Early Wild Oats XI projections suggest the super maxi could smash the Sydney to Hobart race record by three hours following the latest weather forecast for the race.
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Race models used by the record-breaking yacht indicate Wild Oats XI could reach Hobart in a blistering 39 hours, significantly quicker than the one day, 18 hours and 40 minutes record it set in 2012.
The fleet in this year's Sydney to Hobart are set to start with a northerly wind that will change to a southerly when a cold front blows in late on the first day.
That southerly is expected to shift to the east within 12 hours and should be blowing from the north-east by midnight on December 27.
Wild Oats XI navigator Juan Vila said the conditions would allow for a genuine tilt at breaking the race record.
"If this southerly doesn't last too long and the transition to the north-east is gradual and we have some reaching, that could be a record broken this year," Vila said ahead of his third Sydney to Hobart.
"That is what the model says at the moment. The deterministic model, the European and GFS, they're between one day 14, one day 15 hours.
"Then we look at the ensemble model, which is a bunch of models that vary the initial conditions and they messed up things a little bit. They still give one day 15 hours, that kind of seems to be the number right now.
"The only 'but' on this analysis is that there's still some variability when you look at the ensembles so it could be plus-minus five hours off that."
A large low pressure trough forming over Western Australia and connected with Cyclone Yvette will likely impact conditions for the later stages of the race, by which time Wild Oats XI should already be docked in Hobart, alongside fellow super maxis Perpetual Loyal, Scallywag and CQS.
The Bureau of Meteorology's NSW weather services manager Jane Golding said early wind speed throughout this year's Sydney to Hobart would reach 35 knots before the southerly blows in.
"There is a front on the forecast to move across south-east Australia late Monday, that would bring a southerly south to south-west wind change to NSW coastal areas," Golding said.
"At the moment all the data is pointing to that coming through during the evening. Some time between six and midnight, most of the data at the moment is suggesting closer to midnight.
"Late Tuesday night we'll be back in a north to north-easterly ... that will be quite strong, quite fresh somewhere in the 15 to 25 knot range."
