Foes Push To The Max In Battle Of The Giants

Sun Herald

Sunday December 5, 2004

By TOM FINDLAY

RIVAL Sydney to Hobart skippers Stewart Thwaites and Grant Wharington have a lot in common. They are both property developers and will be in charge of the two largest boats in this year's fleet.

The men have a history, too. Victorian Wharingtonwon line honours aboard his 30-metre supermaxi Skandia last year, ahead of Thwaites and his New Zealand vessel Zana.

However, Thwaites says a few additions to his boat now called Konica Minolta will give him and his crew a distinct advantage over his rival.

"I am confident that we have a very good chance [of winning line honours]," Thwaites said. "We have a very good crew and the addition of a water ballast, which I think will give us an advantage."

Water ballast is used to stabilise the boat and replaces conventional ballast. It allows water to be pumped in or out of a boat, or from one side to the other, to optimise performance. Nokia used water ballast in its record-breaking line honours win in 1999.

"The addition of water ballast has made the boat a lot quicker and will be the main difference in our performance from last year," Thwaites said. "We don't use a canting keel [a keel that can be swung sideways from the centreline, reducing the heeling of the boat and increasing the effectiveness of the sail] like Skandia, but the water ballast is just as effective in maintaining balance."

Konica Minolta has already beaten Skandia twice this year and Thwaites says his crew is much better prepared than last year.

"Last year the boat was only launched in November," he said. "Some of the guys only arrived in Sydney on the eve of the race and had never seen it. We went well, but we were learning the boat and our preparation was very limited.

"This time around we are feeling a lot better. It's been really neat having the boat here a month out from the race.

"Our preparation has been going pretty well. We feel like we have had a good run.

"We also have five guys who have sailed with [America's Cup boat] Oracle, including Gavin Brady. They bring a lot of experience to the crew."

While Thwaites said his boat had the wood over Skandia, he played down any trans-Tasman rivalry.

"We have very much an international crew this year," he said. "We have one guy from England, one American, three Kiwis and guys from Finland and Tasmania, so to say it's a battle between Australia and New Zealand isn't really accurate.

"We have already beaten Skandia twice this year in Hamilton and we are confident we can do it again in the Sydney to Hobart."

Both Wharington and Thwaites are expected to clash on Sydney Harbour in the prestigious Big Boat Challenge on Friday.

"We haven't had official entries yet, but we are expecting both of them to race," Sydney to Hobart race spokeswoman Lisa Ratcliff said.

Duel on the high seas

How the skippers have finished in the Sydney to Hobart race:

GRANT WHARINGTON

2003 Winner, line honours, Skandia

2002 Fourth, Australian Skandia

2001 Retired, Aus. Skandia, Wild Thing

2000 Second, Wild Thing

1999 Third, Wild Thing

1998 Retired, Wild Thing

1997 Third, Futureshock

1995 Third, Amazon

1994 13th, Wild Thing

1993 Third, Wild Thing

1992 Retired, Wild Thing

1987 31st, Once a Jolly Swagman

1986 11th, Challenge III

1984 Retired, Seaquesta

1983 32nd, Seaquesta

1982 26th, Seaquesta

Wharington has been skipper since 1992. From 1982 to 1987 he was a crew member.

STEWART THWAITES

2003 Second, Zana

2002 13th, Starlight Express

2001 14th, Starlight Express

© 2004 Sun Herald

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