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Spirit of Tradition Yachts Designed In Maine

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Design Brief: The Botin 55.

Posted on December 11, 2018 and filed under Design

The Botin 55 features a modern racing hull and a couple historic references on deck. But where does integration of the truly classic meet the modern?

It’s been an active Spirit-of-Tradition yacht building season here in Maine, with many builders launching many interesting boats. There’s a pair of modern-classic yacht tenders, just launched at Hodgdon’s in Boothbay Harbor,  that look like they’ve somehow motored in from Venice’s Grand Canal. And then over at Front Street Shipyard in Belfast, there’s Sindbad, a classic Norwegian Trawler getting a 21st-century refit. 

But what’s piqued the most interest in some sailing circles, is a controversial new 55-footer, currently coming together at Brooklin Boat Yard, in Brooklin Maine. This daysailer/racer is designed by Botin Partners , who work out of a sea town called Santander, on the north coast of Spain.

And this modern sloop has been labeled by the yard as a Spirit-of-Tradition racer — labeled the BP-320 — reveals new challenges as Spirit-of-Tradition design gets explored and  goes global .

Racers First. Modern Classics Second.

It’s worth noting that Botin Partners was started by the talented Marcelino Botin back in 1995. Botin, along with fellow designer Shaun Carkeek, rode the IMS regatta wave in the Mediterranean Sea that started at the turn of the millennium. Botin partnered on many seriously fast boats, including Zurich and Pepsi . And Botin has experimented with an idea in Spirit-of-Tradition design before. Namely, his personal 72-foot vessel Toroa, launched in the summer of 2017, that was also built at Brooklin Boat Yard.

Classic elements are hard to find on this 72-Foot “Toroa.” She’s all about her all-racing heritage.

What’s interesting about both the 55- and the 72-foot boats, is how Botin crafted the basic hull shapes from familiar weapons in his modern race-boat design arsenal. And then juxtaposed those choices with selected classic idioms. Both hulls are lifted almost directly from absolutely modern hull-design parameters from the Class 40 or Volvo 70 arenas. And then these hulls are less-carefully topped with traditional design elements.

Toroa has proved to be an absolute monster: achieving 25 kts planing speeds is enough to get us excited by her unique looks and her all-out performance capability. It remains to be seen how Botin’s BP-320 will perform, but we are also eager to see her launched — her modern style and design parameters look wonderful and exciting.

At least to our eye, we see Botin making little concession to the classic design themes that dominate the Spirit-of-Tradition designs here in the United States. At most there are tiny nods to classicism, like the straight-forward concave sheerline or the round portholes on Toroa’s hull ,  or the boxy, relatively simple superstructure on the 55. Maybe one could argue that the varnish or the use of natural woods is what makes these boats Spirit-of-Tradition. But that’s a bit of a stretch.

Teak decking and varnished carpentry details are found on all kinds of boats and in all manner of styles, but if that is only what sets a vintage style, then this places the design bar cynically low. True Spirit-of-Tradition values pay cohesive homage to traditional elements throughout the entire  design, hull and decks. This is discipline that insures how a modern design becomes Spirit-of-Tradition. With a few changes in hull shape, those traditions could have been honored on the Botin 55: Why not simply rake the transom aft instead of forward or ease the sharp turn at the “chines”, or maybe introduce some hollow to the waterlines and flare in her bow sections?

How about letting her stem curve ever so slightly?

That’s the kind of boat that will never look dated, yet still be as fast, if not a bit more well mannered, than the current design.

A Differing Sense of “Classic Design.”

We think what’s happening here is playful experimentation on a theme, and when great ideas come from parts of the world we’re always going to observe different tastes. Admired European designers, like Hoek Design  and Botin may be less afraid to take big leaps from classic shapes and features. European consumers may be more comfortable with wider expressions of what Spirit-of-Tradition sailboats could be. That’s kind of exciting in some ways. But we would always propose a fair and balanced measure to gauging a design’s mission, even if the result is disagreement. If the Botin 55 is aimed for spirit-of-tradition racing here in New England, particularly in the design opinion hotbed of Nantucket Island, then it will be an interesting sailing season for her owners.

