All eyes are on the big, bad, southerly buster that could wreak havoc on the opening night of Saturday's Sydney to Hobart race.
However one contender believes it's the dead air in the aftermath that could bear the most significant impact on this year's line honours winner.
American raider Comanche and fellow supermaxi Ragamuffin 100 are the main threats to Australia's yachting sweetheart Wild Oats XI claiming an unprecedented ninth title.
However after taking in the latest weather predictions on race eve, Ragamuffin 100 skipper David Witt now reckons it's a two-horse race.
"All the light air in the back half of the race is really going to suit us and Oats," he said.
"It should be a red shirt, blue shirt race by the end of it."
Comanche, who this year set a new 24-hour monohull distance record, will feature in her second Hobart race after Wild Oats XI pipped her on the line by just 55 minutes on debut.
However Witt predicted that after the US challenger gets out to a strong start, the light conditions in Tasmania would turn her into a sitting duck.
"I don't think these conditions are going to suit Comanche," he said.
"They'll definitely be very good in the first bit of the race, but the second half, they're going to have to try and find a rabbit to pull out of the bag and hopefully they can't find one."
Comanche skipper Ken Read stayed away from the mind games but did admit being concerned by the lack of help from the weather gods on day two.
Told he had been written off by a rival, Read said: "Let's go prove it on the water.
"We love our boat in these conditions. As long as it doesn't get too light and weird toward the end, we're pretty comfortable."
Defending line honours winner skipper Mark Richards simply wanted to still be in the water after the storm, which could muster winds up to 40 knots.
Although he couldn't rule out his competitive instinct taking over.
"It all depends on who's there and how close they are. A little bit of testosterone gets going, it's all good," he said.
"But we've been against boats before that have been pushing it at night and they've failed, so it's really important to conserve the boat and be there tomorrow morning."
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