While most people are taking time off to lounge around, eat, drink and be merry with family and friends, we've got to come up with something to put in the sports pages.

Usually year-enders, a bit of A-League and W-League and, of course, the Sydney to Hobart fill the void.

Now, many sports lovers will tune out at the very mention of the Sydney to Hobart, but stay with me.

I, like most, wouldn't know a reef knot from a figure eight, a tack from a jibe or PHS from IRC handicap divisions, without heading to Google.

And, to be fair, the event hardly captures the imagination of your average sports nut.

But for the past few years it's been my brief to track down the Hunter entries and tell their stories.

And that's where it gets interesting, especially this year.

Seven yachts, representing the Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Port Stephens clubs, will take on the 75^th edition of the race when it starts on Boxing Day in Sydney Harbour.

Only two, Dare Devil and Frantic, made the 1170-kilometre voyage last year.

Among the newcomers is Wonderland, owned and skippered by Stockton's Rebecca Connor.

For those sports fans who also read the other end of the paper, that name might ring a bell.

Connor, a former senior Department of Planning titles operations manager based at Maitland, was sacked in 2018 after raising concerns about corruption in the processing of mining titles.

The 49-year-old mother of six boys this month demanded an apology after a review, initiated following the Herald's stories about her struggle, found NSW Government mining titles processes remained exposed to bribery, fraud, theft and corruption risks.

She told the Herald the review validated issues she had been raising since 2016 and that her treatment showed a culture of behaviour in the department in which whistleblowing was not supported.

Needless to say, Connor has taken on more than her fair share of challenges in the past few years.

So why now add the Sydney to Hobart to the list?

"It was probably the only thing that gave any distraction during what's been going on," she said.

"And my psychiatrist, my psychologist and my husband all suggested that I do it, to give me something else to do other than the enormity of the situation I've been in.

"Like some sort of therapy almost."

Ironically, Connor and her husband, Allan, bought Wonderland, a Beneteau Oceanis 473, from Queensland the week before she was dismissed.

"I use to sail many years ago, just for fun and competitively," she said.

"But now I've got six children, six boys, and that's occupied a lot of my time.

"My husband and I bought Wonderland, and brought it to Newcastle, the week I got stood down from the workplace, so it just fell into place that I did a lot of sailing.

"I just focused on that as much as I could."

While sailing has been an escape, the Sydney to Hobart itself shapes as a special challenge for Connor.

She, and her boat, will tackle the race for the first time, but Connor will also lead a crew of eight on the sometimes treacherous journey.

Kyle and Aimee Hancock, West Australian Craig Meiklejohn, 70-year-old Kiwi Terry Norwood, Paul Flanagan, Meika Wright and Oonagh O'Donovan will make the trip on Wonderland. Half are also making their debut in the race.

"It's a challenge and it's really to test myself and see if I can focus and work with a team again, which is something I haven't done for some time," Connor said.

"And I guess I'm a bit averse to teamwork given my experiences at the department.

"The people I'm sailing with are quite sensible and we don't look at trying to win the race. We look at it as a race of survival and making sure we and the boat all get there in one piece.

"We entered it into all of the Newcastle races, and we won the twilight series last season, and until we had to replace some rigging, we were winning the short ocean pointscore this year.

"At the end of the twilight series, we were having a talk on the boat about doing [the Sydney to Hobart].

"It's always been a fantasy of mine, I guess. I've always had a keen interest in watching the Hobart boats.

"That's where it all stemmed from, and before we knew it we were committed."

Just getting to the start line of the Sydney to Hobart is a challenge in itself.

Mountains of paperwork, safety checks, repairs and supply runs make the race, especially for amateur crews without rich sponsors, a stressful and expensive exercise.

Connor said she was "looking forward to getting through Sydney heads" after a frantic few weeks.

"Some of my younger children sail locally so they are keen to watch it," she said of her family's reaction.

"Some of the older ones probably think I'm a little crazy. I think they'd prefer motorised boats.

"It wouldn't happen without Allan. He's just been very encouraging and supportive right from the start.

"It's a completely different challenge, but it's also good that it is. It gets me away from the continuing saga."