The Botin 55 looks like a well-planned and exciting design. She will undoubtedly be fast and fun. We can’t wait to see her sailing. Where the Botin 55 barely misses the spectrum of modern-classic designs won’t be an ideal abstraction. It will be a serious challenge, and it we will soon see a time for organizing the debate for how a Spirit-of-Tradition yacht is born.

Our two cents is, the Botin 55 is a two-thousand teens raceboat with a varnished cabin trunk. She’s just the kind of boat we would love to see at our Camden Classics Cup this July. And we look forward to her probably crushing the rest of the contemporary boats racing the “All-Modern” division.

Because it is in this “All-Modern” division, that this Botin 55 belongs.

We look forward to a deep and passionate discussion on how the Spirit-of-Tradition genre will evolve in the coming 2019 racing season.

Botin 55 Specifications

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The new Botin 55

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Hall Spars was delighted to see the completion of a fantastic new project at Brooking Boat Yard in Maine, with the launch of the new Botin designed 55 footer.

Botin Partners designed yachts are not only well known for their high end racing yachts but also for their innovative fast cruising boats. With this aim in mind for the new Botin 55, Hall Spars BV provided a high modulus carbon mast with halyard locks and a standard modulus carbon boom with reef locks, and Future Fibres provided their multi-strand ECsix rigging.

In the design and production of the yacht, our team also worked closely with North Sails, who provided the sails for this new build, to ensure a fully in tegrated sails and rig package. Whilst RigPro, our service entity, did the assembly and commissioning for the yacht.

Now we can’t wait to see the yacht sailing this summer with her new Hall Spars proven perfromance rig!

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New 55-foot cold-molded sloop

In a recent press release, Brooklin Boat Yard in Maine has announced it is building a second cold-molded 55-foot sloop designed by Botin Partners of Santander, Spain. Brooklin Boat Yard builders have completed the cold-molded hull and flipped the hull up for the construction of the interior. The boat, which will be raced in the Panerai series of regattas in North America, will be launched in May 2019. 

From the press release: "This is Brooklin Boat Yard’s second collaboration with Botin Partners, having launched the 22m TOROA in 2017. The Botin 55 has a lightweight cold-molded wood hull and deck built using some carbon-reinforced structure. There is a comfortable main salon amidships, which connects with a galley and nav desk. A quarter berth aft offers sleeping accommodations while underway, and a forward cabin has four bunks for crew plus a full head. The entire interior is styled with flat panel white oak and an English brown oak cabin sole. The elegant countertops throughout are built of pewter."

Below is a video of the hull being turned over. 

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Brooklin Boat Yard launches Custom 55' Sloop

Brooklin Boat Yard launched OUTLIER, a 55-foot sloop designed by Botin Partners of Spain, on June 5 after a ten-month build at the Brooklin, Maine, boatyard.

The cold-molded custom yacht is a spirit of tradition racer and daysailer. While she has a modern underbody with a deep, fixed-bulb keel, OUTLIER’s aesthetic above the waterline is decidedly traditional with a roomy cockpit, closed transom and classic housetop. OUTLIER’s owner intends to race the boat in East Coast and Caribbean regattas beginning this summer. The Botin 55 has a lightweight cold-molded wood hull and deck built with a carbon-reinforced keel structure to support the deep fin and lead bulb. The three-spreader carbon mast is from Hall Spars with a North Sails 3Di sail plan. Since OUTLIER’s owner doesn’t intend to taker her offshore for extended cruises, the interior is clean, classic, and simple. The lightweight interior is built with paneled vertical grain white oak and an English brown oak cabin sole and finished in satin sheen varnish with white painted deck frames for accent. There is a spacious main salon amidships, which connects with a simple galley and well-equipped navigations station. A quarter berth aft offers sleeping accommodations while underway, and a forward cabin has four bunks for crew plus a full head.

“OUTLIER is an incredible marriage of modern engineering and traditional styling,” said Steve White, president of Brooklin Boat Yard. “She exemplifies the continuing evolution of the spirit of tradition class. She’ll perform well on the racing circuit while carrying on the classic aesthetic for which wooden boats are well known.” OUTLIER will call Nantucket her homeport. Her upcoming racing schedule includes the weekly local races in Nantucket, The Castine Classic, Camden to Brooklin Classic, Eggemoggin Reach Regatta, Nantucket Sailing Week, Opera House Cup, and others.

