The iconic race and its diverse fleet, will take on a 628 nautical mile journey to Hobart, starting on December 26, with boats travelling past Eden, the southernmost declared port in NSW.

Ted Dexter, commodore of the Twofold Bay Yacht Club, described the competition as a "world class famous race", which was not to be taken lightly.

"You're going through some of the most dangerous waters in the world, and you've got to leave at a fixed date and time which means you sail whether the weather is good or bad," he said.

"In the 1998 race quite a number of people and boats were lost, sailing across the ocean is a very serious event but it's exhilarating at the same time."

Members of the Twofold Bay Yacht Club and Eden Marine Rescue unit, along with Eden Water Police have already begun to make the necessary preparations for the race, in case any boats ran into trouble and needed to come into port.

Mr Dexter said that as per custom the club had prepared a trophy to give out to the first boat to withdraw from the race and come into Eden.

"It's a pretty informal thing we do for those who've been knocked out of the race or withdrawn. We normally have a bit of a party and help them salve their wounds," he said.

Mr Dexter said as a club they'd help out any sailors that had problems and for those that had to come in, they'd drive them around, get fuel, give them a place to stay, a meal and a hot shower.

"There's a lot of camaraderie in yachting, the responsibility of saving people at sea is transferred to land," he said.

Marine Rescue New South Wales zone operations manager, Glenn Sullivan said they would be having a team monitoring the radio base in Eden during the race.

"We even have two members of the Twofold Bay Yacht Club who will be monitoring the high frequency radio for their radio skeds," he said.

Mr Sullivan explained that radio sked was a pre-arranged safety check-in via VHF radio with a monitoring agency, in this case Eden Marine Rescue, that the competitors would have to make when sailing past.

Mr Sullivan said the unit had very specific protocols to follow for anything in an offshore environment.

"We're obviously listening out but our first port of call is to marine area command and obviously letting the cruising yacht club know as well as the local water police and that way any assistance can be coordinated," he said.

"Then they'd be communicating with that vessel to see if they can actually make it back to the shore under their own steam or if they require any assistance."

Mr Sullivan said while it was unlikely they would require a marine rescue vessel, they were glad to have one on standby in Eden.

For those wanting to keep track of the fleet and find out when is the best chance to see them, whether on land if they sail close enough, or by boat ought to make use of the Cruising Yacht Club app.

"They can follow the race and race leaders, everything is on there. The app actually brings it up through an automatic identification system," he said.

Mr Sullivan urged any recreational boaters interested in heading out to sea to watch the the larger vessels sail past, to exercise caution and ensure they have the proper safety equipment before heading out.

"They need to make sure that they have the proper safety equipment and it's all in good working order because there'd be nothing worse than going out to have a look at the fleet from Sydney to Hobart cruising past and you get into a pickle yourself," he said.

Mr Dexter said those wishing to watch the race from land, if the boats sailed close enough, would be able to get the best view from Green Cape Lighthouse, the southernmost lighthouse in NSW, located 45 minutes south of Eden.