Sydney Harbour wasted no time making its intentions clear. With roughly five minutes before the start gun, the super maxis were already working hard. The breeze sat around 18 knots, nudging higher near the western channel pile. Jibs were short-trimmed, some mains already carried reefs, and crews were thinking not just about getting through the harbour but about what lay beyond it.
For the 100-footers, depth was the defining constraint. Big keels shrank the usable water, narrowing positioning options and raising the cost of any mistake.
A quick passage was never in doubt. Five minutes to the first turning mark, then moments later, the Heads.
The fleet made its intentions plain from the outset. Boats stacked heavily to the western side, hunting steadier pressure and a more favourable angle down the harbour. Fourteen yachts lined up along the first start line, giving the front-runners room to work but leaving little tolerance for error. Reaching sails sat ready to deploy, and timing counted for more than aggression in those final moments.
Lucky set up well toward the west. LawConnect positioned itself higher on the line, calm and deliberate. Comanche hovered nearby, watchful and patient. Classic time-on-distance sailing. No wasted metres, no premature commitments.
When the gun fired, LawConnect produced an almost perfect start. Clean timing, clear air, and immediate control over the first few boat lengths. Tony Mutter and crew delivered another composed execution, rolling into the lead as the fleet accelerated hard. Comanche broke cleanly but stayed just to leeward, close enough to apply pressure without finding a way through. Lucky also came off the line well, bow down and moving, exploiting a strong angle from further west.
Reaching sails went up across the fleet and speed built fast. The harbour walls began to close in. LawConnect held the lane and with it the race lead. It was the third consecutive year the boat had taken early control over Comanche, a pattern that underlines how much positioning continues to outweigh raw power at the start.
Lucky showed genuine intent in those opening moments. Sailing from the western edge on a slightly freer angle, she built pace early and briefly held options open. But as the leaders converged, clean air grew scarcer. Moving higher meant sailing straight into the disturbed wind spilling off the enormous rigs of LawConnect and Comanche, and the margins were simply too fine for that kind of compromise. Every shift carried consequences.
Further back, Moneypenny and Palm Beach 11 emerged cleanly from the start and positioned themselves to take advantage should Comanche find trouble ahead.
The verdict on the water was straightforward. The western side paid, the pressure there was more consistent and the angle more favourable, but control ultimately counted for more than either. LawConnect owned the inside lane to the turning mark and set the pace on its own terms. Comanche worked to force its way through and could not break free. Lucky remained a genuine presence, though clean air was never going to hold for long in that company.
Further down the fleet, congestion accumulated quickly. With more than a hundred boats launching across multiple start lines, small errors multiplied rapidly.
As the leaders approached the Heads, the breeze eased briefly in the lee of the land. That relief will not last. Forecasts for the south describe a punishing night ahead, with breeze building toward 30 knots and sea state climbing into the three-metre range and beyond. It will be physical racing, and it will be unrelenting.
The start did not settle the race. What it did was show precisely how the race will be contested. LawConnect struck first and cleanly. Lucky announced its presence. Comanche stayed well within range.
From here, the race becomes a question of judgement under pressure, and of keeping boats and crews whole as the coast stretches away to the south.