This is Brooklin Boat Yard’s second collaboration with Botin Partners, having launched the 22m TOROA in 2017. The Botin 55 owner selected Brooklin Boat Yard and Botin Partners to design and build a custom yacht after seeing TOROA.

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Lobster women, a sardine carrier, and a very old canoe

A launching at Rockport Marine usually includes the boat’s proud owner(s) and a congratulatory speech from yard owner Taylor Allen. But last summer, after years of sending other people’s boats into the water, Allen launched one for himself.

On a sunny July afternoon, Allen’s wife, Martha White, assisted by granddaughter Maite McCoun Tempe-Dwyer, gave a short speech, then smashed a bottle of bubbly on the sturdy wooden bow of the William Underwood . Allen and his crew at Rockport Marine have spent almost 13 years rebuilding the former sardine carrier into a comfortable cruising boat.

Built in 1941 in Dorchester, Massachusetts, at the Simms Brothers yard, the 69-foot William Underwood spent years hauling herring to the Underwood Packing plant in Jonesport, Maine. By the time Allen found it, the boat was derelict. He painstakingly rebuilt it in between finishing jobs for customers. The result is an essentially new boat— according to Allen, the only remaining part of the former boat is the propeller.

During the launching, Allen choked back emotion as he thanked his step-son Sam Temple, who has taken over day-to-day operations at Rockport Marine, and the other members of the crew who worked on the massive project. Painted white with yellow and green trim, the relaunched vessel features a school of small leaping blue herring on either side of the bow — painted by a worker at the yard. The revamped interior has room to sleep as many as six people, a salon with a small woodstove, and an elegant galley.

The last sardine plant in Maine closed its doors in 2010. But former fish carriers such as the William Underwood are now considered excellent workboats to convert into yachts because of their attractive lines and sturdy maneuverability.

A number of Underwood descendants attended the launching,  including William “Woody” Underwood, whose ancestor started the original Underwood Packing Company. He presented Allen with a small yellow tin of Underwood sardines, which he afterward said, “were probably packed somewhere in China.”

Women who fish for lobster

A new exhibit at the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, Maine, titled “Lobstering Women of Maine,” showcases portraits of a dozen or so lobster women painted by Belfast artist Susan Tobey White. The exhibit showcases the lobster industry, explores Maine’s traditions and heritage, and reveals the strength of women. Many of these women were at the exhibit’s opening in July. They posed proudly in front of their portraits, which are close to life-size and popping with color.

The depiction of Genevieve McDonald of Stonington shows her loading a cascading tote full of silvery blue herring on her boat, Hello Darlings II . The details of her face are blurred, so what you notice, instead, are her strong arms and confident stance.

The mother of 14-month-old twins, and a first-term state representative, McDonald has been a voice for the lobster industry and for the women working in it. A placard next to her portrait noted that she was the first woman appointed to the Maine Lobster Advisory Council and the first female commercial fisherman elected to the Maine House of Representatives. Several years ago she worked with Grundens to get the company to make fishing gear designed for women.

Yvonne Rosen of Vinalhaven stood in front of her portrait proudly talking about her boat, a 30-foot H&H named Gimmie A Hulla , and the almost 800 traps she fishes. Captain of her own boat for 11 years and, until fairly recently, the only female captain in Carvers Harbor, she happily showed off her tattoos, a lobster on one arm and a fish on the other.

White came up with the idea for this series a year or so ago while watching a woman unload traps from the back of a boat onto a snowy dock in November. “I was totally impressed with how hard she was working, and because I know her, I know her feminine side. There is just that contrast,” she said.

That contrast was on display at the opening. Many of the women stood in front of their portraits wearing dresses and makeup. McDonald was regal and feminine in deep red lipstick, jewelry, and a flattering black dress.

White, whose husband is a part-time lobsterman, based her paintings on photos that she took, as well as photos submitted by the women themselves and by other photographers. She made the paintings extra large, “because I wanted these women to be big and strong.”

