rio 100 yacht

Get the latest race yacht updates from us

Thanks for subscribing!

Brokers comment

Rio 100 An iconic race yacht in the 100ft Super Maxi class designed by Brett Bakewell White. Launched as Lahana out of the Hakes Marine in New Zealand. Rio 100 has a long race history and track record under her current ownership and in the past as former Zana and Konica Minolta. In 2014, under her new ownership, Rio 100 went through an extensive refit to essentially rebuild her at Cookson Boats in New Zealand. The rebuild involved a new hull aft of the rig, new rudders, and a new lifting keel to allow access to smaller marinas. Various other upgrades were done to the interior with the major upgrades being a new electronics package and a new engine. The total upgrades to Rio were in the region of USD 250 000. Rio 100 emerged a new modern Race Yacht but still retained the essence of offshore racing by maintaining the use of manual power and not opting for the full hydraulic winch systems of the newer Maxis. Rio 100 has had some great success after relaunching: 2014 • Yates Cup Line Honours • Sydney to Hobart 4th finisher 2015 • Carbo Race Line Honours • Transpac Barn Door trophy (Line Honours) 2016 • PV Race Line Honours and Course Record • Pacific Cup Line Honours and Course Record 2017 • Transpac Barn Door trophy (Line Honours) 2019 • Transpac The Merlin trophy (Manually powered line honours) Please contact Performance Yacht Brokerage for more information about this fantastic opportunity to race at the front of the fleet. Download the brochure for a further detail about Rio 100.

For further details about the yacht and her inventory, please contact Performance Yacht Brokerage or alternatively download the brochure. Performance Yacht Brokerage offers the details of this yacht in good faith and the details are intended to give a fair description of the vessel, but their accuracy cannot be guaranteed, and they do not constitute part of any contract. Performance Yacht Brokerage strongly advises an interest buyer to check the particulars of the vessel and to have the vessel surveyed by a qualified marine surveyor. The vessel is offered subject to a prior sale being concluded or negotiated and subject to a price change or the vessel being withdrawn without notice. Performance Yacht Brokerage is not the primary listing agent for this vessel, but should you wish for Performance Yacht Brokerage to represent you in further enquiries about this vessel and or in negotiations for the purchase of this vessel in capacity as a buyers broker, then please contact us.

Hakes Marine

100ft supermaxi, brett bakewell-white, displacement, california, usa, pyb - reference.

Featured yachts

2015 Ker 56 Varuna VI. Arguably the best offshore canting keel boat on the market.

Ker Yacht Design

€ 1,490,000

Ker 56 Custom

2008 Reichel/Pugh designed Money Penny is available for a new owner to continue her winning ways.

Reichel/Pugh

MONEY PENNY

RP 69 Custom

• Frank Magazine
• Denison History
• Virtual Tours
• Alaskan Yachts
• Azimut Yachts
• Back Cove Yachts
• Beneteau Yachts
• Benetti Superyachts
• Bertram Yachts
• Boston Whaler
• Broward Yachts
• Buddy Davis Sportfish
• Burger Yachts
• Cabo Yachts
• Carver Motoryachts
• Center Console
• Chris-Craft Yachts
• Cruisers Yachts
• DeFever Trawlers
• Dufour Sailboats
• Fairline Yachts
• Feadship Yachts
• Ferretti Yachts
• Formula Yachts
• Fountaine Pajot Cats
• Grady-White
• Grand Banks Trawlers
• Hargrave Yachts
• Hatteras Yachts
• Hinckley Picnic Boats
• Horizon Yachts
• Hydra-Sports
• Intrepid Boats
• Jarrett Bay Sportfish
• Jeanneau Yachts
• Kadey-Krogen Trawlers
• Lazzara Yachts
• Luhrs Sportfish
• Marlow Yachts
• Maritimo Yachts
• Marquis Yachts
• McKinna Motoryachts
• Meridian Yachts
• Midnight Express
• Mochi Craft
• Neptunus Motoryachts
• Nordhavn Trawlers
• Nordic Tugs
• Ocean Alexander Yachts
• Offshore Yachts
• Oyster Sailing Yachts
• Pacific Mariner Yachts
• Palmer Johnson Yachts
• Pershing Yachts
• Prestige Yachts
• Princess Yachts
• Pursuit Yachts
• Riva Yachts
• Riviera Yachts
• Sabre Downeast
• San Lorenzo Yachts
• Sea Ray Boats
• SeaVee Central Consoles
• Selene Trawlers
• Scout Yachts
• Sunseeker Yachts
• Tiara Yachts
• Trinity Superyachts
• Viking Yachts
• Westport Yachts

RIO 100 Yacht for Sale

100' bakewell-white | 2003 | $599,000.

