SYDNEY: Australia's gruelling Sydney to Hobart race will boast an unprecedented 28 international entries this year, organisers said on Tuesday, among them world record-breaking American superyacht Comanche.
A brand-new Comanche flew out of Sydney Harbour at the start of last year's race, but was overtaken by the veteran Wild Oats XI during the epic contest and finished runner-up in line honours.
Wild Oats XI skipper Mark Richards admitted Tuesday that his fellow 100-foot competitor was the boat to beat.
"I was blown away at the start," Richards told a press conference in Sydney when asked about his memory of Comanche racing out of Sydney Heads last December.
"Watching a boat just lift out of the water like that and just take off was really impressive."
Wild Oats XI and Comanche, owned by Netscape founder Jim Clark and wife Kristy Hinze, are two of the four 100-foot supermaxis in the 628-nautical-mile blue water classic down Australia's east coast.
Wild Oats XI has undergone a radical transformation, including adding a new bow section to compete with Comanche, which set a new 24-hour monohull record of 618.01 nautical miles in July.
"No question Comanche's going to be the one to beat," Richards said.
"She wrapped up the 24-hour world record this year. If she gets the conditions, she'll be very tough to beat."
Of the 110 entries for the 71st edition of the race, a record 28 are from overseas, including 17 from Britain, two from the United States and the first two from mainland China.
"It's an impressive fleet," said John Cameron, commodore of the organising Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.
Among the competitors will be Italy's Giovanni Soldini, who will skipper Maserati whose crew includes Pierre Casiraghi, grandson of Monaco's late Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly.
The first Chinese competitors for the race across the Bass Strait, which is notorious for its demanding conditions, are Ark323 and the Shunguang Haiyang.
Ark323 lost its bowman Sai Jun, 23, overboard off the coast of Vietnam last month, but is determined to race, the Shanghai-based Noahs Sailing Club said.
"The crew is still committed to sail in the 2015 Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and honour Sai Jun's memory," it said in a post on its Facebook page on November 4.
The Sydney to Hobart, for which Wild Oats XI holds the race record time of 1 day, 18 hours, 23 minutes and 12 seconds, begins on December 26.
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