Scuttlebutt Photos:

Skandia/Wild Thing Lifts Skirt

Grant Wharington's 98 footer Skandia (formerly Wild Thing) lifts the skirt on some recent modifications to his high-tech canting ballast super maxi. Launched in October 2003, Skandia promptly took line honors in the Rolex Sydney-Hobart 2003 race. Now feeling the need to up his game, he has added a 6m long canard forward of the ballast strut and a 3m long bowsprit.

The canard is fitted with a trim tab, which together is expected to improve upwind performance. For offwind, the canard can be removed to reduce drag. Additional offwind performance is expected from the larger spinnakers that the new bowsprit will permit.

Photos courtesy of Andrea Francolini.

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