{"id":101522,"date":"2023-12-02T18:04:13","date_gmt":"2023-12-02T18:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebritycovernews.com\/?p=101522"},"modified":"2023-12-02T18:04:13","modified_gmt":"2023-12-02T18:04:13","slug":"we-are-the-battlers-going-up-against-the-billionaires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebritycovernews.com\/sport\/we-are-the-battlers-going-up-against-the-billionaires\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We are the battlers going up against the billionaires\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The lurid pink and black hull of Grant Wharington\u2019s rebuilt supermaxi yacht Wild Thing 100 had barely been wet last week when it was finally signed off as being fit to race by Sydney to Hobart officials, narrowly making the seaworthy deadline. On Thursday, adding to his pre-race anxieties, a $100,000 sponsor pulled out.<\/p>\n

The news arrived the same day Wharington, who famously skippered another boat called Wild Thing that was disqualified just three hours before the start of the 2012 race, was installing a new bright pink keel. While the sponsor loss was a major blow, the \u201ceternally optimistic\u201d Wharington pointed out the yacht was now 80 kilograms lighter without the aborted vinyl logo. Small mercies.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Grant Wharington who has just rebuilt a supermaxi yacht called Wild Thing 100.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Dan Peled<\/cite><\/p>\n

Wharington\u2019s sailing rivals, including Sydney\u2019s wealthy white goods prince John \u201cHerman\u201d Winning who won the race last year with his gleaming, hi-spec, multi-million-dollar Andoo Comanche, remain sceptical.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know much about that boat, though it looks like it\u2019s got a good paint job,\u201d Winning demurred.<\/p>\n

In 2023, the competition for line honours among these multi-million dollar maritime racing machines, billed as \u201cF1s of the sea\u201d, has become a battle of billionaires and their egos.<\/p>\n

Building these high-tech yachts can cost $30 million or more at the pointy end. Maintaining and housing them a few million more a year. Hiring an elite crew of 18 to 20 specialist navigators, tacticians, helmsmen and a bowman another $30,000 \u2026 a day.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all a far cry from the first Sydney to Hobart in 1945. Instead of satellite phones, the timber boats sailed with carrier pigeon coops, at the time the most efficient way to get word back to shore along the 1160-kilometre route.<\/p>\n

The first race took place on a beautiful summer\u2019s day with building north-easterlies for the afternoon. But the conditions soon changed and the fleet of Ambermele, Archina, Horizon, Kathleen, Mistral, Rani, Saltair, Wayfarer and Winston Churchill were swept by gales. Two yachts were reported missing for four days and the fledgling race made front-page headlines in Sydney and Hobart. The nation was hooked.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust getting to the starting line will be a victory for us. We are the battlers going up against the billionaires.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of the entrants, most of whom had never ocean raced before, sought shelter, going ashore for a meal or to telephone home, then continuing the next day.<\/p>\n

Captain John Illingworth\u2019s yacht Rani finished first in 6 days and 14 hours, while Peter Luke\u2019s yacht Wayfarer was last, taking 11 days and 6 hours to complete the course, which still stands as the record for the longest elapsed time, though he did anchor en route at Port Arthur for roast pork and crayfish.<\/p>\n

The fleet has averaged eighty yachts each year. This year 120 boats \u2013 ranging from the 30-metre supermaxis to comparative minnows less than 9 metres long \u2013 will set sail. The record remains 371 yachts for the race\u2019s 50th anniversary, while the closest finish was in 1982 when Condor of Bermuda beat Apollo across the line by seven seconds.<\/p>\n

Not all yachts and crew make the finish. Shortly after the 1998 race started, a supercell storm stirred up massive seas in the Bass Strait. The storm cut through the fleet, resulting in the drowning of six sailors and the abandonment of seven yachts. Some 30 aircraft took part in the rescue operation of 55 sailors from 12 yachts.<\/p>\n

Only 44 of 115 yachts finished that race.<\/p>\n

This will be property developer Wharington\u2019s 30th Sydney to Hobart. He is well-versed in the risks and the event\u2019s dramatic history.<\/p>\n

He won the race 20 years ago aboard his former yacht Skandia, at that time flushed with a million-dollar sponsorship and the accolades of being a champion. He remains unfazed by the obstacles ahead of him this year.<\/p>\n

