They said they would get us close, but we didn’t realise it would be quite that close. The skipper of our media boat didn’t either, based on his banter once he had steered us back to dry land. “Couple of hairy moments and small spaces,” were his exact words.

One of those small spaces was effectively in front of Andoo Comanche and Scallywag, with the latter looking certain to hit the former coming through the Sydney Heads. Just off to the left, craning our necks over starboard to watch as one behemoth of a boat headed straight for another. Neck and neck. Calling out things that make you understand what it means to swear like a sailor.

The verbal jostling ended with a call of “protest” from the deck of Andoo Comanche, and the raising of a red flag. With that, last year’s line honours winner put her Hong Kong-based rival on notice, declaring she had tacked too close and would have to pay.

“It’s a classic port-and-starboard [incident], that’s too close,” Andoo Comanche sailing master Iain Murray told the Seven Network as it went down. “You can’t do that with 100-footers.”

Would Scallywag make two pre-emptive penalty turns, or would she take her chances with the jury post-race?

Wild Oats XI found out the hard way in 2017, when she was retrospectively found to have breached the rules over a tacking manoeuvre and near-collision with Comanche at the start. The one-hour penalty gifted line honours to Comanche, who had finished 27 minutes slower.

Scallywag wasn’t feeling fortunate – she made her 720-degree turn off the shore of Bondi Beach.

All we saw, though, were giant masts in a sword fight and flapping sails on a rolling swell. The media boat outpaced the frontrunners to ensure the vantage point. TV reporters with microphones balanced precariously to capture the drama unfolding behind them, almost doing the splits to stay upright as the vessel rocked and lurched. Somebody held the scruff of a cameraman’s neck to keep him and his equipment from doing a runner.

Scallywag and Andoo Comanche during the start of the 2023 Sydney to Hobart Yacht race.Credit: Louise Kennerley