• Yachts for sale
• bakewell-white

Last updated Dec 20, 2023

Rio 100 Boat | 100' Bakewell-white 2003

Reduced price

*New rudders 2018

*New electronics 2019

*New deck and cockpit paint 2019

*New electrical systems, refrigeration units 2019

*Two new 12 man life rafts 2019

*Serviced and replaced hydraulic lines and reservoirs 2019

*Serviced and replaced mast cars 2019

*New Doyle J-0 2019

*New Doyle J-5 2019

This is a great example of how RIO 100 is continually kept in amazing condition.

Success Highlights

• San Diego to Puerto Vallarata Race 2018 Line Honours• Transpac 2017 Barn Door winner (fastest elapsed time)• Pacific Cup 2016 Race record• SoCal 300 2016 Line Honours• Puerto Vallarta Race 2016-line honours and race record• Transpac 2015 Barn Door winner• SoCal 300 2015 Line Honours• Newport to Cabo 2015 Line Honours• Rolex Sydney to Hobart 2014 4th Line Honours• Yates Cup 2014 Line Honours

Originally launched in 2003 as the 98-foot maxi "Lahana", then in 2014 she was dramatically modified by Brett Bakewell-White. He modernised the design of the boat whereby the Aft half of the boat which contained the water ballasts was completely removed along with keel, boom, bowsprit, wheels, rudders, engine and all the interiors.

The yacht’s water ballast was removed by cutting off the back 50-foot section and a new wider, longer stern has made it six to seven tons lighter than it was as Lahana. She also sports a new, longer boom, a new longer bowsprit and the helm stations have been pushed further aft.

A new wider and longer back half was designed and built along with new decking. New longer bowsprit and longer boom were built, new wheel and twin rudder systems were installed along with a new lifting keel and bulb, a new engine was also installed along with a new lifting prop.

The completely new interiors allow for a much easier and more ergonomic movement of crew and materials. The new electrical and power systems along with updated and modernized electronics and hydraulics of the boat make them lighter, more automated and more accurate and efficient for use. All paint and fillings from the exteriors, interiors and decks were removed and new lighter and more durable materials were applied along with a stunning new paint by the team of One10 of Gulf Harbour in NZ.

The design team at Bakewell-White and structural engineers, along with Cookson’s yachts, did a great job of designing and building a boat that is lighter, faster, longer and more balanced than its previous version. To enhance the performance of the boat, Richard Bouzaid and Mike Sanderson were engaged and a new suite of sails were designed and built for the boat by Doyle Sails of New Zealand.

Not having a canting keel or water ballasts along with its all man powered winches make Rio 100 the only 100′ boat in the world to qualify for the prestigious Barn Door trophy of Transpac. In its first race in Yates Cup in NZ in which the boat received line honours, the boat performed extremely well as a downwind flyer. She is also sporting a new silver/grey paint job, magnifying an undeniably sleek appearance.

• Designer:Bakewell-White Yacht design• Model: Custom 100• Year: 2003 with major redesign 2014• Displacement: 24,927kg• LOA 100ft/30m• Beam 6.03m• Draft 4.24m to 5.80m• Hull Carbon Fibre• Deck Carbon Fibre• Keel Lifting fin• Rig Southern Spars Carbon• Engine Yanmar 125hp new 2014 lifting propeller

ConstructionHULL:Construction: Unidirectional Carbon and S-glass/PVC foam core/AME 4000 Modified Epoxy resin.Frames: S-glass/PVC foam/Epoxy vacuum bagged.Main Bulkheads: Marine grade Plywood encased in E-glass.Structural Bulkheads: E-Glass faces/Foam core/ Carbon capping.Interior Finish: Matterhorn White LP.Exterior Finish: Flag Blue LP w/ custom highlights & graphics.

