Setback for Wharington

Monday 14, December 2009, 16:30 GMT

NEWS ROUND-UP

Former Volvo Ocean Race skipper Grant Wharington is battling against the clock to make the start line for the Rolex Sydney-Hobart later this month after his 98ft supermaxi Etihad Stadium lost its rig during delivery to Sydney.

The incident occurred with the boat making 25 knots downwind in Bass Strait. The mast was broken five metres above the deck. 

Currently shore crew members are in New Zealand to oversee the re-build of a replacement mast which has been sourced from the south of France. The logistics of getting it to Sydney in time for the race start on December 26 is the biggest challenge.  

"I'm quietly confident that we'll have a transport solution from options that have been offered over the last 48 hours," Wharington said. "As soon as the mast is in the air en route to Australia, we can get much more confident about our chances of competing in the Sydney-Hobart."

The boat is now waiting at Noakes, in North Sydney, where a small number of crew will also be based for the next few days. The replacement mast belongs to rival Alfa Romeo and engineers are determining how it can be adapted to the Etihad Stadium layout.

"There are no insurmountable problems with the use of the replacement mast at this stage," Wharington said.

"Our next challenge however, is the transport, and we have a few people working on some possible solutions to that problem. We have some very tight timelines should we be able to go ahead with installing the replacement mast."

Wharington led an Australian entry in the 2005-06 Volvo. The modified first generation Volvo Open 70 - Ichi Ban - will be on the start line in Sydney and has Volvo sailors  Tom Braidwood and Andy Meiklejohn among its ranks.

Wharington had has mixed results in the Sydney-Hobart. Etihad Stadium, formerly Wild Thing, took line honours in 2003 before losing her canting keel and capsizing the following year. The Don Jones-designed maxi was rebuilt and finished second to Wild Oats in 2008.

Groupama 3 bound for Brest

Groupama 3, the French trimaran has departed Cape Town and is embarking on the 6,000 mile journey to the French port of Brest to prepare for a second stand-by period for an attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy.

The boat, skippered by Franck Cammas, sustained damage during her previous attempt last month.

Fred Le Peutrec, who is acting skipper for the homeward journey, reported that the boat was experiencing light, downwind conditions in the South Atlantic.

"After sustained winds of departure, we are now gennaker in a wind of 10 knots," he said.

"These conditions allow all team members take the helm in turn. In shorts and T-shirt, the atmosphere on board is excellent." 

Cammas and Groupama recently announced their participation in the next two editions of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Holt's transat bid

Geoff Holt has set out on a quest to become the first quadriplegic yachtsman to cross the Atlantic. The 42-year-old father became the first disabled yachtsman to sail around Great Britain in 2007 and has now departed Lanzarote on his latest challenge, bound for Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.

Prior to departure, he said: "The weeks and months of planning are over and now I am facing 2,700 miles at sea. I am excited about what lies ahead but naturally there are nerves too. I am looking forward to returning to the beach in Tortola that I left in an ambulance 25 years ago. Back then I thought I would never sail again and now I will be returning in command of my own vessel."

Holt hopes that his voyage will inspire others and show that anything is possible. He explains why this is such a personal challenge: "I've been living off the memories. I now want to relive the experience. It seems right to sail back to Cane Garden Bay in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands as this is where I had my accident. I will be returning as a quadriplegic yachtsman and it is a personal challenge where I feel I will be closing the circle from having my accident and returning again as a yachtsman."

Holt's professional sailing career was cut short when he had a swimming accident that left him a quadriplegic in 1984.

In 1995 he helped establish the RYA Sailability, a disabled sailing charity offering sailing opportunities to over 20,000 disabled people a year throughout the UK.

Watson heads for the Horn

The adventure continues for Jessica Watson, the 16-year-old Australian seeking to become the youngest person to complete a solo circumnavigation.

Watson, aboard the 34-foot Ella's Pink Lady, is almost two months into her attempt and is experiencing gusts of up to 30 knots and three-metre swell, courtesy of a low pressure system on her way south to Cape Horn.

Watson set sail from Sydney on October 18.