Alfa Romeo Races to Records

After the Whitsundays regatta, the first major record in the sights of Neville Crichton is the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race mark of one day, 19 hours, 48 minutes and two seconds for the 628 nautical mile race in the Tasman Sea.

"Given a relatively constant breeze of 15kt with slightly sprung sheets the new boat will average 22kt and we can sail the course in one day and five hours," he said with confidence.

The new Alfa Romeo, the 30m (98ft) yacht is the most technically advanced ocean racing yacht in the world today.

Designed by the US firm of Reichel/Pugh and built of carbon fibre composite by McConaghy Boats in Sydney, Alfa Romeo carries a towering 44m carbon fibre mast with the latest concept in 3DL and mylar sails designed by North Sails.

Race performances are expected to be just as awesome with race record predictions no idle threat.

Owner/skipper Neville Crichton, a lifelong sailing enthusiast and, in his own right, a world class racing helmsman, commissioned Reichel/Pugh to design him a super maxi boat to the 30m length overall (LOA) maximum set for two of the world's great traditional races, the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and the Rolex Fastnet Race.

"I would have liked to stay with a 90-footer but when the CYCA (Cruising Yacht Club of Australia) and the RORC (Royal Ocean Racing Club) set their maximum LOA at 30m for the Hobart and the Fastnet Races we had to go up to 30m to be competitive," Crichton explained.

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 boat from New Zealand, Stewart Thwaites' Konica Minolta.

"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," said 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 35kt downwind in any sort of a reasonable fresh breeze; 20-22kt on a reach in 18kt of wind; 12kt hard on the breeze to windward. The big difference is that this new breed of 30m boats are capable of sustaining high speeds," said Crichton.

"If we can get 15kt of constant breeze all the way to Hobart we will break Nokia's record!" he said.

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.

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. From a male plug, McConaghy's built the carbon fibre composite hull using the latest prepreg systems developed by Structural Polymer Systems (SP) which sent out from England three of their technical experts to assist with the project.

Extensive use was made of high modulus carbon fibre over the Nomex honeycomb, with Corecell foam used in high load areas. Because the hull is so narrow, many longitudal stiffening planks were also used for added strength. Having the canting keel operated by a single hydraulic ram added to complexities of the engineering as did the extensive electronic control systems required for the canting keel, the two rudders and the hydraulic winches.

Precision alignment of bulkheads and canting keel structure was critical, with all jigs being computer milled.

Highly specialised steels were also used to construct the components of the hydraulic ram which was built by Central Coast Hydraulics.

"It was a new generation of complexities in boat building," a spokesman for McConaghy Boats added.

THE HULL
The metallic silver painted hull is long and lean-looking with a short bowsprit. The coachhouse is low and encases the hydraulic systems that control the jib cars and Cunningham controls. The open cockpit runs from aft of the coachhouse and main companionway to the transom, clear except for the twin steering wheels set on stylish individual consoles with instruments in front of the helmsman. Instruments are repeated on the mast.

BELOW DECKS
The stylish interior is white with highlights of black carbon fibre and warm red upholstery for the bunks/seat. Even the toilette is carbon fibre! A large part of the accommodation is taken up with the encased engine, the twin hydraulic systems (for keel and winches) and encased electronic systems, with the fully equipped nav station set just below the helmsman's position on deck.

Apart from through the main companionway, light comes into the interior through a series of small ports through the deck and with the white interior the long open saloon (for want of a better description) is quite light and airy - except the dark cave at the bow which houses the forward rudder controls. A carbon fibre table in the shape of a water drop hangs from the deckhead just aft of the galley but the focal point is the canting keel system which can be viewed through a polycarbonate clear cover. You can even see the water below!

RUDDERS
The two rudders are solid, high modulus carbon fibre for added strength, as are the rudder stocks. The forward rudder, controlled by a massive hydraulic arm in the forepeak, can be used three ways in conjunction with the main steering rudder - offset at an angle of up to two degrees to give the boat extra lift when sailing to windward; fixed to work in tandem with the main rudder; or 'floating' when running downwind. The main rudder blade incorporates a 'string pot' positive sensing device which instantly detects the angle of the rudder.

This is fed into the boat's computer system which then tells the hydraulic ram exactly the angle to position the forward rudder.

CANTING KEEL
The canting keel is high tensile steel with a special calcium lead bulb and is controlled by a single hydraulic ram which can swing the keel 45 degrees either way from the vertical.

WATER BALLAST
In addition to the canting keel, Alfa Romeo has water ballast. The equivalent - or more - of having the entire crew standing at the transom!

ENGINE POWER
Power to drive the boat at up 13kt, plus the two hydraulic systems for the canting keel ram and the deck winches, comes from a Yanmar 250hp engine.

RIG
Towering just over 42m above the deck, the Southern Spars carbon fibre mast is superbly finished and shaped, with a five-spreader in-line rig. Standing rigging is no longer metallic. It is PBO rope - a composite that is not only stronger but 30 per cent lighter than the once conventional stainless-steel rigging and even lighter than carbon fibre rigging. Running backstays and two sets of check stays and an inner forestay control the mast shape.

WINCHES
All winches are the very latest from Harken. The four primary winches are new generation 1130s, three-speed hydraulically-powered, push-button operated with carbon fibre tops. They are capable of 90m a minute in first speed and have a safety rating of nine tonnes.

The runner and mainsheet (AC65.2) traveller winches are also hydraulically operated but the four AC990 pit winches are manually operated.

THE CREW
The high-tech super maxi Alfa Romeo will be sailed to Hobart by a crew of 20, including the canting keel technician and a dedicated navigator. The previous 90ft Alfa Romeo Shockwave raced to Hobart with a crew of 24. There will be five designated helmsmen, including Crichton himself and sailing master Michael Coxon whose company, North Sails Australia, has built the 3DL sails for the boat.