Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Etihad Stadium Maxi mast comes together...


Etihad Stadium mast coming together
Jody O'Brien/Etihad Stadium
For the rest of the country not involved in the Rolex Sydney Hobart, there’s probably some cooking to do done to get ready for Christmas, but for the Etihad Stadium maxi crew, there’s no plum pudding and turkey – just the vital ingredients to put their mast back together.

And back together it is, thanks to an incredible job done by the boys from Hart Marine and Southern Spars, who have worked around the clock since its arrival at around 1:30am Tuesday morning on a Qantas flight from Singapore.

UBI Logistics has been heavily involved in the whole process of getting the mast to Australia, and at a time of the year when freight companies are under crazy pressure to get things of all shapes and sizes (though possibly not too many things like a tonne of carbon fibre !!!) to destinations for Christmas, the UBI Logistics team really pulled out every stop to help.

"To Peter Giufre and his team at UBI Logistics Australia, a very very big thanks for going above and beyond – we really appreciate the massive effort you’ve made” said owner and skipper Grant Wharington.

The feeling amongst Wharington and his crew continues to grow in confidence as every hour passes and another milestone is reached.

”There were plenty of people who have been saying it couldn’t be done, but I am delighted to say that – yes, it can be done, and more the point –we’ve done it !! “ said Grant this morning.

“The whole crew are coming together today with the boys flying in from Melbourne – the Sydney based guys who’ve been able to work on the boat with us all week have also been working around the clock – everyone has done and continues to do an incredible job” he said.

But the big job is still to be completed, and all things going to plan, a big crane will kick into action this evening at 6pm and the process of lowering the mast into the boat will begin at Sydney City Marine.

By Jody O'Brien/Etihad Stadium