Grant Wharington’s 100-footer has announced its proposed 2025 racing calendar, with New Zealand’s 119nm PIC Coastal Classic race record, hosted by the Multihull Yacht Club of New Zealand, as one of its main goals.
The schedule boldly states, “Coastal Classic 119NM (new record),” signaling their intent to challenge the record when they hit the start line on Friday, October 24th (although their calendar mistakenly lists October 25th — no worries, we’ll chalk that up to a typo!).
The PIC Coastal Classic is an annual pilgrimage for Kiwi yachties and a bucket list race for many. It starts on the Friday before the Labour Day holiday off Devonport Wharf taking the fleet north to the waterside village of Russell in the Bay of Islands.
The Wild Thing Yachting schedule was posted on their Facebook page with the statement:
The PIC Coastal Classic Monohull Race Record was set in 2009 by Alpha Romeo — another 100-footer, now known as Black Jack — with a time of 6 hours, 43 minutes, and 32 seconds.
The overall race record remains unbeaten since 2019, held by the MOD70 trimaran Beau Geste, clocking in at 5 hours and 37 seconds.
If the conditions align perfectly, offering an epic downwind run up the coast, Wild Thing has a real shot at smashing both those records this year.
The Wild Thing schedule is ambitious, kicking off with the Sydney Noumea Race at the end of May, followed by the Round New Caledonia Groupama Race. From there, they plan to make their way to Auckland for the PIC Coastal Classic at the end of October by competing in the Sydney to Auckland Race, where they’ll also “have a crack at a new record.”
It’s a jam-packed schedule, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that everything goes to plan so we can see Wild Thing on the PIC Coastal Classic start line!
Article originally published on Live.Sail.Die.