Today, out of about 4,500 licenses for lobster fishing in Maine, just 215 are held by female captains. Another 305 women have licenses to be students or apprentices in the lobster fishery. If those women complete that program and put in the required 1,000 hours of fishing to earn a license, then the number of female captains could increase dramatically, according to Cathy Fetterman, the head of licensing at the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Many more women are working as sternmen and at the docks.

The growing numbers of women in the industry is having an impact, McDonald said. “Women are more keen on environmental issues; women are more articulate speakers; women as a voice for the industry are going to be heard,” she said emphatically. “When women have a seat at the table things get done.”

The exhibit will be on display until October 20, 2019.

Schooner Mary Day pulls out a win

Fourteen historic windjammers raced from Gilkey Harbor in Islesboro, Maine, to the finish line at the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse during the 43rd Annual Great Schooner Race on July 5. With boats ranging from 48 to 141 feet long and the two oldest windjammers in America racing against newer, sleeker ones, it was a race filled with skill, luck, and who found the wind first. The eventual winner, the schooner Mary Day, won by just four seconds on corrected time.

Racing for the first time in the Great Schooner Race was Columbia , a recently built replica of the historic Gloucester fishing schooner of the same name, and in a class of its own. Columbia raced in the Windward Class against the bigger boats in the Maine Windjammer Association fleet and was given a 20-minute handicap. As the wind built into the afternoon, Columbia pulled in front and crossed the finish line first with the Mary Day in hot pursuit, finishing just 19:16 minutes behind Columbia to take first place on corrected time.

Mary Day captain Barry King was presented with both the Cutty Sark Award and the coveted “Eat My Wake” flag given to the first Maine Windjammer Association boat to cross the line. 

For more results, see the blog entry at maineboats.com

Fish farms all over

Not only is Maine famous for its commercial saltwater catches, apparently the state is now a destination for land-based fish farms.

Aquaculture Management & Holding Co. of the United Kingdom announced last summer that after two years of planning it was ready to start building a “modern aquaculture plant” in Millinocket, according to the Bangor Daily News. The company, which calls its U.S. subsidiary Aquabanq, has said it intended to open the land-based salmon farm in the U.S. by 2022.

This is the fifth company to have announced at least the intent to start a land-based aquaculture operation in Maine, according to the BDN. Four would produce Atlantic salmon while one would produce yellowtail. All would use the same technology—a recirculating aquaculture system that flushes water in through large fish tanks and back out.

In Bucksport, Whole Oceans recently closed a deal to buy part of the former Verso Paper Mill site, and plans to start building its new facility this winter.

In Belfast, Nordic Aquafarms is trying to get permits for a land-based salmon farm, although that effort has met with some local opposition. Palom Aquaculture of Gouldsboro has permits for a farm but lacks funding and is searching for a buyer, according to the BDN. A Dutch company, Kingfish Zeeland, said it has chosen the Maine coast for a land-based aquaculture facility to raise yellowtail.

BBY Launches Custom Sloop

Outlier , a 55-foot sloop designed by Botin Partners of Spain, hit the water last June after a ten-month build at the Brooklin Boat Yard in Brooklin, Maine. The cold-molded custom yacht is a  Spirit of Tradition racer and daysailer. With a modern underbody and a deep, fixed-bulb keel, Outlier ’s aesthetic above the waterline is traditional with a roomy cockpit, closed transom, and classic housetop.

The Botin 55 has a lightweight cold-molded wood hull and deck built with a carbon-reinforced keel structure to support the deep fin and lead bulb. The triple-spreader carbon mast is from Hall Spars, with a North Sails sail plan. A spacious main salon amidships connects with a galley and navigation station. A quarter-berth aft offers sleeping accommodations, and a forward cabin has four bunks for crew plus a full head. 

This is Brooklin Boat Yard’s second collaboration with Botin Partners, having launched the 22m Toroa in 2017. Outlier ’s owner selected Brooklin Boat Yard and Botin Partners to design and build a custom yacht after seeing Toroa .

700-year-old canoe found in mud

From the very new Botin 55, we go to the very old. Archaeologists have recovered the oldest, and only pre-European contact, dugout canoe ever found in Maine. They pulled the Native American vessel, which is estimated to be between 700 and 800 years old, from the mud off Cape Porpoise this past summer, according to an article in the Bangor Daily News . Only three other dugout canoes have ever been located in Maine, and they were all made after Europeans arrived, according to archaeologist Tim Spahr, of the Cape Porpoise Archaeological Alliance.

