Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

Racing

A Bittersweet Rolex Sydney Hobart

December 30, 2016 · Posted by kate

Hobart (December 30, 2016) – The Reichel/Pugh Team congratulates all competitors in the 2016 72nd edition of the annual 628 nm Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. The race concluded with several highlights for Reichel/Pugh-designed yachts:

RP66 Alive, a canting keel design launched in 2006 from Westerly Marine as Jim Madden’s Stark Raving Mad, and formerly Peter Harburg’s Black Jack, finished in the top ten for line honours and corrected to 6th in ORCi Div 1.

RP40 Chutzpah, launched in 2007 from Hart Marine and owned by Bruce and Drew Taylor, corrected to 2nd in IRC/ORCi Div 2.

RP51 Primitive Cool, launched in 2009 as Secret Men’s Business 3.5 from Hart Marine and now owned by John Newbold, corrected to 10th in IRC Div 1.

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In 2012, R/P-designed Wild Oats XI, owned by the Oatley Family and Skippered by Mark Richards, posted a race record time of 1d:18h:23m:12s with an average speed of just 15 knots. Ideal record-breaking conditions two-days prior to this year’s race suggested the possibility of clipping three to six hours off the record pace. Earlier this year, the “silver bullet” averaged 21 knots when she set a new record for the 350 nm Brisbane to Keppel race. The top speed the yacht has recorded to date is 35 knots (65 km/hour). Speeds following the Reichel/Pugh-designed modification of the 11-metre long forward section of the hull which proved so efficient that further modifications recently removed the horizontal hydrofoil wing. “The new bow shape has made a dramatic difference to the yacht’s speed both upwind and down,” said Wild Oats XI’s skipper Mark Richards. “When racing downwind offshore we can now sail the yacht at more than 30 knots without any fear of nose-diving. This improvement means we no longer need the retractable horizontal wing to provide lift – it’s like excess baggage – so we’re going to remove it. It’s a decision that was also influenced by the fact that we’ll save more than 300 kilograms in hull weight.”

Racing for her 9th line honours in 12 starts and in the running for her third handicap victory, she sailed this edition in the memory of the yacht’s late owner, Bob Oatley, who died in January this year at age 87. In the afternoon of the first day, Wild Oats XI reported that they were holding a steady lead on the 88-boat fleet and already some 90 minutes ahead of the 2012 race record pace. After the yachts entered the Bass Straits approximately twenty hours into the race, Wild Oats XI was forced to retire for the second year in a row due to a heartbreaking hydraulic ram failure. For all the news from the Wild Oats team click to visit their site.

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Highlights of the 2016 race can be found on the Rolex Yachting YouTube channel
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Title image courtesy of Kurt Arrigo
Race starts and Wild Oats XI courtesy of Daniel Forster

Newbold’s RP 51 Primitive Cool Finishes Sydney Hobart 4th Overall

December 31, 2015 · Posted by kate

Congratulations to the owners and crews of the Reichel/Pugh designed yachts that competed in the 2015 ROLEX Sydney to Hobart Race.
Photos © Rolex

John Newbold’s RP 51 Primitive Cool (AUS), designed & engineered by Reichel/Pugh and built by Hart Marine, Melbourne, finished 4th overall and second in Division 1 with a time of 04:10:36:19. Primitive Cool was formerly the Secret Men’s Business which won the Sydney Hobart overall in 2010. Read More …

2015 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race Start

December 26, 2015 · Posted by kate

Click to access the start of the 71st Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race here and follow Reichel/Pugh’s entries: RP100 Wild Oats XI owned by Robert Oatley and skippered by Mark Richards, built by McConaghy and launched in 2005 (now retired due to torn mainsail); RP78 canting keel performance cruiser Lupa of London Read More …

Video | Wild Oats XI Evolution

December 19, 2015 · Posted by kate

How does a ten year old yacht remain at the forefront of one of the great ocean race classics?

With her distinctively slim and elegant hull, Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats XI has taken line honours in eight out of the last ten Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Races. In collaboration with Reichel/Pugh, her original builders McConaghy Boats have recently completed her most radical evolution yet. On the eve of the 628 nautical mile 2015 RSHYR on December 26th, McConaghy TV shares a film about forging this new reality. Additionally, Reichel/Pugh’s Jim Pugh breaks down the carefully calculated modifications to boost her performance in up-range conditions. Calculations that will hopefully place Wild Oats XI ahead of the 110 yacht fleet into Hobart for the ninth time in 11 starts.

