The Socceroos at the World Cup were powered by a quintessentially Australian fuel: barista-made coffee. But the crew aboard Sydney to Hobart super maxi Wild Oats will turn to a more substantial form of sustenance as they embark on their gruelling trip to Hobart: the humble cheese toastie.
Boat captain Paul Magee, known among his team as the “toastie king”, will prepare culinary delights for the 21-man crew, who are hoping to claw back line honours glory and arrive in Hobart first for the tenth time, after it was beaten by super maxi Investec Loyal last year.
Helm Chris Links says Hamilton Island Wild Oats is Australia’s most successful super maxi. Credit:James Bricwkood
“We’ll start with lunch … before the start [of the race],” he told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on a tour of the line honours hopeful. “Then it’ll be toasties that night, around midnight.”
“The next morning, we have another sort of bacon-egg roll toastie. And then we go into freeze-dried [food] from there for the rest of the days.”
The crew will be treated to a selection of stir-fried and honey soy chicken-flavoured freeze-dried dishes, which Magee insists – despite convincing visual and olfactory evidence to the contrary – “surprisingly enough, tastes alright”.
While the toasted sandwiches might give the crew members the energy they need, the prospect of a tenth line honours victory will provide them with motivation on their journey south.
Stan Honey is considered one of the world’s best navigators, and has previously beaten Wild Oats on its rival boat, Comanche.Credit:James Brickwood
Hamilton Island Wild Oats, previously known as Wild Oats XI, first entered the prestigious race in 2005, only days after it was first launched, and delivered the triple crown victory, securing line honours, overall victory and a record race time.
It went on to arrive in Hobart first of the entire fleet nine times between 2005 and 2018. But 2019 saw the crew finish third in a “disastrous” race that saw the crew fall behind due to unforgiving weather conditions.
But this year, the team insists they’re ready. Helmsman Chris Links, who has been onboard for many of Wild Oats’ victories, said the team had been working hard to make up for lost time after its failure to enter the race last year.
“Our lead-up has probably been a little harder in that the other boats have still been sailing, so we’ve had some catch-up to do getting sorted,” he said. “But I think we’re pretty on top of that. We’ve worked hard. We’ve got a really good team. And we’ve done a lot of work on our sails and boat performance.”
Navigator Stan Honey, “one of the smartest men in yachting”, was previously onboard rival Comanche when it beat his current teammates in 2019.
“I think we have a shot, but it needs to be a good race for us. We’re so different than Comanche that if Comanche gets their conditions, then we’d struggle. But if we get our conditions, Comanche would struggle.
“I’ve navigated Comanche six times, and beaten [Wild Oats] four times. But unless you screw it up, the winner between this boat and Comanche is often decided by the weather.”
The Bureau of Meteorology will provide its forecast for the race on Tuesday.
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