DECK:Construction: Unidirectional Carbon & S-glass/PVC foam core/Epoxy resin.Interior Finish: Matterhorn White LP.Exterior Finish: Snow White LP smooth areas w/ Matterhorn White LP contrasting non-skid surface.

BULKHEADS & PANELSJoiner Bulkheads are E-glass/Foam composite.Cubbies/bins and countertops are E-glass/Foam composite.Cabin Sole is Composite Panels w/ Teak & Holly Veneer.

KEEL AND RUDDERKeel Fin: Bronze Fin fabricated by Industrias Duro.Keel Bulbs: Lead Bulbs fabricated by Industrias Duro (Transpac & IRC) .Spade Rudder: Carbon Fibre rudder shaft and blade fabricated by Advanced Composites Concepts.

Spars & Rigging

Air draught: 38.00m

MAST:Southern Spars Pre-preg carbon fibre laminate with harken track and 5 garages for reefs, five sets of tapered carbon air foil section spreaders.Carbon masthead with attachments for backstays and 2:1 main halyard.Two Spinnaker halyards with chafe guards and rollers (port and stb) w/ deck controlled locks.Two Genoa halyards with chafe guard w/deck controlled locks.Fractional halyard w/chafe guards and deck controlled lock.J5/GS halyard with deck controlled lock.Halyard exits to suit deck layout.Check stay deflector system exiting below deck to hydraulic ram.Cunningham lead thru gooseneck boom ferrule exiting below deck to hydraulic ram.Lightweight boom vang and gooseneck attachments.Mast step slider plate to suit mast heel and boat.Mast heel with 2.5m radius to suit hydraulic jack system and WS Special Regs.Instrument bracket, masthead VHF, instruments and cables fitted. Internal cables enclosed in protective braided sock.Clear Awl grip finish with contrasting bands at “P” and “E” limits.New mainsail cars 2018

BOOM: Hall Pre-preg carbon section.Outhaul control by hydraulic cylinder in boom.Sheaves for outhaul & three reefs with two stoppers at forward end of boom.Mainsheet attachment strap.Clear Awl grip finish with contrasting bands at “P” and “E” limits.

STANDING RIGGING: V1 C6 (2)D1 C6 (2)D2 C6 (2)D3 C6 (2)D4 C6 (2)D5 C6 (2)Cathedral C6 (2)Headstay C6 (1)Check stay T Aramid (2)Running Backstay T Aramid (2)Backstay Aramid (2)

HALYARDS: (All halyard and reefing control lines lead aft to pit)Main halyard 12mm Dynema Spinnaker halyards 14mm Dynema Jib Halyard One (1) topping lift/staysail halyard 10mm Dynema Reef Line 14mm Spectra

RUNNING RIGGING:Jib sheets with eye splice for T clew Spinnaker Sheets Misc. sheets

SPARES:Halyards Spinnaker Halyards

Sail InventoryRACING INVENTORY:Sail 2 reef Mainsail Doyle 2014

J0 new being built 2018 J1AP Doyle 2014J4 Doyle 2014J5/GS Doyle 2014J5 New being built

Drifter Doyle 2014FR0 Doyle 2014R-1 Evolution 2011R-2 Doyle 2014R-3

A2 Doyle 2014A3 North 2016A4 Doyle 2014A4B Doyle 2015R6 Doyle 2013 A6 North 2012

SS Doyle 2017Storm Jib Doyle 2014

HardwareHYDRAULICS: All Cariboni5 Function Cariboni Panel in forward face of mainsheet pod 5 Function Cariboni panel port and starboard trim area Outhaul cylinder in boom Vang Jib tack Jib clew up/down J5/GS tack Mid prod tack Cunningham Check stay Backstay Cariboni rotary pump w/overdrive All hydraulics can be operated by the power pack, hand pump and rotary pump.

