The strong 85-boat fleet gathering in Sydney for the 2007 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race includes nine overseas entries; six from the UK and one each from the USA, Mexico and New Zealand.

Two of the visitors, Mike Slade's Cityindex Leopard from Great Britain and Bill Buckley's Maximus from New Zealand, are expected to strongly challenge Australian entries Wild Oats XI (Bob Oatley) and Grant Wharington's Skandia in the battle of the canting-keeled maxis (98ft, 30m overall length) at the head of the fleet for line honours in the 628-nautical mile race to start on Boxing Day, December 26.

The Reichel/Pugh-designed Wild Oats XI, which set a new race record in 2005 taking line honours as well as winning on IRC handicap, and again took line honours in the 2006 race, has been fitted with a new stiffer carbon mast by Southern Spars to replace the one she broke at the Rolex Maxi World Cup at Porto Cervo, Sardinia in September.

And with new carbon rigging in place of PBO used on the previous mast, the complete rig is 100kg lighter than the old. Wild Oats XI will also be carrying more sail area: a square-topped mainsail adds 15 per cent upwind, as well as larger gennakers flown from the longer bowsprit that add 20 per cent to her downwind sail area.

She has sacrificed some of her IRC rating and the chance of another handicap win to concentrate on a line honours win against the tougher competition at the head of the fleet.

Skandia, the 2003 line honours winner, with a longer waterline and fuller hull shape aft, was only three miles behind Wild Oats XI, two-thirds of the way down the course in Bass Strait in last year's race when her forward canard fin broke off, ending her chances.

She has been fitted with a new re-configured keel for this year's race with the fin shaved down for a more efficient shape and a reduction of 1200kg in weight. Wharington says the boat in total is one and-a-half tonnes lighter than last year.

Both Cityindex Leopard and Maximus were designed and built primarily for long offshore passage races, capable of surviving the roughest conditions, while Wild Oats XI is aimed at inshore regatta sailing as well as offshore racing.

Wild Oats XI's sailing master Mark Richards says: "Leopard will be hard to beat -- she is much bigger, carries more sail area. Maximus has a deeper keel and a taller mast; she is going to be an absolute weapon." He says the four maxis are very different boats: "It will come down to who gets their favoured conditions."

Leopard, designed by Farr and built by McConaghy Boats in Sydney, showed her ability to handle rough conditions in smashing the Rolex Fastnet Race record in August by eight hours and 50 minutes. At 36.5 tonnes displacement, she is more than 10 tonnes heavier than Wild Oats XI. Her hull is wide and powerful, has a distinct chine running aft for about two-thirds of her length to improve water flow off the hull and is especially suited for high-speed downwind sailing offshore.

Maximus, designed by Greg Elliott, has had a thorough refit since her broke her rotating wing mast in the 2006 Rolex Sydney Hobart Race. She now has a fixed mast that is five metres taller and a deeper forward canard. Structural changes inside the boat have given her a greater power-to-weight ratio as well as making her stronger. Her project manager Ross Field says the boat is carrying a lot more sail area and has a lot more stability.

One of the race's most interesting entries is American Roger Sturgeon's Rosebud, first launched of the ST65s built under the new "box" rule formulated by the USA's leading offshore racing clubs, the Storm Trysail Club and the Transpacific Yacht Club. The rule, following the example of the TP52 rule, intends to encourage high-performance light-displacement fixed keel yachts within set parameters for both inshore and offshore racing.

Florida-based Sturgeon, who previously owned a TP52 called Rosebud, has planned a program of world-wide inshore and offshore events including the Onion Patch series and the Newport Bermuda Race in June and later, England's Cowes Week. Rosebud finished third in class and had the third fastest time in this year's Transpac Race, from Los Angeles - Honolulu.

Sturgeon opened his Australian campaign by winning the IRC handicap section of the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge - a spectacular warm-up event for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - on Sydney Harbour. He says the level of competition was the main reason for bringing Rosebud to Australia. "It's the best competition in the world; this time of year especially. We thought it would do the most for our program to be here. We thought we would learn a lot. One of our primary things is to try to go to new places and do new things; not just stay in the same little patch."

Also among the overseas entries is the 2001 line honours winner, then named Assa Abloy, now named Hugo Boss II. This Volvo 60 from the UK is campaigning under the banner of Alex Thomson Racing, alongside the British short-handed sailor's Open 60 campaign. Thomson is currently sailing in the two-handed, non-stop Barcelona World Race around the world with Australian Andrew Cape.

Meanwhile, Hugo Boss II is in Sydney on the last stage of a world tour that has kept the sponsor's flag flying on a passage from Portsmouth to New York, the Transpac Race and passages through Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, to Sydney for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race, where she will be skippered by Ross Daniel. Alex Thomson Racing gave her a three-month refit before she sailed from New York in May.

Hugo Boss II, a Farr design, as Assa Abloy skippered by Neil McDonald for the Swedish sponsor, finished second in the 2001-2002 Volvo Ocean Race and took line honours in the 2001 Rolex Sydney Hobart, which was a leg of the course.

Also among the nine overseas entries is British skipper Chris Bull's J/145 Jazz, which placed second on the CYCA's Bluewater Pointscore last season and placed third in Division C of the 2006 Rolex Sydney Hobart Race. Australian legend Hugh Treharne, who has sailed 27 Hobart races, will add tactical strength and local knowledge.

The race's first Mexican entry is the Beneteau 40.7 Iataia, owned by Marcos Rodriguez which, skippered by Mark Rosenfeld, arrived in Sydney after a six-month cruise from Acapulco. Iataia raced in the 2005 Transpac Race.

The British Beneteau First 47.7, Decosol Marine Sailplane finished sixth in division and 14th overall in this year's Rolex Fastnet Race. She will be skippered by John Danby and Robert Bottomley.

The Frers-designed Swan 57 Noonmark VI from Great Britain, owned by Sir Geoffrey Mulcahy and skippered by Mike Gilburt is on an around-the-world cruise interspersed with some racing. Since her launching in 1998, she has raced in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean; placed fifth overall and won IRC Division B in the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race last year.

Michelle Colenso, with Andrew Poole as skipper, will again race her Oyster 55 Capriccio of Rhu. A brush with breast cancer halted an around the world cruise in Sydney in 2006 but she raced in the Rolex Sydney Hobart last year, winning the Cruising Division and now, much fitter, is looking forward to doing it again.