Supermaxis and Sydney to Hobart contenders Wild Oats XI and Black Jack have shared line honours bragging rights in lead up races on Sydney Harbour this weekend.
Wild Oats XI was first across the line with Black Jack second in Saturday's Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's Trophy Series race.
The order was reversed on Sunday with the Queensland boat finishing ahead of the Hobart eight-time line honours winner.
Both races were contested in relatively light breeze, conditions which are more suited to Black Jack.
"We've got the best light air boat by some margin and yesterday we didn't sail very well, so we didn't win the race," Black Jack skipper Mark Bradford told AAP.
"I think we fell into the trap a little bit of just expecting that we've got a good light air boat, but they did a good job with the racing, so we never really got in the race.
"But today we had a little bit different approach and we pushed to get in the race.
"I think we reaped the rewards of that today, but certainly in sub-10 knots that's kind of our space.
"It was disappointing to lose one yesterday but we squared it away today."
The Oats camp were happy with their boat's performance in unfavourable conditions over the weekend.
"Black Jack have had a big advantage over us over the last several months in lighter air and we've made a few changes which have definitely closed the gap," Wild Oats XI skipper Mark Richards said after Saturday's race.
The two boats will meet again in Tuesday's Big Boat Challenge in the final race hitout before the Sydney to Hobart starts on Boxing Day.
The other two supermaxis in the Hobart fleet, InfoTrack and LDV Comanche, didn't contest the weekend races and aren't expected to be part of Tuesday's event.
Handicap honours in IRC division one over the weekend went to the Ker 46 boat Patrice.