The canoe was made from a single yellow birch log, Spahr told the newspaper. It might have been used to tend weirs and bring the catch ashore for drying, as well as for basic transportation.

A joint effort between the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust and Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk, the Archaeological Alliance was formed in 2017 to study the intertidal zone along Cape Porpoise and the islands just off the coast.

The canoe was located last fall. This past winter, the ocean continued to wash the mud away. This spring, to keep it from being destroyed by the sea or carted away by vandals, the decision was made to bring the relic ashore. Spahr, and other scientists and volunteers from the University of New England and the University of New Brunswick, dug passages under the canoe, passing wide straps around it. Then they raised the 10-foot boat, placed it in a custom wooden box, and took it to a Kennebunkport Conservation Trust building where it is being stored in water, the BDN reported.

For now, Spahr is gently soaking and cleaning the canoe. He’s changing the water once a week and expects the process to take about a year. Once it’s clean, the canoe will be structurally stabilized with special chemicals and will eventually go on display in a museum.

MMA expands at mill site

It’s great to see old paper mill sites find new uses. In addition to the salmon farm planned in Bucksport, Maine Maritime Academy has acquired a four-acre parcel of land at the former Verso paper mill. The site will be the new Maine Maritime Academy Center for Professional Mariner Development, an annex facility that will provide specialized courses for professional mariners and academy-enrolled students, and in workforce development, according to a press release from the academy.

The new training center will include an existing 20,000-square-foot administration and instruction building, which will house classrooms, offices, training labs, simulator spaces, and conference rooms equipped with A/V and videoconferencing technology. Maine Maritime Academy will take occupancy in the fall, following renovations.

A state-of-the-art, multi-purpose firefighting training facility also will be built on the property, and is expected to be operational in the spring of 2020.

Maine sailor leads Bermuda pack

And lest anyone forget, Mainers are fast sailors. Roger Shepley, of Blue Hill’s Kollegewidgwok Yacht Club, grabbed the top prize in the single-handed phase of the biennial Bermuda One-Two ocean race last spring, piloting his Omega 42 Seriana to a first in class and first overall finish in the 635-mile race between Newport, Rhode Island, and St. Georges, Bermuda, according to a report in the Ellsworth American . Shepley and fellow KYC sailor John Manderson then turned around and won their class on both elapsed and handicap-corrected time in the two-handed race back to New England.

Working waterfront access

The Land for Maine’s Future Board has allocated $1,136,250 for six projects that will help protect and sustain Maine’s working waterfront.

Through the Working Waterfront Access Protection Program, funds have been set aside to purchase development rights and ensure property remains available to support commercial fishing or aquaculture activities. The projects involve the following: The Stonington Co-op, the Town of Jonesport, Wotton’s Lobster Wharf in New Harbor, Boothbay Region Maritime Foundation, Lobster Co-op Interstate Lobster, Inc., Harpswell, and Spruce Head Fisherman’s Co-op, South Thomaston.

For more details on the projects, go to HERE.

Improvements at Rockland Marine

Meanwhile, more grant money in Rockland will help a private company. Rockland Marine Corporation has been awarded $351,956 to purchase new equipment to boost production, create efficiencies, and become more competitive. The funding was awarded through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Small Shipyard Grant Program.

The company plans to use the funding to purchase a high-pressure water-blast system, two telescoping boom lifts, and two fork-lift trucks, which will replace the use of rental equipment and outdated equipment, according to a press release. With these upgrades, the company will reconstruct its third marine rail, which is expected to increase employment at the shipyard.

Established in 1991, Rockland Marine Corporation is a full-service operating shipyard with a staff of 40 employees that specializes in custom steel fabrication for marine uses and the full spectrum of ship repair. 

