Much like corporations utilise business intelligence solutions to get the upper hand on competitors by crunching data to inform the decision making process, the navigators and crew of the yachts use data captured prior to the big day and also throughout the race to plot their course from Sydney harbour down the east coast, across the often treacherous Bass Straight and onto Hobart.

For the crew on St Jude, a two-year old Sydney 47 crafted by Azzura Yachts and owned/skippered by Noel Cornish, taking part in its second race this year much of their game plan is dependent on the technology they have installed.

The IT set-up on board St Jude is not as advanced as some of the bigger vessels; the yacht is about half the size of the maxi-yachts, which can reach up to 100 foot-long, thus placing it around the middle range of the field.

However, that doesn't mean technology isn't important.

St Jude has a desktop (with no back up), large LCD display, wireless keyboard, a chart plotter, and several instruments located around the vessel -- such as on the mast - to capture data like speed through the water, speed over the ground, wind speed, depth, current, and water temperature.