|
|
|
|
 |
| Site Contributors |
|
 |
| Studio Borlenghi |
|
|
 |
| Michael
McCoy |
|
|
 |
| Morris Adant |
|
|
 |
| Peter
Andrews |
|
|
|
| |
|
| Etihad Stadium’s race to the starting gun |
| By Peter Andrews. |
 |
Photos By Daniel
Forster and Etihad Stadium.
Additional photos and story by Peter Andrews. |
| December 22, 2009. |
|
Two weeks and one day to the starting gun of the 2009 Sydney Hobart, Grant Wharington and crew must have been feeling quite happy. Not only as they were on their final delivery voyage to Sydney, but also because they had also just secured Etihad Stadium as a major sponsor for their boat, to compete in the biggest annual ocean yacht race within Australian waters. Then later that afternoon, their whole world had abruptly changed as their 98 footer suddenly lost its mast.
It all unfolded, 10 miles off Deal Island, roughly halfway between Wilsons
Promontory and Flinders Island in Bass Strait. Thankfully, none of the
crew was hurt when this totally unexpected situation just arrived completely
out of nowhere.
"Not long before this happened, a number of us were talking about how good the boat was feeling and how excited we were about the Sydney Hobart," said Wharington. |
|
After loosing the mast near Deal Island, in Bass Strait.
Photo © Etihad Stadium.
|
 |
|
|
It was a complete enigma for Wharington and his crew. Conditions were not as such as to be something to be concerned as the yacht was sailing downwind at around 25 knots.
"Whilst we were coming down off the back of a large wave 10 miles off Deal Island, it’s certainly nothing different to conditions we’ve been in many times over. It’s just been an incredible stroke of rotten luck," said Wharington.
As the rig and the sails that were hoisted at the time drifted away with the tide, Wharington was already planning his next strategy to stay in the race to Hobart. |
|
After loosing the mast near Deal Island, in Bass Strait.
Photo © Etihad Stadium.
|
 |
|
|
As boat motored towards the New South Wales south coast town of Eden and as soon as his phone had a signal, a complicated logistical program to get them back to the Boxing Day starting line had commenced. Indeed the most significant call that was made from Bass Strait that day was to Neville Crichton, the owner of Alfa Romeo.
Neville had a spare 45 metre carbon fibre mast, sitting in a shed somewhere in the south of France and he was quite happy provide it to Wharington, so he may still have a chance to compete in the race to Hobart. But how do you get a mast of that size from France to Australia, then fitted in time for the Boxing Day start at 1 o’clock?
While that question hung around like a heavy fog, the boat was refuelled at Eden. It then continued its voyage to Sydney with half the original racing crew. The other half were picked up by shore crew, who then made their way back to Melbourne along the Princes Highway.
As Wharington’s sponsor negotiated with their Etihad Airways people to see if some air cargo options could be provided, it was clear that at least a 747 cargo plane would be needed for the task. |
|
Grant Wharington's Wild Thing, (racing this year as Etihad
Stadium)
working up to the Hobart finishing line last year in a 30 knot squall, to arrive
second over the line in the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2008.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
|
 |
|
|
As the plan came together, Neville’s spare mast was cut in half so it could be transported, first by truck to Belgium. From Belgium, two flights were needed to get it to Sydney via Singapore. As the clock was ticking, everything seemed to be working to the plan; that was until Singapore.
As reports in the local media reveal, transport from Singapore was first held-up due to an inability to reschedule the transportation of a couple of horses. Then when the two sections of mast were finally loaded, they were then removed from the plane to be repacked due to safety concerns of the pilot.
Late Monday night, December 21, the plane arrived and the two sections of mast were finally delivered to Sydney City Marine at Rozelle. At Rozelle, a team of people were assembled from Southern Spars and Hart Marine, who will work continuously around the clock over the next couple of days in shifts, to join the two sections together. |
|
Grant Wharington checks Etihad Stadium's new mast before
it's offloaded from delivery aircraft in Sydney.
Photo © Rolex / Daniel Forster.
|
 |
|
|
The process is complex and first involves preparing a 4 millimetre carbon fibre sleeve that will be glued to the inside of the two mast sections. The sleeve will be located at the point of where the two sections join, spanning across the internal section of the joint.
The surface at the ends of the two mast sections are sanded in preparation for lamination, which involves applying multiple layers of carbon fibre around the outside of the joint. Thermal blankets that will be slowly heated to 100 degrees Celsius, will then be wrapped around the outside of the completed join for a given period of time. After a controlled cooling process, the new mast will be then ready to be installed during the morning of Christmas Eve.
When asked about matching sails to the new mast arrangement, Etihad Stadium’s Watch Captain Ian (Biggles) Johnson advised that a couple of their existing sails will be able to be used with the new rig. But they were also currently negotiating to obtain other sails from Neville Crichton and possibly from Wild Oats.
As to the success in getting to the Boxing Day starting line, the generosity and help from a fellow competitor is, and unlikely to be forgotten.
"Neville has been great, and with any luck and a whole lot of logistical management, we might just find ourselves back in one piece and racing in the 2009 Sydney Hobart," concluded Wharington. |
|
Grant Wharington's Wild Thing, (racing this year as Etihad
Stadium) working up to the Hobart finishing line last year in a 30
knot squall, to arrive second over the line in the Sydney Hobart
Yacht Race 2008.
Photo © Peter Andrews, Outimage.
|
 |
|
|
| For further information about the Sydney Hobart, go to the official race website at: www.rolexsydneyhobart.com |
|
| Outimage © 2009 |
|
|
|
