Scallywag skipper David Witt says another Ocean Race tilt only viable with proper preparation and budget – with an aim to win
- The Sun Hung Kai-sponsored Hong Kong boat won one leg and finished second in another in the 2017-18 race despite limited preparation
- Hong Kong-based Australian says he wants to compete in the Imoca 60 class and would need a designer on board by the end of 2019
One week after celebrating one of his biggest international successes, Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag skipper David Witt said he was keen to take on another round-the-world Ocean Race and win it.
Witt, at the helm of a 100-foot super maxi version of Scallywag, took line honours in the prestigious Transatlantic 2019 earlier in July, beating out 12 other boats who made the 2,960 nautical mile journey from Newport, in the United States, to Cowes, England.
The Hong Kong-based Australian – who is also planning an assault on this year’s Sydney to Hobart race – said talks were under way about a potential Scallywag boat to make the start line in Alicante, Spain, for the 2021-22 multi-stage Ocean Race. He stressed he would only take on the challenge with proper preparation.
“It’s something we are seriously looking into at the moment,” Witt said. “It’s on the radar for sure. We just want to make sure that if we do the Ocean Race again, we are going to do it with enough preparation and proper budget so that we have a chance to win the race rather than just compete.”
Scallywag was a relatively late entry to the 2017-18 edition of the Ocean Race, its participation having only been announced five months before the boats set sail from Alicante in late October, 2017.