WINCHES: (New drums on most winches 2108)Primary winchesMainsheet winchUtility/Halyard winch6-man overdrive box, 1:2 Runner winches -port counter rotating

Halyard winches990 STAE 3 speed, self-tailing, carbon top jaw, solid housing, electric B990 control box BRS104P Switch HCP Circuit breaker Traveller winches

Pedestal system (all Harken)Pedestal 2 Carbon below deck, 2 disconnects Pedestal 1 Carbon below deck, 1 disconnect Pedestal 0 carbon below deck, 0 disconnects

601 Bevel 6 man bevel box 601T/vertical disconnect 6-man T-box w/vertical disconnect-mainsheet Carbon vertical support system 839406 xbox 600 X/3 disconnect 6 man X-box w/3 disconnects to runner pedestal Carbon drive shaft w/coupler Carbon drive shaft w/u joints 842260 Disconnect buttons 842349 Remote disconnect buttons 431835 Tensioner for remote button 43185 Pre-selector for overdrive

DECK GEARHARDWARE & FITTINGS:Transverse adjustable harken Roller Bearing athwartship jib tracks Harken Halyard Stand-up Blocks Spinlock Pit Jammers Lewmar aft hatch Harken roller bearing main traveller Harken Running Backstay flying blocks Harken Running Backstay deck blocks Harken Spinnaker Blocks Lewmar opening cockpit port lights

NAVIGATION:Leica MX420 Navigation System B&G ZEUS Touch GPS Deckman Tactical software Suunto Compass pedestal mounted

COMMUNICATION:ICOM VHF Marine Radio ICOM SSB Iridium GO Pepwav modem and Yacht router Standard Horizon VLH-3000 Loud Hailer with a speaker on each steering ped

SAILING INSTRUMENTS:B&G Hercules 3000 system w/ processor & software upgrade B&G SensorsLoad cell Wind Boat speed Depth Fluxgate Compass Barometric pressure HeelBrooks & Gatehouse Displays Full Function Display (FFD) Wind 20/20 40/40 mast displays in Carbon pod Hydra FFD display on each binnacle

INTERIOR ACCOMMODATIONS

HEAD: (Centreline)Enclosed Compartment with separate Shower stallSink w/ Vanity

SHEET STOWAGE & HANGING LOCKER: (Port and Stb side forward of mast)Sheet Stowage BarFoul Weather gear bars P&S between Main Bulkheads

SALOON:Settee to Port & Pilot Berth Outboard

GALLEY: (Starboard Side)Carbon deep sinkGimbaled stainless steel, LPG Force 10 stove with (3) burners & Oven (New 2014)Refer/ Freezer / Food Lockers outboard

NAVIGATION STATION: (Centreline)Bench style station w/ aft seat access to Nav. TableInstruments & Breaker panel along hullStowage beneath and outboard of seats

AFT: (Port & Starboard Side)Pipe Berths with lift tackles (Upper & Lower)

INTERIOR FINISH:Flat surfaces Painted Matterhorn White and Black LPClear coat carbon counter tops

FIRE PROTECTION:Hand held type B-1 USCG approved fire extinguishers

STEERING:Custom McConaghy twin wheel installation Offshore pedestals with compass P&S Offshore type with double cables Carbon steering arms and tillers Harken alloy track and car steering system

ELECTRICAL & PLUMBING SYSTEM

ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS: 24 Volt Mastervolt Li-ion MLi Ultra 24/5000 12 volt DC 85 amp engine start battery LED Chart table light LED red and white lighting throughoutLED floor lightingEngine Battery Switch House Battery Switch Parallel Battery Switch DC Circuit Breaker Panel 12-volt DC cigarette lighters Mastervolt Chargemaster 24/60-3 Battery Charger Mastervolt 24 volt to 220-volt inverter Mastervolt C-zone Digital control and monitoring system 220 volt power outlet in galley

NAVIGATION LIGHTS:Carbon Lopolight LED Masthead Tri-colour/Anchor light Hella LED Stern light

FRESH WATER SYSTEM: 24 volt DC pressure water Cold water spigot @ Galley sink Cold water spigot @ Head sink Hot water spigot @ Head shower Hot water spigot @ Galley Hot water spigot @ shower 40 gallon polyethylene water tanks 2 port, 2 starboard 40 liter hot water heater Spectra Capehorn Water maker

SEAWATER SYSTEM:Hand Pump w/ filter (Galley sink)

Carbon Galley sink 

Carbon Head sink

BILGE PUMPS:Manual Whale Gusher pump (cockpit) Manual Whale/Gusher pump (below decks)

MISCELLANEOUS:JVC KD-X310BT Stereo System Stereo Speakers (deck) Stereo Speakers (salon) Spare Wind Instrument wand & cable Spare Boat speed Transducer

LIFELINES & PULPITS:

Double lifelines w/ Stainless Steel stanchions Stainless Steel double rail, welded, bow pulpit Stainless Steel double rail, welded, stern rail

Not for sale in California with this Broker

Denison Yachting is pleased to assist you in the purchase of this vessel. This boat is centrally listed by Race Yachts.

