All pundits predicted that the big yachts would have built a huge lead, however this has not been the case with this difficult race and its frustrating head winds.

Nipping at the heels of the supermaxis are the ocean racing-warhorse Brindabella and the Volvo 60 Andrew Short Marine, which elected to stay some 40 miles inshore.

They are now sailing in a sou’soueaster of 17-20 knots and sea conditions have eased reports Geoff Cropley, mastman on the 80-footer Brindabella, which is currently sailing in fourth position on line honours.

“We had lots of green water over the deck overnight but now the conditions are extremely pleasant…real champagne sailing,” said Cropley.

Further inshore where there are no boats is a building sea breeze from the east northeast, which should hit the inshore boats first, allowing them to raise their spinnakers for the first time since the start.

The ETA for the first boats to cross the finish line off historic Battery Point in Hobart is early tomorrow morning.

While there have been few casualties in terms of retirements, incidents on the yachts competing in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race are starting to come to the fore.

At 10.20am this morning, Julie Hodder, the navigator of the Volvo 60 Nokia 2UE reported a triple-header of on board mishaps since yesterday afternoon when they entered Bass Strait.

The first incident was when the Volvo 60 lost its water ballast system yesterday afternoon.

“It took us six hours to repair the pump in really lumpy seas,” reported Hodder this morning.

Then this morning, the boat lost the head of its mainsail and young 20-year-old Zane Gills was asked to climb the mast in a 25-knot wind while the boat was slamming into waves.

Finally today, an oil can was accidentally spilt inside the boat making it extremely difficult for the crew to move about.

“We were ice skating from one end of the boat to the other,” Hodder reported.

Source: Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Media Centre