In the Press

6-23-2016

Throwback Thursday: Stark Raving Mad

June 23, 2016

Last week, team members Will Cyr and Adrian Sawyer toured Westerly Marine with the local Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers (SNAME), where Alive (Ex. Stark Raving Mad) was built in 2006.

Alive formerly known as Black Jack, was acquired by Tasmanian businessman Phillip Turner from Peter Harburg early in 2014 and is currently racing out of Brisbane and registered with the Derwent Sailing Squadron, Tasmania. Alive was originally launched in the US in 2006 as Stark Raving Mad and owned and campaigned by Jim Madden. At 66 foot Alive fits into the ‘mini-maxi’ size category. Her narrow, light and canting keel combined with a powerful new Southern Spar rig makes her a technically advanced and challenging boat.

Philip Turner and his crew have enjoyed consistent success, recently claiming Line Honours in the 2016 Rolex China Sea Race and writing her in to the history books by setting a new record for the race of 47h 31m 08s, 11 minutes and 59 seconds inside Beau Geste’s record, set back in the millennium edition. She also holds back-to-back IRC wins in Southport Yacht Club’s XXXX Sail Paradise Regatta both in 2014 and 2015, a first place ORCi and IRC overall in the 2014 Brisbane to Gladstone 308 n.m. race, second overall IRC Division 1 at the 2014 Hamilton Island Race Week and most notably, the 1,850 nautical mile MYC 2014 Melbourne to Vanuatu in which she won Line Honours and IRC as well as cementing a new race record of 5 days, 23 hours, 52 minutes and 45 seconds. Black Jack took 3rd overall in fleet in IRC to R/P-designed Wild Oats X1 and Loki in the 2012 Sydney-Hobart race, and first overall in ORCi.

The Reichel/Pugh team designs for performance longevity and has unparalleled success at producing some of the world’s most distinctive, most enduring and consistently rewarding sailing yachts including designs that have continuously won major regattas over several decades.

Pictured: Stark Raving Mad (now called Alive) at Miami Race Week in 2006.