Glorious Sydney on show as Sydney-Hobart gets underway

This is the Australia Baz Luhrmann could have sold to the world and made a box office smash.

Forget the outback, nothing can top picturesque Sydney Harbour on a sunny summer’s day as the perfect opening location for an epic story.

With Wild Oats XI starring as the leading lady in a cast of 100, her bid to secure a record fourth line-honours victory is the anticipated fairytale ending of the 64th Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

Hundreds of thousands of spectators lined the harbour foreshore’s surrounding beaches, parks and clifftops to secure their view of the water from any available vantage point.

Those on land, safely watched on in anticipation of the action and drama that would soon unfold.

A large fleet of spectator craft, held back by a row of small yellow buoys jostled for position next to the stars of the show and readied themselves for a race of their own, a wild sprint towards the heads in dodgem car-like conditions.

Minutes before the starting cannon fired, the harbour was awash with race yachts finalising their preparations ahead of the 628 nautical mile journey.

Orange emergency storm sails had been hoisted and lowered to comply with regulations, a reminder of the horror that struck Australia’s premier blue water race 10 years ago where six people died and only 44 of 115 boats made it to Hobart.

A 10-15 knot north-easterly breeze and reports of a change which would bring with it freshening 20-25 knot winds excited race organisers who expected the big boats to hit Bass Strait by Friday night.

For the first time in over 45 years, Victoria’s Lou Abrahams didn’t take part in the race, instead he was bestowed with the honour of firing the starting cannon.

And at exactly 1pm (AEDT) the race to Hobart was underway and a relatively calm ocean transformed into a whitewater park.

Police on jetskis almost instantly made their way to a group of kayakers positioned near the first marker to ensure the notorious pests wouldn’t interfere with the race.

Wild Oats XI made the perfect start and led fellow maxi Skandia and Black Jack towards the heads.

The three-time line-honours winner was the first yacht to unleash her spinnaker, soon after passing south head’s red and white lighthouse, which was a popular vantage point.

Pleasure crafts, ranging from multi-million dollar cruisers and yachts to little dinghies and runabouts more suited to a lake, furiously chased the fleet from all angles, having started at staggered positions along the race track.

As the fleet dodged and weaved their way successfully through the spectators and turned out of the heads with their spinnakers full of wind, they soon overtook the largest of boats and headed out towards Hobart.