Sydney Hobart 2009 - Etihad Stadium - the timeline - an epic battle

by Rob Kothe on 22 Dec 2009 After their five spreader carbon mast snapped during the Melbourne to Sydney delivery, 12 days ago owner Grant Wharington and his crew team from Etihad Stadium (formerly Skandia Wild Thing) have been racing the clock to get the 30 metre supermaxi to the Sydney to Hobart startline.

The spare four spreader mast from Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo was purchased and after some delays left southern France heading for Australia. But there were more problems yesterday when the pilot of the Atlas jumbo freight flight out of Singapore on the last leg of its passage from France to Australia was unhappy with the way the mast was packed in the hold of the nose-opening 747-400 aircraft. The two bubble-wrapped sections had to be removed and reloaded before he would take off so the scheduled arrival time slipped another eight hours.

Now the 45 metre mast cut into two sections has arrived in Sydney and the work really begins on Operation Startline.

Here is the outline of the giant task ahead for the Etihad Stadium team.

Monday Night (AEST) Approx: 10:30-11pm - Mast arrives at Sydney City Marine, end of James Craig Road, Rozelle Bay in Sydney

Monday 11:30 pm onwards – Southern Spars mast team begin working in shifts to prepare the sleeve which is a 4mm thick carbon fibre mould taken from the inside of the mast.

All work for at least the first 8 hours will be on the ground, with the mast positioned in special work trolleys in the yards at Sydney City Marine.

The mast team will be grinding the outside of the mast with disc sanders to prepare for the joint, as well as continuing to work on the internal sleeve to span across the join. This process will take approximately 11 hours.

Midday Tuesday to Midnight Wednesday

Mast team will be laminating the mast which involves applying multiple layers of carbon fibre across the joint in various orientations.

Midnight Wednesday night to 8am Thursday morning

After the laminating process is completed, an heated environment consisting of thermal blankets will be built around the joint and the temperature will be slowly increased until it reaches 100 degrees Celsius which will be maintained for a period – then it will be allowed to cool – after which time, it will be stepped into the deck.

Cooking the mast and assembly will all take place in the boatyard.

Thursday

At this stage, it is estimated that the task of installing the mast at approximately 8am on Thursday morning, with half a day required to step it and tune it.

This delicate operation with 1000 kilos of carbon fibre will be undertaken by a crane on site at Sydney City Marine.

Once complete, and all going well, the Etihad Stadium Supermaxi crew is hoping to be out on the water for a test sail on Sydney Harbour early that afternoon.