Over the bar

Sam Manning of Camden, Maine, passed away on the night of July 9, 2019. He was 89. His love of wooden boats, hand tools, and the old ways of working helped launch the wooden boat revival. He shared these loves through his beautiful, accurate, and dynamic drawings. His life and work inspired many of us. Most days, winter, spring, summer, or fall, you could find Sam, and his wife, Susan, rowing their dory on Camden harbor, fair weather or foul. We, in the community of boats, and the community of the coast were so very lucky to have had Sam with us for as long as we did. Farewell, friend.

We ran a lovely feature about Sam by Donnie Mullen in Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors in 2008. You can read it here, and you will understand what an amazing gift Sam Manning was to the coastal community. He will be greatly missed.  

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Biggest launch yet for King Marine

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It’s the largest project to date for yacht builder King Marine, if only by a small margin. One more milestone in the impressive history of this yard that has built all Azzurra / Matador MedCup / Super Series winners, many state of the art performance yachts and high-profile Grand Prix racing boats including Volvo 70 and AC 72 catamarans and an AC monohull.

For project manager Micky Costa, this new Botin Partnersdesigned IRC 85 is a welcome challenge in a size that he is well accustomed to. He has also worked with Germán Frers and was involved with several Wally Yachts projects, among many others.

This brand new IRC 85 has turned out be a rocket, as expected. Built with top-of-the-range composite technology as a pure maxi racer (as opposed to most other yachts in this category which are in fact performance cruisers), its most striking feature – which has been the most challenging to construct – is a seven-metre lifting keel.

The main ingredients of its very sophisticated construction were high and intermediate modulus pre-preg carbon fibres and Kevlar honeycomb cores moulded in CNC female moulds, 3D scanned for best fit, in order to see the geometry and the perfect position to start laminating. Several key parts of the boat, like the rudder, were autoclaved. This is absolute cutting-edge build technology. Or as King Marine boatyard manager Pablo Santarsiero puts it, ‘pretty much top-of-the-range composite construction.’

The birth of King Marine was in 2005 with the construction of the 83ft IAAC boat for Desafio Español, the Spanish challenge for the 32nd America’s Cup. The DNA however goes back to a family from South America but with their roots in Northern Italy.

King Marine CEO Gabriel Mariani explains: ‘We are part of a family of Italian immigrant entrepreneurs who left behind the comfort and beauty of northern Italy after the First World War. After many family ventures in South America and following the passion of boatbuilding, in 2005 we went the opposite way to our grandparents and travelled back to Europe with a very young Pablo Santarsiero.

‘It was 2005 and we came to set up the King Marine shipyard in Alginet, 30km from central Valencia, taking advantage of the immense opportunity that Agustin Zulueta and his Desafio Español America’s Cup team had offered us. The boatyard was designed to build only high-performance yachts using the latest composite technologies.’

Increasing international demand for racing yachts built with cutting-edge technology helped King Marine on its way. As Gabriel modestly puts it: ‘At that time, our greatest virtue was our determination to face challenges and create efficient organisations.’ If cleanliness is a benchmark for efficiency and professionalism, King Marine certainly is right up there. This is a boatyard that looks more like a modern hospital. Clean white spaces, orderly workshops and precise work make the first impression.

The 3,000m² boatyard offers a range of advanced facilities: two huge ovens, one 32 x 9 x 6 metres and one 26.6 x 8 x 5 metres for large structures like hulls and decks; one 9 x 8 x 5 metre oven and three carbon vacuum tables for internal structures. All of these have exact temperature control to guarantee the best environment for pre-preg lamination. There is also a CNC milling machine and two clean rooms with controlled temperature for pre-preg lamination. Pre-pregs are the preferred material for laminating here, as only they can ensure the optimum resin-fibre ratio for maximum strength at lowest weight. Other facilities on site include an eight metre long autoclave, specialist warehousing areas for core materials, dry fibres and dangerous goods, and a pre-preg store that is kept at -17°C.

However, the company has now moved on even further. It has made a spectacular new HQ for itself in the former AC base of Team New Zealand in Valencia’s harbour that offers even more facilities, in addition to the site in nearby Alginet.

Services on offer here include travel lift, offices, dining room, dry dock, boat storage, paint booth with filtered air, sail loft, a composite materials shop, boat maintenance, composite work, moorings, offices for representatives, an office for crew meetings and après-race performance analysis, a printing service, changing rooms, fantastic chill-out spaces, and more.

