Wild Thing Supermaxi ready for her new longer keel

12:24 PM Sun 29 Nov 2009 GMT

'The Wild Thing supermaxi will soon have a new brand on her mainsail and hull - Wild Thing Yachting' Andrea Francolini &copy Click Here to view large photo

The preparation of the supermaxi Wild Thing for the Rolex Sydney Hobart steps up a gear on Monday morning at 8am with the new 7 metre keel ready to go into the boat.

The 98 foot hull will be lifted out of the water by two 50 tonne cranes at Westgate Ports in the Docklands in Melbourne and delicately lowered onto the new keel, with the boat to be then carefully re-launched into the water by the cranes.

Owner and skipper Grant Wharington is quietly excited about the competitive edge that he is expecting the longer keel to give the 6 year old Don Jones designed supermaxi that has undergone several modifications since its line honours victory in 2003.

'We have reduced the weight of the bulb from 11.7 tonnes to 8.3 tonnes, the fin is also 200 kilos lighter and 1.5 metres longer 'he said.

'We expect these modifications to give us a 5 hour reduction in race time for the 628 nautical mile course' said Wharington, who this year lines up for his 24th Boxing Day start on Sydney Harbour.

It's busy on all fronts for the Wild Thing team, with the Amazing Naming Rights Opportunity Project gaining momentum and a growing number of companies signing up for their chance at winning naming rights of the Supermaxi for the 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart and enjoying the marketing benefits and brand awareness of being the number one sponsor of the boat until mid 2010.

With one more week to go on the promotion where companies or individuals purchase a Corporate Sail for $10,000 and go into the draw to win Naming Rights of the boat, there are currently 20 companies of various sizes from the large international brands to small boutique operations, that are committed and looking forward to the draw live on air with Ross and John on 3AW Melbourne on December 8th.

Current levels of inquiries and interest indicate that the number involved could grow to around 30 by the cut off date and time of midnight on the 7th of December.