Visit the builder’s site at mcconaghyboats.com
facebook.com/McConaghyBoats

Title photo from August 2015 © Andrea Francolini

WILD OATS XI Preparations Reaffirmed for the Sydney Hobart Race

December 15, 2015 · Posted by kate

Sydney, Australia (December 14, 2015) – After a perfect start in light winds at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s annual SOLAS Big Boat Challenge bash around Sydney Harbor, Bob and Sandy Oatley’s super maxi 100-foot Wild Oats XI steadily drew away from the bigger, wider, more powerful 100 footers, Ragamuffin 100 and Perpetual Loyal, on every leg of the 14 nautical mile course. In the end, 3 minutes 50 seconds separated the slim and elegant Wild Oats XI from the fleet as they crossed the finish line off the Opera House first. Read More …

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8-26-2019

RP Maxis Finish 1st & 2nd at Palermo-Montecarlo

Monte-Carlo (August 24, 2019) – The 15th edition of the Palermo-Montecarlo marked the fifth and final event of the International Maxi Association’s Mediterranean Maxi Offshore Challenge 2018-2019 and fielded fifty-one boats this year.

Miguel Galuccio’s Reichel/Pugh 84’ maxi Vera (formerly My Song) was first to cross the finish line winning one of the Giuseppe Tasca d’Almerita Trophy. Vera’s crew, including Dutch Volvo Ocean Race legend Bouwe Bekking and Olympic champion Michele Regolo, completed nearly 500 miles of racecourse (on the direct route) in two days, 17 hours and 13 minutes — smashing the record set by Esimit Europa 2 in 2015. Esimit Europa 2 is a Reichel/Pugh-designed 100’ canting keel supermaxi, first launched as Alfa Romeo and is now the Australia-based Black Jack. (more…)

8-26-2019

RP 50′ Racer Takes the Overall Win at Long Point Race Week

Newport Beach, CA (August 25, 2019) – Congratulations to Alec Oberschmidt and his team for the overall win (and B division win for the third year in a row) at the 2019 Long Point Race Week aboard their Reichel/Pugh-designed 50’ racer Staghound. David Clark’s ULDB 70 Grand Illusion with Reichel/Pugh-designed keel and rudder appendages was 2^nd in ORR Division. Grand Illusion won the Transpac overall in 2015. (more…)

8-20-2019

GP42 42° South Shines at 2019 Cowes Week

Cowes, Isle of Wight (August 17, 2019) – Mark Rijkse’s Reichel/Pugh-designed GP42 42° South (ex-Seawonder 007) shone brightly at the 2019 COWES WEEK, scoring four bullets in six races to win Class IRC 0, winning the prestigious Brittania Cup and New York Yacht Club Challenge Cup in two of those races. (more…)

7-12-2019

RP66 Zaraffa Wins Overall ORR Title in Tight Marblehead to Halifax Race (363nm)

A piece of Dr. Skip Sheldon’s legacy lives on as his 66’ racer-cruiser Zaraffa continues to win with the grateful U.S. Naval Academy Varsity Offshore Sailing Team.

Sheldon, who began his sailing career as a student, commissioned Reichel/Pugh Design No. 96 Zaraffa as a dual-purpose racer-cruiser, built by New England Boatworks and launched in 1999. A rugged design, Sheldon never wanted the boat to be the cause of not finishing a race. Zaraffa competed in the 2001 Fastnet race winning class and taking 2^nd overall. She raced the Newport-Bermuda four times, claiming the 2002 Lighthouse Trophy win on the crew’s second attempt. She was also first-to-finish with overall honors on the 2003 North Atlantic Challenge from Newport to Cuxhaven, Germany, and in 2011 Zaraffa was 1st Corrected IRC 3 in the Transatlantic Race. She has also raced the Sydney Hobart, Miami to Montego Bay, Round Gotland Race and the Middle Sea Race. In 2018, after a retrofit for the Transatlantic Race, the Sheldon family bestowed the USNA Sailing Team with the gift of Zaraffa for offshore training. (more…)

7-12-2019

The 50th Transpac Kicks Off

As the 50th Transpac kicks off this week Reichel/Pugh wishes all owners and crews a safe race, especially our very own Naval Architect and Structural Engineer David Oliver who is navigator aboard the 60’ Good Call.

Reichel/Pugh racers to watch:
Alive – Design 162 – 66’ CBTF Racer (formerly Black Jack & Stark Raving Mad)
Grand Illusion (featuring Reichel/Pugh-designed keel and rudder appendages)
Lady Kanon – Design 177 – 45’ IRC Racer
Shadow II – Design 122 – TP52
Taxi Dancer – Design 39 – 70’ ULDB
Vitesse – Design 199.2 – Southern Cross 52’

Race Tracking
Event News
Photography

Phillip Turner’s Australian-based Alive Yachting team most notably won the 2018 Sydney-Hobart overall, and recently swept 2019 California Offshore races with back-to-back line honor wins in the SoCal 300 (Santa Barbara to San Diego), Coastal Cup (Monterey to Santa Barbara), Spinnaker Cup (San Francisco Bay to Monterey), and Newport-Ensenada Race.

