The Race is on!

• NEWS
• 10 Nov, 2003 12:35:00 PM

The Race is on!

Skandia, built for Melbourne’s Grant Wharington’s Wild Thing Yachting, and Zana, built for New Zealand yachtsman Stewart Thwaites, will head an international fleet in the 627 nautical mile ocean race starting on Boxing Day, 26 December.

The clash of the Trans-Tasman Titans sets the tone for this year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

The two largest boats ever to race in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, both 30 metres (98 feet) long, have begun intensive sailing preparations for this Trans-Tasman duel for line honours in the 59th annual bluewater classic.

Skandia, built for Melbourne’s Grant Wharington’s Wild Thing Yachting, and Zana, built for New Zealand yachtsman Stewart Thwaites, will head an international fleet in the 627 nautical mile ocean race starting on Boxing Day, 26 December.

These brand new “super maxis’’ are state of the art carbon fibre construction and incorporate the latest concepts in design, hull engineering, rigging, sails and trimming techniques.  Skandia has a revolutionary canting keel, said to be the largest in the world; Zana has a fixed keel but has opted to use a rival system of water ballast to optimise her performance.

This clash of the Trans-Tasman Titans is racing rivalry at its best. Both boats have been designed, built and equipped in their own countries and will be crewed by the cream of ocean racing talent from Australia and New Zealand.  

Both skippers, Wharington and Thwaites are seeking the glory of being the first into Hobart and have started their race preparation. Thwaites is a highly competitive skipper and last year won the IRC division in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in the veteran 55-footer Starlight Express. Wharington has notched up a second and a third across the line in past Sydney Hobarts, but never got the gun.

Skandia was launched by America’s Cup winning skipper John Bertrand at Mornington Yacht Club on Friday 31st October, and has been sailing for several weeks on Port Phillip. Chief designer and structural engineer for the project is innovative Melbourne yachtsman Don Jones, while Mal Hart built the boat at Mornington.

Zana, designed by New Zealander Brett Bakewell-White, was launched in Wellington Harbour two weeks ago and is undergoing initial sailing trials before sailing to Auckland and then onto Sydney, arriving in mid-December. The Kiwi super maxi was built by Hakes Marine.

Both yachts are the biggest racing yachts ever owned by either a New Zealander or Australian, and just come inside the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s maximum overall length of 30 metres and the IRC upper speed limit of 1.61 (the maximum handicap rating).

Other Big Yachts

Other big boats in the fleet for Hobart include the two best known older maxi yachts in Australia, George Snow’s famous war horse the Jutson 80, Brindabella, and Ludde Ingvall’s 80-footer Nicorette.

Snow, who originally had Brindabella up for sale, has decided to sail the maxi yacht in her 11th Sydney Hobart (and his own 21st race) with three of his adult children in the crew.

To keep her competitive edge, Nicorette has undergone a secret redevelopment programme at the new Mackay Marina in North Queensland,  including new a canting keel to improve stability in stronger winds,  a new bow sprit to enable her to carry bigger, more powerful spinnakers, and a new livery.

“The race for Hobart has already begun,” Ingvall said. “The bar is raised every year and I love the challenge.  This year is no different, and Australians will see some of the world’s newest and most exciting yachts on the starting line come Boxing Day as the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race is now one of the star attractions for international skippers.”

While these four boats, Skandia,  Zana,  Brindabella and Nicorette,  will be the  largest yachts in this year’s fleet,  there will be an exceptionally strong line-up of boats in the pocket maxi class in the 60 to 66 foot range. These smaller yachts will be snapping at the heels of the Titans all the way south.

Heading the line-up in this class will be the refurbished super fast Grundig,  Sean Langman’s Open 66, as well the internationally successful US 65-footer,  Zaraffa, owned by New York Yacht Club member Dr Huntington “Skip” Sheldon.  

Grundig finished a fast second to Alfa Romeo in last year’s Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and Zaraffa won this year’s ChryslerDaimler North Atlantic Challenge race from America to Germany on corrected time.

Then there are four Volvo Ocean 60s, fresh from their race around the world and now based in Sydney: Andrew Short Marine (Andrew Short), Magnavox 2UE (Peter Sorensen, Mark Gray and Julie Hodder), Seriously Ten (John Woodruff) and formula1sailing.com, chartered by a British crew with a female skipper,  Denise Caffari.  All the 60s are capable of finishing at the front of the fleet in the right weather conditions and inside the race record of 1 day 19 hours 48 hours 03 seconds held by the Volvo 60, Nokia, set in 2001.

Another competitor in this range is the Open 60, Broomstick, skippered by CYCA director Michael Cranitch.

With some late nominations expected to swell the ranks of these racing greyhounds of the sea, the scene is set for the most competitive race ever for Line Honours and Overall Winner on handicap.

To make the racing more interesting still, sailors and non-sailors can place bets through the TAB on both first to finish and handicap winners.