They come in threes

9:59 PM Sat 26 Dec 2009 GMT

'Alfa Romeo - Image ? Murray Spence - Rolex Sydney Hobart' John Curnow

It is fantastic to see the three supermaxi leaders out in front of the 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. The three campaigns, Alfa Romeo, ICAP Leopard and Wild Oats XI certainly have three unique reasons to be out there pushing for the win.

Alfa Romeo want to extend on their amazing 142 race wins and records, Wild Oats want to amass an incredible five wins in a row and ICAP Leopard want to win all three major Rolex races in the one year.

Image Courtesy ICAP Leopard - Rolex Sydney Hobart - John Curnow

The three McConaghy built speed wagons are all so close to each other and clearly well in front of all the other 90 to 100 footers in the fleet, so I had to ask McConaghy co-owner, Mark Evans, why he thought this was so. 'It's a great thing to see, John. We go to great lengths to build our boats lighter, stronger and stiffer. Our innovation driven culture means our boats not only look a little different, they perform better as well.'

Of witnessing the 1-2-3-McConaghy plan in action, Mark added, 'This is fantastic for all three of the campaigns and we could not be happier for our clients and the McConaghy team that built them all. It certainly looks like we will have some great viewing all the way into Hobart and to see who will get the Line Honours prize in the McConaghy Cup.'

These tremendously well-built Australians have three major sections to get through in order to take the win - Bass Strait, Storm Bay and the Derwent River - and all three can provide race changing conditions. Most of all it looks to be getting softer and softer as the fleet heads South, so being lighter will certainly help

Not as much action as this likely as they head South - Image courtesy of Wild Oats - Rolex Sydney Hobart - John Curnow

by John Curnow

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