Etihad Stadium

Grant Wharington’s Wild Thing won line honours in the 2003 Rolex Sydney Hobart but the following year, leading the fleet to Hobart, she lost her canting keel, capsized and the crew abandoned ship.  Wild Thing was rebuilt and went on to take line honours in the 2005 Sydney Gold Coast, Sydney Mooloolaba and Sydney Mackay races.  In last year’s Hobart Wild Thing finished second to Wild Oats XI after mounting a challenge for line honours

This year has been a quiet one for Wild Thing with Wharington and his crew using the time off the water to prepare the boat for its sixth consecutive attempt at the 628 nautical mile ocean classic.  The design of this 30m maxi is an ongoing process with its configuration refined no less than five times since its launch in October 2003, including a new radical 7m keel for this year’s race.

Link here to an interview with Grant Wharington, owner/skipper of Etihad Stadium, after the boat had retired from the race:

Grant Wharington - 26 December 2009

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