Two pink-hulled yachts that both retired from last year’s Sydney Hobart are already locked in for the 81st edition, with Wild Thing 100 and Vixen Racing snapping up entry spots within minutes of registration opening in late May.
Grant Wharington’s maxi Wild Thing 100 secured the very first slot at 11.30am, a rarity for a skipper with 32 previous starts under his belt. The Queensland crew’s boat captain Theodore Somssich hit submit fifteen seconds before Mark Richards’ Palm Beach XI, an achievement that drew good-natured ribbing from Wharington over the phone from the Gold Coast. “It’s the first time in 33 races that I’ve ever been early,” he said. Somssich’s efficiency masked months of frustration. Last December, Wild Thing 100 was forced to retire in the early hours of 27 December after a runner block failure and damaged reef lock lashing. The conditions were too rough for repairs. More galling still, it was the first time the newly reconfigured 100-footer (stretched from 80 feet in 2023) had competed with a mast properly suited to its hull.
Wharington is determined not to repeat the experience. The mast is undergoing modifications on the Gold Coast, with further weight adjustments planned throughout the year to fix the upwind performance issues that plagued the yacht in stronger conditions. His target is clear: finish the race and chase an IRC Overall result matching or better the third place he secured in 2024. “There is nothing like Hobart,” he said, and meant the finish line celebrations that greet crews after 48-plus hours at sea.
Sharon Ferris-Choat’s Vixen Racing entered moments later, representing the Bay of Islands Yacht Club. Her crew faced a different kind of drama last year. On night two, a massive wave smashed the boat, injuring a crew member’s ribs badly enough to force retirement despite being well-placed in the 628-nautical-mile race. “It’s unfinished business. We were doing so well,” Ferris-Choat said from Opua. She runs an offshore sailing program that sells positions on board for races and regattas, a way of introducing other sailors to ocean racing. A two-time Olympian with several world sailing speed records to her name, she’s keen to inspire crew members to eventually campaign their own boats to Hobart.
Entry numbers are strong. Already, 24 yachts have registered for Boxing Day’s start from Sydney Harbour, including Palm Beach XI making its return to the race for the first time since 2022, Sean Langman’s Reichel Pugh GP42 Back 2 Black, and the Corinthian racer Pretty Woman. Ferris-Choat has her own challenges brewing before December. She’s contesting the Solo Trans-Tasman Challenge on 30 May—a 1170-nautical-mile solo offshore race from Opua to Southport with 40-knot conditions forecast. Once that’s done, she’s eyeing the Noakes Sydney Gold Coast in July and Queensland race weeks before returning to fully crewed racing aboard Vixen Racing for the Hobart.
“I can’t wait to have a crew back again rather than prepping the yacht solo,” she said. Both skippers will be hoping that second chances on Boxing Day work out better than the first.
