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Ponant Sydney Noumea Yacht Race | No Rest for the Wicked - Wild Thing 100

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  • 23 May, 2025 01:05:00 PM
Ponant Sydney Noumea Yacht Race | No Rest for the Wicked - Wild Thing 100

Ponant Sydney Noumea Yacht Race | No Rest for the Wicked - Wild Thing 100

With its new rig and sails, the Ponant Sydney Noumea Yacht Race will kick off an exciting 2025/26 racing season for Grant Wharington’s maxi Wild Thing 100.

When we spoke to Wharington from his Gold Coast home, the veteran offshore sailor outlined how his team still had a bit of boat work to go before the start of the 1,064 nautical mile race on 31 May.

“So unfortunately we didn’t get out for sail, but we’ve been lucky enough to get some new cars, which should arrive today (Tuesday 20 May).” Once they’ve got the mainsail sorted, the crew plan to make the most of the northerly forecast and sail the yacht down to Sydney this weekend (May 24).

The Ponant Sydney Noumea Yacht Race is the shakedown event for the yacht with its new full rig. Since a 20-foot hull extension ahead of the 2023 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, it’s sailed with a rig suited to an 80-footer.

But that never stopped the yacht from making waves on the racecourse. With an eye-catching black and pink hull, Wild Thing 100 took Line Honours in the inaugural GCCM Gold Coast Mackay Yacht Race last year and placed third Overall and on Line Honours in the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, even with four broken mainsail battens and a broken starboard steering wheel.

Who knows what it's capable of with the correct size rig.

Although the rig has increased the yacht’s handicap rating, that doesn’t bother Wharington, who said he was “looking forward” to the increase in boat speed.

“In percentages, certainly in light air, we probably should be 10 to 12 per cent faster which is a substantial difference,” he said.

After the Ponant Sydney Noumea Yacht Race, it will be back-to-back racing for Wild Thing 100.

Upcoming races include:

Initially they planned to compete in the 2225nm Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu in June 2025 but landed on a more locally focused calendar to save on travel time.

“Unfortunately, you tend to spend too much time working on these boats and not enough time sailing them,” Wharington said. “At least by doing the calendar we’ve chosen, we get more time closer by. It’s easy for the crew to come and go and we get a few more racing miles in.”

This year has plenty of firsts install for Wild Thing 100, including its first ever Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race in late July.

“We just want to spend as much time on the water as we can.”

Credit: Rolex | Carlo Borlenghi

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