Grant Wharington on the Antartica Cup

by John Roberson on 24 Jun 2002 Grant Wharington reckons he's got most of his crew
selected already for the Antarctica Cup, and they are guys with plenty of Southern Ocean experience.

Names like Barney Walker, Noel Drennan and Peter
'Spike' Doriean are at the top of his 'wish list', and
they have just finished the Volvo Ocean Race.

'I'd rather have them with me than against me,' he
commented, 'we're all mates and we get on pretty
well together - I think we'll make a good strong team.'


He is particularly pleased about the nationality concept of the Antarctica Cup, 'I think the
nationality thing is the most exciting part about it. You can't just go and buy the best two guys
from America, and a couple of guys from Italy, and a couple of guys from New Zealand, and
put together an illbruck type team. For this race it's got to be a truly national team - such a
'One Nation, One boat' concept is a real motivator for everyone concerned.'

Fortuitously, he already has his training platform for the Antartica Cup under construction, a
98 foot yacht, the latest in a succession of boats called Wild Thing. His plans for the latest
boat, which is due to be launched in May 2003, include a trans-Atlantic race, and may be
some events in Europe.

Talking about the design and construction of his new 98 footer he says, 'The new yacht has
been born out of an all new project management and design group that I have put together
and am heading up. At this stage we've had input from Murray, Burns and Dovell's, Andy
Dovell, and all the structural analysis and structural engineering has been done by Don Jones,
who's here in Mornington. The entire project is being done from here in Mornington.'

Although nearly all his previous offshore racing has been under various handicap systems, he
likes the one design format of the Antarctica Cup. 'The one design concept is fantastic,' he
said enthusiastically, 'having sailed Etchells and other class boats I am a real supporter. It's
not like you're racing one lot of technology versus another. Everyone's on an equal playing
field, and it really gets back to the crew, the navigation and the strategy, and how you put the
whole package together. Sailing identical boats is something we haven't really seen before in
ocean racing - it's a great way to keep the focus entirely on team performance.'

Wharington's sailing experience over the years ranges from dinghy sailing including an
Olympic campaign in the Flying Dutchman class, through long distance double-handed racing
in which he won the Melbourne to Osaka Race, to many Sydney/Hobart races. He took his
current Wild Thing, an 85 footer, to Europe last year sailing in Skandia Life Cowes Week,
the Fastnet Race, and the America's Cup Jubilee.

More recently he joined the crew of the Norwegian boat 'djuice dragons' in the Volvo
Ocean Race, for a Southern Ocean leg. 'It was terrific doing the Southern Ocean leg of the
Volvo. I have to say that a Volvo 60 is quite small down there, obviously it was cold and the
icebergs were a constant threat so doing it on an 80 footer would be fantastic.'

He believes that despite the current tough market for raising sponsorship, the format of the
Antarctica Cup will help. 'The corporate atmosphere in Australia at the moment is certainly
tough,' was his assessment. 'but up to a certain extent this has always been the case. The
weak Australian dollar makes it even harder to compete on the worldwide circuit, but I think
our plans for the lead up to, and the race itself, will give any sponsor excellent bang for the
buck.'

'Unlike events such as the Volvo, where there is a constant challenge to maintain focus and
attention for such an extended period, this Antarctica Cup, with its gates and short legs, can
hit harder. Every three or four days we will see the boats getting back together, which will
make it easy for the public to identify who's leading who and why. Coming back to the one
design philosophy the positions will truly reflect who's optimising their programme, strategy,
crew and sails to full advantage. In a nutshell it will be about seamanship, not money. For
me, that's a real plus.'

Like most of the other skippers interested in the Antarctica Cup, Grant sees the race as part
of a big picture to include the next Volvo Race. 'I've been thinking about a Volvo race
campaign and would like to think that one could lead on to the other. At this stage no-one
even knows what kind of boat they will propose so there's still a lot of discussion to be had,
and work to do down the track, but such a high profile, competitive sailing programme could
be a great option for a continuous sponsor. For us that would be the ideal scenario - after the
challenge of the Antarctica Cup the team would be able to stay together, and make a serious,
full on Australian bid to win the next Volvo.'

There is no doubt that Grant Wharington is one of Australia's most formidable ocean racing
skippers. With his good mix of experience and talent and his ability to pull together most of
Australia's top ocean racing sailors, his Australian bid for the Antarctic Cup promises to be a
force to be reckoned with.

www.antarticacup.com