Grant Wharington has declared his supermaxi Wild Factor 100 a greater probability of successful the Sydney to Hobart on handicap than claiming the road honours prize often contested by boats her measurement.
However her rivals will not be so certain, insisting the boat that bumbled its strategy to the beginning line final 12 months is a real risk of reaching the end line first this time.
Wild Factor was the shock packet of final week’s Massive Boat Problem on Sydney Harbour, the final aggressive hit-out earlier than the massive race on Boxing Day.
The 100-foot supermaxi shot out of the blocks to push sizzling favorite Comanche, finally crossing the road third, however placing her rivals on discover.
“I seemed on the pace that factor was going at and I used to be amazed,” Comanche co-skipper James Mayo mentioned.
The Massive Boat is a far cry from the 628-nautical mile journey to Hobart’s Structure Dock.
However the race gave Wharington a stage of confidence utterly absent final 12 months, when he scrambled so as to add 20 additional ft of size to Wild Factor’s predecessor, Stefan Racing, in time for Boxing Day.
“Final 12 months to get to the beginning line was one factor, to get to the end line was a complete subsequent stage,” he informed AAP.
“Our entire boat’s been a piece in progress over the past 12 months, however [in the Big Boat Challenge] we actually proved that it is aggressive.”
Written off by every person in 2023, Wharington nonetheless doubts his boat can push Comanche or LawConnect to succeed in Hobart first after the pair waged an epic tussle for line honours final 12 months.
However his boat lacks a few of her rivals’ bells and whistles, which means she’s going to rating higher on handicap as race officers decide the general winner.
Wild Factor’s mast is smaller than that of Comanche or LawConnect, and it doesn’t have water ballast, a system used to stabilise the boat and manipulate her weight mid-race.
It has left Wharington along with his eyes on the handicap honours.
“I do not assume it is practical to assume that we is usually a line honours competitor this 12 months,” Wharington mentioned.
“It is Comanche’s race to lose [on line honours]. That boat was over $40 million, 10 years in the past, to construct. There is not any different boat constructed to that stage.
“But when it turns into a giant boat race and we’re inside a few hours of these guys, that is sufficient to win the race [on handicap].
“Relying on the time, it is someplace between 4 and 6 hours that Comanche has to beat us by and LawConnect possibly two to 3 hours. That is various distance if you’re travelling at 20 knots.”
Wild Factor thrives in barely totally different situations to her rivals too, preferring when the wind is reaching — blowing from the facet of the boat reasonably than as a direct headwind or tailwind.
In situations like that, Comanche co-skipper Matt Allen says Wild Factor is a risk to his boat’s line honours tilt.
“I feel with the correct wind angle they’re,” he mentioned.
“If we get a attain to Hobart, which generally occurs — the final time we had it was in all probability 2016 after we had a attain a lot of the means — she’s fairly highly effective on the attain.
“In all probability upwind, downwind, LawConnect and Grasp Lock Comanche have gotten it over them, however they have a degree the place they’re actually aggressive.”
AAP