For Wharington, who has survived the ebbs and flows of corporate life, including bankruptcy, it has been the challenge of overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds just to qualify to compete, of which he is most proud.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it\u2019s been pretty stressful, it would have been very disappointing to go through all this and not qualify at the end,\u201d he said, his yacht yet to complete sea trials.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust getting to the starting line will be a victory for us. We are the battlers going up against the billionaires. I\u2019ll have my son and daughter with me. I love the sport, I love the camaraderie, it is an iconic event.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Andoo Comanche remains favourite after taking line honours in the 2022 Sydney to Hobart yacht race.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI also have a very understanding wife … and a mortgage which is probably a little higher than it should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wharington has spent around $1.5million on the rebuild. He, along with a small team dedicated to the mission, has also invested \u201ccountless hours\u201d of toil in a Gold Coast boat shed. He estimates the rebuild would have cost at least $5 million if it was outsourced.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are upcycling \u2026 carbon fibre doesn\u2019t \u2018go off\u2019. Our whole ethos is to do this cleverly, on a tiny budget … but with plenty of passion,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Thanks to some seriously complicated mathematics, design refinement and many hours of modelling, Wharington\u2019s boat now has an additional six metres in length. In terms of size and weight, it is on par with the three main contenders for this year\u2019s line honours, and, he adds: \u201cat a fraction of their budgets\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

John Winning with the Sydney to Hobart trophy.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Kate Geraghty<\/cite><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s favourite is Winning\u2019s leased Andoo Commanche, the same boat that holds the record for fastest time in the race: 1 day, 9 hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds, in 2017. This year it is racing with a brand-new set of sails, specially designed and made in the United States. Estimated to be worth more than $2 million, third-generation sailor Winning would not be drawn on the final bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as an apartment in Sydney \u2013 but I won\u2019t say in which suburb,\u201d he teased, adding his passion for the sport could not be measured in dollars.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been on sailing boats with my family since I was four. I\u2019ve raced 18-foot skiffs, spent many Boxing Days watching the boats sail out. The Sydney to Hobart really is the pinnacle of Australian sailing. What\u2019s the point of working hard and making money if you are not going to spend it on something you love?\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

LawConnect skipper Christian Beck.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>CYCA\/Salty Dingo<\/cite><\/p>\n

Breathing down his neck is legal IT billionaire Christian Beck\u2019s LawConnect. Beck happily admits Winning is sailing on the superior boat. \u201cEveryone knows that,\u201d he says, deferring to the skill and tenacity of his crew to remain a serious contender.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sydney to Hobart can be a life-changing experience. I really enjoy seeing how it can transform someone\u2019s outlook. I have a busy life, I don\u2019t get to sail as much as I like. Life gets in the way … I\u2019ve been divorced and remarried \u2026 last week we welcomed a new baby,\u201d Beck said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

LawConnect in action.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Cruising Yacht Club Australia<\/cite><\/p>\n

\u201cBut after six years of competing, when I weigh up all the positives, it remains a very good thing to do, both personally and for our company in terms of building morale and marketing.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s dark horse title rests with Malaysian billionaire Seng Huang Lee\u2019s Scallywag, which has just undergone its own $6 million \u201crefresh\u201d and features a new, repositioned and much lighter mast, which has shaved an estimated 700 kilograms from the boat\u2019s total weight.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Dark horse: Yachtie and billionaire Seng Huang Lee.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Fiona Morris<\/cite><\/p>\n

Chatter among \u201cyachties\u201d is that Scallywag\u2019s new centre of gravity has improved her performance by 15 per cent.<\/p>\n

Missing from this year\u2019s race is previous winner Wild Oats XI, owned by the billionaire Oatley family, which sustained damage following this year\u2019s Oatley-owned Hamilton Island Race Week. The Sydney to Hobart was one of the great passions of the family\u2019s late patriarch Bob Oatley, who died in 2017.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Scallywag leads the 2021 fleet in the Sydney to Hobart.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n

In his absence, and with the billion-dollar sale of Hamilton Island in the works, there are murmurs Bob Oatley\u2019s three adult children – Sandy, Ros and Ian – are not in agreement about continuing their father\u2019s sailing legacy, though keen sailor Sandy Oatley said on Friday, there were \u201cno plans to retire\u201d Wild Oats XI.<\/p>\n

Despite being a rival on the water, John Winning said the Oatleys would be missed this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWild Oats XI is the Makybe Diva of sailing,\u201d Winning said. \u201cThey are great competitors and a beautiful family, sailing would not be the same without them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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