Kiwi Express launch marks ambitious step

Press, 3 February 1986, Page 26

Kiwi Express launch marks ambitious step

From

ANDREW MACALISTER

at Port Chalmers The launching on Saturday, of Dick Mcßride’s new yacht, for the BOC Solo Round the World race, marked a major step in a project as professional and ambitious as that of its Whitbread counterparts, NZI Enterprise and Lion New Zealand.

Like the Whitbread Round the World race, this year’s BOC, with 55 confirmed entries already, promises to develop into one of yachting’s more spectacular events. New Zealand’s sole entrant, Dick McBride, of Otago, has used all the experience gained from his circumnavigation in the first BOC to produce a very competitive new challenger. His yacht, Kiwi Express, is a 60 foot Bruce Farr design built with the latest technology, and capable of going around the world almost as fast as a maxi 80-footer.

This is because the BOC will not be raced under 1.0. R. rating rules, so Kiwi Express has been designed with only speed in mind, regardless of the' usual hull shape and handicapping considerations.

The result is a sleek hull, seen by all watching the yacht as she was lifted into the water by a Port Chalmers Harbour Board container crane on Saturday. The launching should mark the beginning of a high-profile build-up for the yacht as she prepares for the race start in Newport on August 28.

Mcßride said he was “very, very pleased” with the yacht and described her as “a better finished boat than all the Whitbread racers, with the exceptiona of Lion New Zealand and ÜBS Switzerland. “I’m really chuffed — Bruce Farr’s an artist,” he said.

Kiwi Express should get around the world in 150 days, which would be faster than the current record set for a singlehanded circumnavigation, Mcßride said. He must be regarded as one of the early favourites for the race after his experience from the first BOC, in the steel ketch, City of Dunedin. That yacht was almost the opposite of Kiwi Express, being amateur-built in steel on a shoestring budget, and with safety in mind, rather than speed. Although City of Dunedin did not do particularly well in that race, the knowledge Mcßride gained of the conditions he will meet again this time should give him an early edge.

Mcßride also has the advantage of a large experienced and dedicated backup team. The yacht was specially built by the Roaring Forties Yacht Company in Port Chalmers, and the laminating supervised by Dave Sowman, one of the men behind the construction of NZI Enterprise. The sails were made by Tom Schnackenburg, the mastermind of Australia Il’s revolutionary sails in its 1983 America’s Cup victory.

Mcßride said that when Farr saw the yacht nearing completion recently, he was “very impressed.” Kiwi Express has been

built using a Kevlar/divinycell foam sandwich construction, which gives a light but strong hill! capable of handling whatever conditions it may meet in the Southern Ocean. Her keel is quite different from what is normally seen on 1.0. R. designed yachts. Mcßride described it as “Farr’s latest thinking — very long with a bulb on the end.” She will also use waterballast, which can be pumped up to the windward side in the place of crew weight to improve performance further, and in light conditions drained out of the yacht altogether. Navigation aids will also be extensive, including satellite navigation, weatherfax and radar, which will take the timeconsuming burden of manual navigation off McBride’s hands and allow greater accuracy in course plotting and tactics. The project still has a long way to go before the start of the race. One of the major concerns is raising money for the project — as necessary to a successful yachting challenge as sails. Mcßride said he is still looking for a major sponsor, but feels “that once sailing we’ll generate a fair amount of interest” “The project is a fantastic medium for sponsorship, being the only evnet of its kind. “When you have 55 yachts racing around the world, it’s got to cause quite a stir,” he said. Now the yacht is in the water, it will spend the week in Port Chalmers before sailing up to Auckland, with a possible stopover in Akaroa or Lyttel-

ton, and prepare for a major fund-raising tour of New Zealand. During the tour, the yacht will call at various ports throughout the country to publicise the yacht and raise money for the campaign. Mcßride expects the yacht should be in Christchurch about April 28 during the tour, and will go to Newport, on the east coast of the United States, in late May or early June aboard a container ship. The 27,000 nautical mile BOC race leaves Newport for Cape Twon on August 28. The follow-

ing legs will be to Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, arid then back to Newport about nine months later. The first BOC race was held in 1982-83, and won by the Frenchman, Philippe Jeantot, aboard Credit Agricole, a yacht similar in size and concept to Kiwi Express. At stake this time will be $25,000 prize money for the winner of each class. 1 Kiwi Express is the maximum size allowed for the race, and will compete in Class I for over all line honours in the fleet.