Another titanic trans Tasman tussle looms in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, with Skandia skipper Grant Wharington believing his boat is better prepared than when it reached Hobart first last year.

Back for another crack at the Victorian boat is New Zealand's Konica Minolta, which competing as Xana, finished just 14 minutes behind Skandia last year.

With heavy conditions forecast, including winds of up to possibly 60 knots, the old rivals and a third super maxi, the new untested Nicorette are the three runaway contenders for line honours.

"Nicorette are just totally untested in those sort of conditions, so that's got to be an advantage for us," Wharington said.

"Last year, we were a little untested. We hadn't been out in those conditions, now we have.

"The boat has done twenty thousand miles since then and obviously we are very comfortable with the boat and the strength of it, so hopefully it will all stay in one piece."

"We will be going as hard as we can early to try and get a little bit of buffer, so when the front comes through we can just manage the boat a little easier and not push it too hard as I think everyone is smart enough to realise you can't push these boats full bore in the sort of conditions we are expecting."

It was a moot point made by Wharington, as at least one favoured big boat has been forced to withdraw in just about all of the recent races.

The high profile casualties including Wharington's previous maxi Wild Thing, Alfa Romeo, Brindabella, and AAPT.

"Big boats in big winds are a big handful and a lot of things can happen and I'm sure there will be a few of us there waiting to pick up the scraps," said Iain Murray, principal helmsman of fancied handicap contender, Targe.

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