Freya: 5903, TAS, Jeanneau Sunfast 36

St Jude: 6686, NSW, Sydney 47

Stay Calm Hungary: HUN108, Hungary, TP52

Sticky: A164, NSW, Salona 38

SWD Kayle: 7878, NSW, Lyons 54

Sweet Chariot: 6084, NSW, Buizen 48

Take Five: 3639, TAS, Traditional 30

Team Runaway: B101, TAS, Sayer 11

Tribal Warrior: M772, NSW, Beneteau 47.7

TSA Management: MH60, NSW, Sydney 38

Turbulence: H602, QLD, Adams 11.9

URM: 60272, NSW, Reichel Pugh Maxi 72

Van Diemen III: 64, TAS, Muir 64

Ward Civil Yeah Baby: A5, NSW, Welbourn 50

Wax Lyrical: 248, NSW, X 50

White Noise: SM1245, VIC, M.A.T 1245

Wicked: SM4, VIC, Beneteau First 40

Wild Oats XI: 10001, NSW, RP100

Willie Smith's Philosopher: 20, TAS, Sydney 36CR Mod

Windrose: 660, TAS, S&S 48

Wings: 07, NSW, Dehler 46

Wonderland: GBR9166T, NSW, Beneteau Oceanis 473

Wots Next: 6559, NSW, Sydney 47

XS Moment BNMH: 11744, NSW, XP44

Zen: 52001, NSW, TP52