SYDNEY - American boat designers Reichel Pugh could score a one-two finish in the annual Sydney-to-Hobart race if the leading, and favoured, yachts Alfa Romeo and Canon Leopard finish on top.
The duo were both designed by the San Diego-based pair of Jim Pugh and John Reichel.
They have already had one
Sydney-to-Hobart double, in 1996, when Morning Glory reached Hobart first, ahead of Exile, setting a race record that stood for three years.
Pugh, who was in Sydney yesterday checking on the preparations of both boats for today's start in Sydney Harbour, was pleased with being associated with the two line-honour favourites, but felt no divided loyalties.
"No, they are both great owners and we provide a service to their projects and we've just got to do the very best we can and then it's up to them," Pugh said.
Ten nations are represented among the 57 boats in this year's race - Australia, Russia, Sweden, Britain, the United States, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium and France.
The race was first contested in 1945 as a cruise to Hobart among friends. The race record of one day 19 hours 48 minutes and 2 seconds was set in 1999 by Danish 60-footer Nokia.
In 1998, six sailors died during a terrible storm that struck most of the fleet.
One crew geared for heavy conditions this year is that of Sweden's 24m Nicorette. They won a gale-hit Sydney-to-Hobart in 2000 and were narrowly beaten last year.
Nicorette's Finnish skipper, Ludde Ingvall, has put together a strong multinational crew and said his boat's best chance against Alfa Romeo and Canon Leopard would come if the race turned into a heavy slog through strong headwinds.
"We've set up the boat for the conditions that you get in three out of four of these races - 35 to 40 knots on the nose in Bass Strait.
"There's a reasonable possibility it will be a light race, but you only need one southerly buster in Bass Strait and you're in survival mode for a few hours ... there's no gain without pain," said Ingvall, a winner of two Fastnet races and a former world maxi champion.
The fleet is the smallest starting line-up since 1973.
Race spokesman Peter Campbell said the smaller fleet was largely the result of increasing insurance costs and stringent new safety regulations imposed after the deaths in the 1998 event.
Last year's race was won by Assa Abloy, one of eight high-tech Volvo 60-class yachts which used the Sydney-to-Hobart as the third leg of their round-the-world race.
Assa Abloy beat Nicorette with a late surge in a race dominated by a violent storm and a water spout that almost claimed Ingvall's boat.
Nicorette was in the lead when the boat was sucked into the water spout, or sea tornado, and knocked flat in Bass Strait.
"I take nothing for granted any more and I don't laugh at Hollywood films about twisters and the like," Ingvall said.
- NZPA
SYDNEY - American boat designers Reichel Pugh could score a one-two finish in the annual Sydney-to-Hobart race if the leading, and favoured, yachts Alfa Romeo and Canon Leopard finish on top.
The duo were both designed by the San Diego-based pair of Jim Pugh and John Reichel.
They have already had one
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