Denison Yacht Sales offers the details of this yacht in good faith but can’t guarantee the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of this boat for sale. This yacht for sale is offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal from that yacht market without notice. She is offered as a convenience by this yacht broker to its clients and is not intended to convey direct representation of a specific yacht for sale.

INQUIRE ABOUT RIO 100

Have questions about this yacht? Fill out the form below and our team of experts will contact you soon.

Your privacy is important to us. Find out how we protect it. Privacy Policy

First-Time Yacht Buyer?

Read our guide to learn the process for buying RIO 100

Rio 100 HIGHLIGHTS

• Yacht Details: 100' Bakewell-white 2003
• Location: mexico, Mexico
• Last Updated: Dec 20, 2023
• Asking Price: $599,000
• Max Draft: 18' 10''

Rio 100 additional information

• Beam: 19' 9''
• Hull Material: Composite

Schedule a Tour of RIO 100

Contact our team to schedule a private showing.

SIMILAR YACHTS FOR SALE View All

Condor de vilamoura, 114' schooner 1987, praia do carvoeiro, algarve, portugal, 104' custom 2001, genova, liguria, it-ge, italy, 102' gulet 1992, contact hindeloopen, netherlands, 100' bakewell-white 2003, mexico, mexico, 100' custom 1996, marina del rey, ca, us, 100' custom 2014, 95' custom 2003, muğla, turkey, other bakewell-white yachts for sale view all, price watch.

Love this yacht? Get notified on price reductions and other related updates.

Our Newsletter

Stay informed on all things yachting, including notable sales, industry updates, events, and boating tips with our newsletters.

sailboats News

Read the latest sailboats news and stay up to date on related events.

RELATED SERVICES

LOGIN OR REGISTER

Hi, welcome back.

Login and pick up from where you left off.

Creating an account allows you to save and compare your favorite yachts.

By creating an account you agree to the terms of use and our privacy policy.

• BOAT OF THE YEAR
• Newsletters
• Sailboat Reviews
• Boating Safety
• Sailing Totem
• Charter Resources
• Destinations
• Galley Recipes
• Living Aboard
• Sails and Rigging
• Maintenance
• Best Marine Electronics & Technology

A Delivery Aboard Rio 100

• By Ronnie Simpson
• Updated: March 10, 2021

It was 0300, and I was on the helm of one of the fastest monohull racing yachts on Earth; the Bakewell-White-designed supermaxi racing yacht Rio 100. With a reef in the main, a small jib set and a large reaching gennaker unfurled, we were romping along at sustained speeds in the high teens with bursts well into the 20s. I was decked out in the latest, greatest foul-weather gear from Musto and “talking story” with a Volvo Ocean Race veteran serving as my watch captain. Pinching myself to be in this place in time, we were fully sending it across the Pacific on what was quite easily the fastest boat I’ve ever sailed on a long bluewater passage.

A multimillion-dollar, all-carbon-fiber racing yacht that has set numerous course records on the West Coast and from there to Hawaii, Rio wasn’t exactly the waterborne equivalent to a Formula One car, but she was damn close. She might not have been the lightest, nimblest, highest-tech machine on the water, but when allowed to stretch her legs for more than your typical grand prix race, she was tough to beat. A race-car analogy? How about a 1,000-horsepower, top-tier 24 Hours of Le Mans racer. That sounds right.

Taking advantage of Rio’s generous 100 feet of water-line, we were knocking out the miles en masse on our approach to California. After racing to Hawaii in the Transpac the previous summer, then stuck there for repairs, eight other souls and I were now sailing Rio home to Cali in the dead of winter so she’d be ready for upcoming regattas.

Delayed by a full day or more in the Pacific High, drifting in circles, to allow a weather system to pass in front of us, we’d then been gifted an open 1,300-nautical-mile runway to the coast in picture-perfect conditions (a distance that we would ultimately knock out in less than four days). Rio was fully coming to life, reveling in the reaching conditions and mellow following seas created by the 10 to 20 knots of northwesterly pressure that was propelling us onward. At those angles, Rio slid along quicker than the wind speed, oftentimes cruising at 15 knots in 12 knots of breeze and closer to 20 knots of boatspeed in 15 knots of pressure.

