KEY POINTS:
Mike Sanderson is in a bit of a quandary.
The ABN Amro One skipper is standing at his team's base in Sydney with one shoe on and one shoe off, having just been given a fluorescent green pair as a gift.
The problem is, green's not exactly a
lucky colour for sailors.
In fact, it is deemed unlucky to sail on a green boat and some people even refrain from wearing green, full stop.
"I might have to call them yellow, they are bordering on that anyway," he laughs.
After a stellar year in which he cleaned up in the round-the-world yacht race, Sanderson is preparing for the demanding 628 nautical mile Sydney to Hobart race which starts on Boxing Day.
Reunited with his winning yacht, ABN Amro One, Sanderson says he is - "strangely" - looking forward to the race.
"I wondered a while ago what on the earth we were thinking doing this. Now I am really looking forward to getting into it.
"I can't wait to see what the race is going to throw at us. I know it is going to be taxing."
It will be Sanderson's third blue water classic. He won the 1992 race on New Zealand Endeavour and the 1999 race on Mari Cha III which obliterated the course record.
Mari Cha III crossed the finish line in 1 day 18 hours 27 minutes 10s - which, according the World Sailing Speed Record Council, is still the course record.
"It is quite a controversial thing because they had a super yacht division, which we entered, and then when we broke the record they decided that they weren't going to give it to us. That record still stands. It causes a bit of a stir around here. It is something I quite enjoy bringing up with the Aussies."
He was a trimmer on the Grant Dalton-skippered New Zealand Endeavour.
"It was like a New Zealand tradition for the Whitbread boat to go and do the Sydney to Hobart. Ceramco did it and Lion did it, so it was very much part of my fairytale introduction to the Whitbread race.
"I have got away pretty lightly, though. I can't tell you any harrowing stories about going there on a Mumm 36 or something. My rides have been big ... I have been first to finish the previous two times I have done it, so I can't complain."
His chances of a hat-trick are reasonable. Sanderson says ABN Amro One has a serious shot at winning on IRC - an international rating system for monohulls based on time, not performance.
"The boat, purely by fluke, is rating very well on IRC. Obviously there was no consideration to the IRC rule when we built our boat so we are really pleased with how it is rating under that rule."
Although ABN Amro One will give away 9m to the 30m maxis, Sanderson says that if the conditions lean towards the wet and wild side, his crew may have an even better chance.
Having conquered the planet's most ferocious waters, ABN Amro One takes off like a greyhound in moderate to heavy conditions.
"We need to get to the point where they [the maxis] are slowing down, then we have a look in, to be honest. If they are hammer down they are a lot quicker than us - 100 footers just go faster than 70 footers, just like we go faster than 40 footers - it is that simple.
"If we can get them to the point where they are slightly out of their comfort zone, and they are having to slow down more than we do, then we have got a shot."
Although it is early days yet, Sanderson says there are some "heinous forecasts kicking around" and it will be an intense race.
He is building an Open 60 yacht which he hopes to race in next year's two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race and the 2008 Transatlantic and Route du Rhum races.
After the Sydney to Hobart, ABN Amro One will go to the Caribbean for three events.
But Sanderson and his wife Emma will return to Auckland to go cruising on his swanky boat, Windward.
"I can't wait.
"We have kept January sacred to ensure we have some time on holiday in New Zealand on the launch."
Maybe he can wear his green shoes then.
MIKE SANDERSON
Born: Whangarei, May 29, 1971.
Status: Married to top British sailor Emma (nee Richards)
Nickname: Moose
Career highlights
2006: ISAF World Sailor of the Year
2006: Round-the-world yacht race winner, skipper of ABN Amro One
2003: America's Cup team Oracle
1998: Round the world race, second, Merit Cup
1994: Round the world race winner, New Zealand Endeavour
Other: New transatlantic record as helmsman on Mari Cha IV
SYDNEY TO HOBART
Start: Sydney, Boxing Day
Distance: 628 nautical miles
Fleet: 82 yachts
Contested race record: 1 day 18 hrs 27 min 10 sec
Forecast: Gale force southerlies
Watch for: Round the world winner ABN Amro One, and New Zealand entry Maximus
ABN AMRO ONE
Mike Sanderson (NZ) Skipper
Stan Honey (US) Navigator
Brad Jackson (NZ)
Justin Slattery (IRE)
Rob Greenhalgh (UK)
Brian MacInnes (US)
George Peet (US)
Scott Beavis (NZ)
Nick Bice (AUS)
Neil Cox (AUS)
Matt Stechmann (NZ)
Phil Harmer (AUS)
Emma Sanderson (UK)
