Eclectic fleet for Hobart

With less than a month to go until entries close for this year's 628 nautical mile Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia is expecting a fleet of more than 90 yachts to face the starter on Boxing Day.

Among those already entered are a range of boats from 30-metre line-honours contenders to home-grown entries from every state.

In the maxi yacht field, Anthony Bell's Investec Loyal is expected to throw out a serious challenge to Bob Oatley's multiple line-honours winner Wild Oats XI. As in previous years, Bell will supplement his crew of hardened professional sailors with a range of "celebrity" sailors who help his charity fund-raising.

Already former Wallaby footballers Phil Waugh and Phil Kearns, who both sailed in last year's race, have confirmed they have become "yachting tragics" and have signed on again for the rugged trip south.

Wild Oats XI has been revamped with twin dagger boards replacing the forward canard used for the past seven years. Skipper Mark Richards thinks the changes will make the yacht, which already holds the elapsed time record, significantly faster. Owner Bob Oatley okayed the expensive remodelling when he thought that the very fast American maxi Rambler 100 would be here for the race.

Rambler 100 lost her keel and overturned when leading this year's Fastnet Race in Britain and is now a very unlikely starter.

Alex Thompson's Open 60 Hugo Boss is one of two international applications to date. The other is the New Zealand Beneteau First 45 Outrageous Fortune, owned by Quintin Fowler.

Stephen Ainsworth's Reichel Pugh 63, Loki, is the red-hot handicap favourite having had remarkable success in offshore races this year: "The Sydney-Hobart is the only major Australian race I haven't won, so it remains on my 'to do' list," Ainsworth says. "But we also know it is the hardest race to win."

Six Tasmanian yachts, the largest fleet from the Apple Isle for years, have entered so far.

Photos: Last year's trophies in Hobart; Rushcutters Bay, home of the CYCA; Ian Miller's yacht Young Ones -- one of the smallest boats to start and finish the race last year.