2013 Botin 80′

Cabrón was a Botin 80 high-performance offshore racing yacht originally built as Beau Geste for Hong Kong sailor Karl Kwok. Designed by Botin Partners of Spain and built by Cookson Boatbuilders in New Zealand, she is an all-carbon racing machine with a canting keel, daggerboards and an exceptionally powerful sail plan. Her design was optimized for speed offshore, particularly in strong winds and reaching conditions, and she represented the cutting edge of ocean-racing yacht design when launched in 2013. The Rolex Sydney Hobart records describe her as an all-carbon canting-keel yacht with foils similar to those used on Volvo 70s.

As Beau Geste, she immediately established an impressive offshore résumé. She finished fifth across the line in the 2013 Rolex Sydney Hobart, then repeated that fifth-place line-honors finish in both 2016 and 2017. She was also a strong performer in other international offshore events, including the Groupama Race around New Caledonia. Her consistent ability to finish among much larger supermaxis demonstrated just how fast the Botin 80 was.

In 2018, the yacht came to San Diego, where sailor Steve Meheen acquired her and renamed her Cabrón. Her first major Southern California campaign included the San Diego Yacht Club’s Puerto Vallarta Race, and she quickly became one of the most powerful boats in the San Diego offshore fleet. In the 2020 Puerto Vallarta Race, Cabrón delivered one of her most memorable performances, battling Roy Disney’s Pyewacket for approximately 40 miles before taking line honors. The race organizers described Cabrón as having the fastest rating in the fleet.

Cabrón also became part of the U.S. Patriot Sailing program, giving the high-performance racer a connection to veteran sailing and offshore training. She represented San Diego Yacht Club as USA 13 and competed extensively in Southern California offshore events, including the Newport-to-Ensenada and Puerto Vallarta races. Her subsequent history took her back to Australia, where she was renamed Stefan Racing and later underwent an extraordinary transformation into the 100-foot Wild Thing 100. For Cal Maritime’s history, Cabrón is therefore particularly notable not only as an elite Botin 80 racer, but as a yacht that connected international grand-prix racing, San Diego offshore sailing, and maritime/veteran sailing programs.