Light air looms as the Achilles heel of highly touted new Sydney to Hobart line honours contender Comanche according to skipper Ken Read.
The recently launched American 100-footer, co-owned by model Kristy Hinze-Clark and her husband, Netscape co-founder Jim Clark, will make her racing debut in Tuesday's Big Boat Challenge on Sydney Harbour.
Built for the purpose of breaking records, Comanche isn't ideally set up for the Sydney to Hobart, Read feels.
"If we were building a boat specifically for a Sydney Hobart, it probably wouldn't looK like this," distinguished American yachtsman Read told AAP on Sunday.
"You just need conditions to avoid your Achilles heel and if we can crack our sheets just a little bit, I guess we would be quite good."
Asked what Comanche's potential weakness is, Read said "a big wide boat like this doesn't love real light air".
"Especially light air downwind, there's no doubt about that," he said.
"But you can't build the perfect boat for all conditions, there has to be something that you give away."
Hinze-Clark has already sailed the boat through a busy Sydney Harbour and is keen to do the Sydney-Hobart.
"I'd call her one of the most competitive people I've ever met and when she decides to take on something, she takes it on with plenty of energy," Read said.
"For example, when we were sailing down to the harbour yesterday through a million boats going 16 or 17 knots with the big kite up, Kristy drove the whole way.
"She's just had a kid three months ago, so she's got mother duties, but she's also such a sportswoman that she wants to do this (the Sydney-Hobart)."
While there are huge external expectations of Comanche, they are no bigger than those of Read himself.
"You don't build a boat like this without your own expectations, so I guess nobody can put more pressure on me than me," Read said.
"This is a two to three-year project with a lot of goals and failure in one does not mean failure for the whole program."
He said virtually all the crew were now in Sydney and they had spent two weeks on the boat in the United States.
"The thing is with a big boat like this is you have to sail it enough, so it doesn't seem big anymore," Read said.
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