Sydney To Hobart Yacht race 2023: Rebuilt Wild Thing Out To Make Waves, Entries, Distance, History
In preparation for the 2023 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, a sailing mad scientist has bizarrely enlarged the 'Botox boat' in an effort to shock and amaze competitors in the prestigious ocean classic.
With the intention of playing a leading role in this year's Sydney to Hobart yacht race, the 'Botox boat' has undergone more cosmetic procedures than an aging Hollywood icon.
Grant Wharington, a self-proclaimed "mad scientist" in the sport of sailing, is the mastermind behind the makeover of a boat that was originally 80 feet long into a supermaxi that is 100 feet long, with the goal of winning the Sydney to Hobart yacht race in 2023.
Wharington has also renamed the old Stefan Racing yacht boat, which will now be used for the Race South Wild Thing 100. Although she is still being prepared for the race in a boat shed in Queensland, she will be ready in plenty of time to be on the starting line of this year's race on Boxing Day.
In addition to having been cut into four pieces, fattened up in the middle, and extended in the rear, Wild Thing will be rebuilt as a supermaxi and will have a new livery for the race that has a stunning black and pink color paint job. The boat will be 20 feet longer than it was before it was cut up and rebuilt.
It will compete against the metamorphosis of the livid pink and rainbowed 80-footer Stefan Racing, which finished sixth over the line in the race the previous year, into a supermaxi with the ability to not only earn line honors but perhaps the prized overall win. Stefan Racing finished sixth over the line in the race the previous year.
Wharington, who has previously expanded other yachts, remarked, "We cut her in half and put four meters in the middle and two meters at the back and it looks like it was almost meant to be."
Wild Thing 100's significant weight reduction in comparison to super maxi opponents Andoo Comanche, Scallywag, and LawConnect should put her in the lead in the 628-nautical-mile race to Tasmania later this year.
Originally from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Wharington is now located on the Gold Coast. "We are hedging our bets to see how it works out," he added.
Late on Friday, registration for the 2023 race closed, and a fleet of 100+ yachts is expected to line up at the start.
Eleven boats are from outside the country, and some are sailed by just two people.
Former winner Black Jack from Queensland, who is currently racing in another country, and triple winner Wild Oats from New South Wales will not be competing.
With Wharington running in his 30th race to Hobart and also being a former winner with his old yacht Skandia winning back in 2013, the reinvented Wild Thing 100 will provide plenty of spice to the contest for line honors.
In 1945, nine yachts sailed from Sydney to Hobart, and the 34-footer Rani won line and overall honors.
In 2023, the fleet will consist of various boats that have previously won the line or the handicap race, including John 'Herman' Winning's 100-footer Andoo Comanche, which finished with the quickest time to Hobart the previous year.
Love and War, winner of numerous races overall in the past, as well as Celestial, winner of the race a year ago, will both compete.