HIGHLIGHTS OF REICHEL/PUGH TRANSPAC HISTORY

Reichel Pugh Maxi’s have held the Transpac Course Record for nearly two decades, from 1999 (Roy Disney’s 75’ Pyewacket Maxi Sled) until 2017 (broken by Comanche – setting the new Merlin trophy elapsed time record at 5 days 01:55:26). Until 2017, the record had been broken 4 times since 1999 – always by Reichel/Pugh designed yachts. R/P yachts have won the Barn Door Trophy 7 out of 10 editions of the race since 1999.

Reichel/Pugh’s original sled design, the 70’ Taxi Dancer took 1st place in Class A in the 1989 Transpac and second overall, this was during the heyday of the California Sleds when Class A of the 1989 race featured 19 Sleds. Thirty years later, Taxi Dancer is still racing!

2015 – WILD OATS XI – Roy Pat Disney’s and Bob Oatley’s 100’ Canting Keel SuperMaxi Wild Oats XI had the fastest elapsed time of 6d 10h 37m 2s to win the 2015 Merlin Trophy and take first in Division 1 at the Transpac’s Diamond Head finish line. Wild Oats XI is a 100-foot custom design famous for its record nine elapsed time victories in thirteen years (2005-2008, 2018) and three overall fleet wins (2014, 2012 & 2005) in the Sydney-Hobart race.

2015 – GRAND ILLUSION – Ed & James McDowell’s Santa Cruz 70 Grand Illusion was the overall winner. She was designed by Bill Lee and features Reichel/Pugh-designed keel and rudder appendages. Grand Illusion has now equaled the record for most overall Transpac wins, joining the 88′ Lurline which won the first two races in 1906 and 1908, and again in 1912. However, Grand Illusion holds the status alone for winning overall three times under the same Owner/Skipper, Ed & James McDowell.

2013 – RP74 WIZARD – David and Peter Askew’s 74’ Reichel/Pugh-designed and New England Boatworks-built Mini-Maxi WIZARD (formerly Bella Mente) finished ‘first’ in the 2013 Transpac Race winning the unique Transpacific Yacht Club’s Perpetual Trophy – a 3.5’ x 4’ plaque of hand carved Hawaiian Koa Wood – better known as the ‘Barn Door.’ This trophy is traditionally awarded to the fixed keel mono-hull employing no stored energy with the fastest elapsed time. Wizard’s elapsed time was 7 days, 7 hours, 53 minutes, 46 seconds, which was 12 hours and 13 minutes slower than Bella Mente’s Barn Door record run of 6 days 19 hours 39 minutes 28 seconds set in 2011.

2011 – RP74 BELLA MENTE – Hap Fauth’s 74’ Mini Maxi BELLA MENTE set a new fixed keel course record of 6 days 19 hours 39 minutes 28 seconds with an average speed of 13.6 knots.

2011 – RPTP52 PATCHES – Jorge Ripsteins R/P-designed TP52 PATCHES won Division 2 followed by R/P designs CRIMINAL MISCHIEF 45’ and VINCITORE 52’.

2011 – GRAND ILLUSION – Ed and James McDowell’s Santa Cruz 70 featuring R/P-designed appendages took first in division and first in fleet overall on corrected time.

2009 – RP100 ALFA ROMEO II – 1st to Finish (Lending Tree got a DNS!) 5 days 14 hours 36m 20s) (Moveable Ballast & Powered Winches Course Record). N. Crichton’s Alfa Romeo II, sailing in the “unlimited” class, was not eligible for the traditional “Barn Door” trophy, but instead was the inaugural winner of a new trophy dedicated by Trisha Steele, called the “Merlin Trophy”. On July 7, 2009, ALFA ROMEO II beat the MORNING GLORY record for best day’s run set in the 2005 race, by sailing 399nm in 24 hours. The next two days she broke her own best-day record by sailing 420nm and 431nm.

2005 – RP86 MORNING GLORY – 1st to Finish (SET NEW RECORD 6 days, 16 hours, 4 minutes, and 11 seconds to win “the Barn Door” trophy) (Moveable Ballast Course Record) – H. Plattner

2005 – RP52 ROSEBUD – 1st Class & 1st Fleet Corrected Overall – R. Sturgeon

2003 – RP77 PEGASUS – 1st to Finish Barn Door Trophy Winner – P. Kahn

2001 – RP75 PEGASUS – 1st to Finish Barn Door Trophy Winner, 2nd Fleet Overall Corrected – P. Kahn

1999 – RP73 PYEWACKET – 1st to Finish Barn Door Trophy Winner (SET NEW RECORD 7 days, 11 hours, 41 minutes, and 27 seconds Ending Merlin’s 20-year record) (Fixed Ballast Course Record) 2nd Fleet Overall Corrected – R. Disney

