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Multihull Peccadillo has led the fleet out of Port Phillip Bay in the Melbourne to Hobart race.

Monohull line honours favourite Scarlet Runner and current multihull race record holder Peccadillo have both made flying starts to the 52nd edition of the annual Melbourne to Hobart race.

The 435 nautical-mile race race began under sunny skies in a 20 knot south-westerly breeze off Portsea Pier on Friday morning.

The Carkeek 43 Scarlet Runner, skippered by Rob Date, and the Charles Meredith-skippered Peccadillo, which set the multihull race record two years ago, threw down the gauntlet early to the rest of the fleet.

Peccadillo claimed the Port Phillip Bay Sea Pilots Perpetual Trophy for the first boat to exit Port Phillip Heads for the second year in a row, with Rushour hot on her hammer.

Scarlet Runner, an excellent downwind racer widely tipped to challenge the line honours race record this year, was the first monohull through the heads followed by Cadibarra (Paul Roberts) and Vagabond (Andrew McConchie).

Quest, the Marek 43 co-skippered by Peter Tardrew and Rod Gunther, led the double-handed division out of Port Phillip Bay.

Foggy Dew, a double-handed entry co-skippered by Janet Wilks and Robert Darcy, retired just after the start citing gear damage.

Assistant Start Race Director Ray Shaw anticipated a challenging race to Hobart, with an improved weather forecast.

"Once the fleet gets out into Bass Strait, they will see three-metre waves and winds in the low to mid 20s (knots)," he said.

"As the fleet approaches the west coast of Tasmania, it's a pretty comfortable 15 knots, and then later into Sunday as the boats approach South West Cape, the winds will build up again to 25 to 30 knots around the bottom of Tasmania."

Line honours contenders are expected to arrive in Hobart by Sunday morning.