Introducing Zephyrus V

First of new maxZ86 class of turbo sled launched

Zephyrus V, the first of a new class of 86-foot turbo-sled maxis, begins her sea trials on San Francisco Bay next month, marking the beginning of a bold initiative to bring a fast new, streamlined look to the top end of the owners' game in sailing.

Zephyrus V owner Bob McNeil, from San Francisco, joined with sled veteran Roy Disney to initiate the new maxZ86 Class which will first race in competition in Australia at the end of 2003. McNeil's new boat will make its race debut in the West Marine Pacific Cup Race from San Francisco to Kaneohe, HI, in July this year.

With water ballast, a sail plan bigger than an America's Cup Class boat, and the easily-driven, highly-efficient characteristics of a modern turbo-sled, the maxZ86s will be the new line honors class for the Transpac in 2005. The Transpacific Yacht Club has already approved the class, subject to three boats starting in the 2005 race.

Designed by Reichel/Pugh of San Diego and built by McConaghy Boats in Sydney, Australia, Zephyrus V is the successor to McNeil's 75-foot Zephyrus IV, with which he shattered the Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro Race record in 2000 by almost two days, and in the same year broke the Middle Sea Race record in the Mediterranean.

McNeil commissioned the new design after acknowledging that rating rule changes had left his four-year-old boat outclassed by newer arrivals. His brief called for all the performance that Reichel/Pugh could pack into an 86-footer. He wanted turbo monohull performance with "acres of sail" flying from the fastest possible hull shape.

He asked for the variable displacement option provided by water ballast, enabling huge turbo off-the-wind performance in light trim, combined with the stability and sail-carrying power that comes when ballasted. High-tech construction of the composite hull was important, with a reliability and toughness equal to the boat's high performance characteristics.

"We wanted an extremely responsive vessel that would be a record beater in world wide racing, perform better in upwind and close reaching conditions and critically, be a boat that was a grand prix thrill for us to sail," McNeil said.

The concept attracted the attention of Disney, who has raced against McNeil in the Transpac and other offshore races, and whose 75-foot Reichel/Pugh sled Pyewacket holds the current record for the Transpac.

The two owner-skippers worked with Santa Cruz-based ULDB sled designer Bill Lee to develop a level class rule for the type. Lee is using concepts developed in the writing of the Transpac 52 Rule, with help from other designers to refine the concept. A draft is available to interested owners and designers for comment and input.

"The vision of the class is to create a competitive class of purpose-built racing yachts for the world's great offshore events," Lee said. "Multihulls and larger yachts may at times be faster, but this is a vision of creating not just one large fast boat, but a class of large fast boats that can race one another on a level basis without time allowance, in many cases for course records."

Disney has chosen Reichel/Pugh to design his new 86-footer. He will choose a builder in the coming months and start construction of the new boat in October this year for delivery in October 2003.

"We all love the idea of not having to change the boat for every race, and of the great racing that the rule will guarantee," Disney said. "To have a bunch of boats where we can go out and actually have boat races instead of designer races seems to me to be really good idea. That's what I hope for with this project - that it will attract people who want to go racing on the same terms. Not that we all don't like to go a little bit faster than the next guy, but it's a lot more fun when it is a boat race."

McNeil added: ""Neither Roy nor I are individuals who stepped in to win a race based on money. Both of us understand the enjoyment of level racing on big boats. Both of us are active participants in the sport and know how to steer and participate in the actual sailing of the vessel when racing. We mutually believe this class will fit a need in yachting today."

Zephyrus V rolled out of her builder's shed at McConaghy's in late March and was immediately shipped to San Francisco for final rigging and sea trials. An 86-footer (26.20 m) with a plumb bow, she displaces 19,562 kg, of which 9700 kg is the bulb keel 14.56 feet (4.44 m) below the waterline. Under the class rules, she can carry up to 1321 gallons (5000 liters) of water ballast, for extra horsepower.

The maxZ86 class will be owner-led, with a professional executive director and technical director, and, while it will encourage professionals and amateurs, there will be some owner-driver clauses in the rules - for example, at race starts.

"A long useful life is expected for these boats, for several reasons," Lee said. "A Limit Rule does not allow trading of factors - the ratios of length, draft, sail area and sail area proportions, etc. Under handicap rules, the early boats are experiments in trying to find the best combination of boat proportions. Under the maxZ86 rule, these critical factors are fixed in advance so that the range of allowed experimentation so common with other rules is much narrower. For this reason, newer boats in the class will not have better ratios of the critical proportions than the earlier ones.

"Under handicap rules, a rating rule authority independent of the class or class association often changes the underlying handicap rule. The results are two-fold. Boats must recalibrate to the level rating after each rule change. Also the rule changes may adjust the desired ratios and obsolete some boats. Neither of these situations will occur under a Limit Rule administered by the Class."