The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race sets off from Sydney Harbour (Image: ABC)

The annual Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race will set off today with meteorologists warning of a rough journey ahead.

The race arguably reaches its most spectacular point minutes after beginning, as the nearly one hundred teams round South Head at the entrance to Port Jackson or Sydney Harbour.

Until recent years the race would take two or three days, but new technology in maxi yachts has allowed new records to be set. Last year’s winner, Wild Oats XI, took only one day, eighteen hours, twenty-three minutes and twelve seconds to cover the 1,170 kilometres.

Wild Oats XI arrives in Constitution Dock, Hobart, last year (Image: ABC)

The race finishes at Constitution Dock in Hobart, the Tasmanian state capital, amid a flurry of media and onlookers.

Sydneysiders wishing to watch the start to the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race can catch the yachts sailing out to sea from most locations along the harbour foreshore. The race is due to begin at 1pm local time.

For more information, or to track the progress of the yachts, go to the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2013 website.