The technology behind the new superyachts

As it is, the new 'Alfa Romeo' will face some strong competition in the 2005 Rolex Sydney Hobart Race with four other maximum LOA boats expected to compete in the 2005 race - the new Maximus, owned by fellow New Zealanders Charles St Clair Brown and Bill Buckley, the rebuilt Australian boat Skandia, owned by Grant Wharington, a yet-to-be-launched new Wild Oats for Bob Oatley, and another New Zealand boat, Stewart Thwaites' Konica Minolta which, like Skandia, raced to Hobart last year - and also did not make it. "The 2005 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is shaping up as an extraordinary clash of the super maxis and a race that could well see the record broken," predicts Crichton. "Around the world we will see race records shattered by this new breed of yachts."

Although the new 'Alfa Romeo' has yet to sail in fresh to strong breezes, Neville Crichton and his crew are predicting amazing numbers from the new 98-footer. "My gut feeling is that she will be 20 per cent faster than the previous 90-footer…capable of 35 knots downwind in any sort of a reasonable fresh breeze; 20-22 knots on a reach in 18 knots of wind; 12 knots hard on the breeze to windward. The big difference is that this new breed of 30-metre boats are capable of sustaining high speeds," says Crichton.

"If we can get 15 knots of constant breeze all the way to Hobart we will break Nokia's record!" "Of course, it all hinges on the weather. The Hobart record set by Kialoa stood for 21 years, until just bettered by Morning Glory in 1996. Then Nokia shattered that time in 1999.

"If we get the same conditions as Nokia, strong winds on the beam, we could do it in a day…but realistically we could reach Hobart this year in a day and five hours." When he commissioned this new boat, Crichton himself was making a quantum leap forward in the many yachts he has campaigned so successfully.

Not only would the new 'Alfa Romeo' be the biggest racing yacht he had ever owned, but it would be the first for him with a canting keel.

While he says that there is not a lot more that can be done in developing super yachts sailed by small crews, some significant advances have been made with the new boat. In addition to the canting keel the boat has water ballast, two rudders fore and aft of the keel and hydraulic winches. The rig is taller than any super maxi built to date, enabling the boat to carry a huge mainsail and massive asymmetric spinnakers.

CONSTRUCTION

The planning, engineering and building of the hull, keel and rudders of 'Alfa Romeo', the 10th maxi yacht built in carbon fibre composite by McConaghy Boats in the Sydney, Australia, was the biggest and most complex project yet completed by the internationally renowned boat-builders.

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