Canberra's Shane Gaddes hopes he will be raising a glass in triumph after Alive checks in at Constitution Dock at the end of the annual race.

Gaddes was "pretty confident" of Alive's chances leading into the race and the Duncan Hine-skippered vessel got off to a rollicking start in the opening stages.

The start is a by-product of extensive preparation - the crew have spent "plenty of time on the boat" in the lead up and the forecast looks promising.

"The forecast is looking good for us, not too many harsh fronts," Gaddes said.

"We like a breeze that's from behind, so downwind is good for us. The lighter it is, the better chance we've got of winning it overall.

"I've done lots of races on this boat over the last two years. We've done a lot of racing on the east coast of Australia and won a lot of races, and also through Asia.

"We got second overall in the Hong Kong to Vietnam last year, we got line honours in the Hong Kong to the Philippines and broke the race record earlier this year.

"We've had a bit of success recently."

It is a level of success Gaddes is intent on continuing on the yacht owned by Philip Turner, who "spends a lot of money" to see his boat sailed around the world.

Gaddes is grateful for the opportunity Turner provides - participating in the Sydney to Hobart is a dream come true for a third-generation sailor.

Alive is one of three yachts featuring Canberrans in the 2016 race, with Erik Adriaanse on board Love & War and Simon Dunlop leading Shane Connelly, Paul Jones and Pat Cotterill on Pelagic Magic.

Alive was the best placed of the three early on, meaning Gaddes and his fellow crew members have a little bit of wiggle room should things go awry.

"Very rarely, but sometimes you have that moment [thinking] about 'this is not safe, why am I here?'" Gaddes said.

"The last one I had one of those was coming into the end of Storm Bay on the super maxi Wild Thing... We were just crashing over waves and just thinking 'If I could stop, I'd get off now.'"

A situation like that could cause panic amongst the group, but Gaddes believes there is nothing to be gained by an unsettled temperament.

Gaddes is an experienced campaigner - preparing for his fifth Sydney to Hobart race, he chooses his boats "very carefully" and stays away from those that panic.

"You'll always find different characters on the boat, some people that are calm in a situation like that and some that aren't," Gaddes said.

"The crew that we've got, we've got a very experienced crew so you won't find anybody that will be panicking.

"There'll be very few people who haven't done the race at least two or three times."