For quality control during and after the build, King Marine equipment for non-destructive testing including a thermal imaging camera and an ultrasound machine. The heat sensor registers different temperature levels and converts them into a video display where they show up in distinctive colours. This technology is a valuable tool for detecting voids, de-lamination and water in composites, and King Marine uses it for quick checks prior to the final test with ultrasound.

Here, an ultrasonic transducer connected to a diagnostic machine is passed over the object being inspected. The transducer is typically separated from the test object by a couplant liquid, such as water, to increase the efficiency of the process by reducing the losses of ultrasonic wave energy that are due to separation between the surfaces.

Top-of-the-range composite construction is of course a highly specialised business. But as Pablo says, ‘composite boat building has achieved a degree of maturity, so nowadays the developments are technical evolutions rather than revolutions. This maturity has built a great reliability that wasn’t there before. The latest generation of TP52 for example is much lighter than the ones from a few years ago but despite that they are sailing with twice as much forestay tension and we are not seeing boats folding in half anymore, this is one of the advantages of center console boats .

The biggest challenges at the moment seem to be the design and construction of foils.

‘These are extremely complex pieces and as they are still quite new in this industry, the construction techniques are still under development’, says Pablo.

And then there’s the environmental footprint of boatbuilding.

‘This will also be one of the driving forces for new developments. I think that the introduction of composite materials in new fields, like the automotive industry, will require new and more efficient techniques for mass production of composite parts and also ways of recycling composite materials. So far, the scale of composite materials industry hasn’t been big enough to properly deal with this issue. I hope in the near future we can benefit from the development power that the bigger scale brings!’

Apart from building high-performance yachts to designs from the world’s foremost naval architects such as Farr, Botin, Frers, Judel- Vrolijk, Juan K, Soto Acebal, Reichel- Pugh and Nivelt among others, King Marine uses its professional expertise to offer a range of custommade composite parts: rudders for racing boats, daggerboard boxes and many other high-load fittings and appendages.

And not only for boats: King Marine has developed a carbon fibre gantry for 3D manufacturing machines (such as laser cutters, plotters and printers). The aim was to make a much lighter gantry and reduce the energy needed to move it, whilst at the same time increasing the speed at which the gantry moves, thus making the whole machine more efficient.

In the meantime, the impressive IRC 85 Deep Blue is afloat and sailing to the huge delight of not just her owner and crew, but everyone involved with this benchmark project at King Marine.

Click here for more information on King Marine

HIGH SPIRIT : En route to the Caribbean

The exceptional racing yacht HIGH SPIRIT is currently en route to the Caribbean to enjoy a bit of sun this winter ! This Botin 65, built by King Marine in 2015, is available for sale : Asking price 1,500,000€.

Botin 65 : High performance Racing Yacht

The hull of HIGH SPIRIT is made of composite materials. Carbon fiber used in the primary shell of the hull, with the Nomex core. The yacht was built with materials - prepreg and vacuum-encapsulated laminate. Carbon is used in main structural components, such as plate chains and other areas with high loads. The interior of the yacht also should be highlighted, as the owner invited the talented Russian professional designer Stas Tratsevskii. During winter 2016 the yacht passed intensive preparation for races, including the mast configuration and rigging setup, optimization of sail control process, making new sails chart, etc.

The yacht perfect in operation of sails and have stable heading for any wind. Very easily goes to hydroplaning after 10 knots. On reaching at 25-27 knots boat picks up speed of 20-22. As a summary of all mentioned above, the 65-foot sailing yacht BOTIN 65 is a truly unique symbiosis of 100% racing yacht with a functional, yet stylishly designed interior that can confidently claim to be a new standard in the world of race-cruisers in the range of 60- 70 feet. 

Currently crossing the Atlantic, she will be available for viewings in the Caribbean. She will then sail back to the Mediterreanean.

Please visit HIGH SPIRIT 's page should you wish to know more about this High-Tech racing yacht.

To find out more about BGYB's racing yachts for sale, please go to the dedicated page here : Racing Yachts For Sale .

Should you wish to see more BGYB news, get on Current News 's page.

Published : 26 February 2021

[UPDATE : HIGH SPIRIT IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR SALE] 

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