1995 – RP66 EXILE – 1st Place Class Winner – J. Warwick Miller

1989 – RP70 TAXI DANCER – 1st Place Class Winner (19 Sleds competing), 2nd Place Fleet Overall – M. Rousse

For more information on the yachts contact: jim@reichel-pugh.com

ABOUT THE TRANSPAC
First organized by the Transpacific Yacht Club in 1906, the Transpacific Yacht Race or Transpac is an offshore sailing race from Point Fermin in Los Angeles to Diamond Head, just east of Honolulu, a distance of 2,225 nm. This is among the world’s great ocean races, and biennially attracts some of the world’s fastest sailing yachts, some of its most talented offshore racing sailors, and a wide variety of offshore sailing adventurers.

photography courtesy of Sharon Green/Ultimate Sailing

Perfect Scoreline For Magic Carpet 3 At The Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta

Porto Cervo (June 8, 2019) – The 12th edition of the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta was organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in the waters of Porto Cervo, Sardinia and hosted 20 boats ranging from 25 to 52 metres in length. Reichel/Pugh-designed 100’ Magic Carpet³, owned by YCCS member Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones, won Class “A” ahead of the 33-metre Inoui and the Wally 107 Open Season with a perfect scoreline across all three races. The Silver Jubilee Cup, assigned to the top yacht over 30 metres with an interior cruising set-up and in the division with the most competitors, also went to the WallyCento Magic Carpet³. Jim Pugh was apart of the racing team. (more…)

6-2-2019

66′ Mini Maxi Alive Sweeps California Offshore Races and Sets New Course Record

San Diego, California (June 2, 2019) – Reichel/Pugh 66’ Canting Keel Mini Maxi ALIVE (formerly Black Jack & Stark Raving Mad) was first to finish (correcting to 7th) in the 5th annual SoCal 300 (300nm), following back-to-back line honor wins in the Spinnaker Cup (San Francisco Bay to Monterey), Coastal Cup (Monterey to Santa Barbara) and Newport-Ensenada. Alive also set a new course record for the 200nm Coastal Cup of 13h 48m 28s. Congratulations to owner Phillip Turner, skipper Duncan Hine and the entire Australian-based Alive Yachting team, who most notably won the 2018 Sydney-Hobart overall. The three-part CA Offshore Race Week now complete, the Alive team is taking on the competitive 17-boat Division 1 in the Transpac Race starting July 10th. (more…)

4-28-2019

Alive Wins Newport to Ensenada Race Following Sydney-Hobart Victory

Ensenada, Mexico (April 28, 2019) – Congratulations to all competitors in the 72nd annual Newport to Ensenada (125nm). On the heels of its 2018 Sydney-Hobart victory, the Australian-based Reichel/Pugh 66’ Canting Keel Mini Maxi ALIVE (formerly Black Jack & Stark Raving Mad) earned the NOSA Trophy for overall best elapsed time, the Amigo Trophy awarded to a first-time skipper and the Lahaina Yacht Club Trophy for best elapsed time all PHRF. Congratulations to owner Phillip Turner, skipper Duncan Hine and the entire Alive Yachting team. (more…)

4-21-2019

RP100 Black Jack Takes Line Honors in The Brisbane to Gladstone Race

RP100 Black Jack is Winner of 2019 Brisbane to Gladstone Line Honors and Four Cities Cup for best performing yacht.

Queensland, Australia (April 20, 2019) – 100’ SuperMaxi Black Jack took line honors in the 71st Brisbane to Gladstone with a time of 16 hours, 56 minutes and 33 seconds—just 2 minutes and 36 seconds outside the 14-year record it broke last year. It was the sixth consecutive Brisbane to Gladstone line-honors victory for last year’s runner-up in the Sydney to Hobart and it marked eight wins for Black Jack’s owner Peter Harburg since 2009. (more…)

4-21-2019

Reichel/Pugh Designs Triumph at Les Voiles de St. Barth

St. Barths (April 21, 2019) — Launched in 2010, Les Voiles de St. Barth is an event created specifically to keep the long, colorful history of racing on the island vibrant — building on Loulou’s Regatta back in the 1970’s with its 100 sailboats to the Transat AG2R, the Route du Rose, and the St Barth Bucket Regatta. The 2019 regatta marked the 10th anniversary and fielded scores of teams across nine classes, despite the remaining traces of hurricane Irma, which ravaged the island in September 2017.

Dominating the Maxi Class 2 for the third year was Windfall’s Michael “Mick” Cotter, who humbly attributes much of their success to luck, however this was Mick’s seventh Les Voiles. The Reichel/Pugh-designed production 94’ Windfall was built by Southern Wind, with interiors by Nauta Yachts, Milan and launched in 2013. Results (more…)