Pre-race favourite Extasea has taken the lead in the Melbourne to Hobart yacht race.
The Paul Buchholz-skippered boat is leading from One For The Road and last year's line honours winner Spirit of Downunder, skippered by Laurie Ford, as the nine-strong fleet takes on the 440-nautical-mile course along the west coast of Tasmania.
The leading yachts were approximately 80 nautical miles south of Port Phillip Heads at 10am on Monday morning after the race started from off Portsea pier at 3pm on Sunday.
Just days after the Sydney to Hobart fleet was battered by wild weather off the east coast of Australia, the Westcoaster boats are facing an entirely different challenge, with light southerly winds making it difficult for skippers to keep boat speeds up.
"It's a pleasant run for them at the moment - Bass Strait is being very kind to them," Ocean Racing Club of Victoria commodore Neville Rose told AAP.
"We're certainly not expecting any race records this year. It will be a tactical and navigational challenge though.
"But with Extasea the favourite and Spirit of Downunder taking line honours last year, we're expecting them to have a ding-dong battle the whole way."
Boat speeds have dropped from seven to eight knots on Sunday afternoon to three to five knots on Monday.
Shortwave set the course record for the Westcoaster race - just over one day and 17 hours - in 2008 but the forecast light conditions are expected to see this year's fleet take three to four days to cross the finish line.
Catamaran Peccadillo was the first boat out of Port Phillip Heads on Sunday and leads the Rudder Cup fleet of seven boats taking on the Melbourne to Devonport race.
The races follow on from traditional Boxing Day feeder race the Cock of the Bay from Port Melbourne to Blairgowrie, with multi-hull Peccadillo and mono-hull Journey taking line honours in their respective classes.