With a massive bulb keel that draws more than 21 feet when fully down, and twin rudders, the boat felt incredibly stable and very much in control when driving her in these conditions. When one got rocked up on a wave or gust, or in a puff/ wave combo, the boat heeled predictably and gave the helmsman plenty of warning before wanting to round up. When that inevitable force did come, however, a quick press of the helm to leeward was met with an instant reaction from the boat, which responded just as the helmsman intended, and oftentimes with a long, rewarding surfing run and a sharp acceleration in speed. It wasn’t the small, quick bursts of speed that a lightweight dinghy or skiff delivers, but rather the long, pronounced surfs of a massive racing yacht powering its way forward, propelled by impressive amounts of sail area and inertia.

Sailing Rio was an educational experience. I’m a pretty experienced big-boat sailor, but there are several systems and design characteristics on this behemoth that I had never seen before yet would come to understand and love by the end of the trip. One of the chief joys of sailing well-sorted racing yachts is seeing how talented boat captains and professional sailors have chosen to tackle certain problems or set up various systems.

For example, headsails are hoisted up all the way until they are resting on a halyard lock. Once the sail is on lock, a 2-to-1 hydraulic tack line pulls down on the tack until the desired “halyard tension” is achieved. The twin-wheel, dual-rudder steering system is a magnificent array of foils, steering wheels, Spectra cables and sheaves and, finally, carbon-fiber tie rods and track-and-car assemblies in the hull.

At first glance everything seemed complex, but once broken down bit by bit, there’s a theme of simple, robust, effective systems in place throughout the yacht. While some of them are indisputably complicated (and no boat is ever perfect), I’ve been on boats about half the size of Rio that were at times more frustrating and laborious to sail and maneuver. With the larger headsails hanked onto the forestay (I’ve never been a huge fan of head foils) and the smaller ones on furlers, keeping Rio in phase with the conditions was a fun and relatively straightforward process, even with a somewhat shorthanded crew.

Much of the credit for the relatively smooth sailing was boat captain and skipper Keith Kilpatrick, another Volvo Ocean Race veteran who has “been there and done that” everywhere in the world of yacht racing. Intimately familiar with Rio and her systems, Kilpatrick had assembled a group of old-school sailing pros, friends and crewmates who he’s known for decades, and thrown in a few talented “young guns” who were experienced, up to the challenge and keen to knock out some miles. Needless to say, I was beyond stoked to have earned a spot in “Kilpatrick’s Navy” for a couple of weeks. The sailing was fast, the food tasty, and while we were all focused on the job at hand, the vibe on board was decidedly relaxed and fun.

A little history: When computer-technology magnate and passionate racing sailor Manouch Moshayedi, Rio’s owner, set out to win the coveted Transpac “Barn Door” trophy for first-to-finish-line honors in 2015, he knew he needed a unique yacht. At the time, the Barn Door rules required a monohull to have human-powered winches and hydraulics, and conventional ballast (i.e., a fixed keel and no water ballast), so he couldn’t merely show up with any of the mammoth supermaxis such as those that competed in races like the classic Sydney-Hobart, many of which had canting keels and water ballast, and powered winches. (The Transpac rules have since been relaxed to allow canting keels.)

So when Moshayedi put the program together, he looked to purchase or build a fixed-keel supermaxi with no water ballast and all human-powered winches and hydraulics. After consulting with many top international sailors, the decision was made to buy the 98-foot Lahana and have the Kiwi design consortium of Bakewell-White redesign the boat for a full transformation, which would take place at the Cookson yard in New Zealand.

The old water ballast was removed by cutting off the back half of the hull, which was replaced by a new, wider stern section that now sported the twin rudders. With the loss of the water ballast, the designers would need to rely on enhanced hull-form stability to keep Rio on her toes in fast power-reaching and running conditions.

She was further turbocharged by adding a longer boom and longer bowsprit to facilitate a larger mainsail and bigger spinnakers. With the input from two-time Volvo winner and three-time America’s Cup vet Mike Sanderson of Doyle Sails New Zealand, the boat underwent an extensive sail program that would ultimately reap huge performance gains on the water. Combine the added horsepower and righting moment with a weight savings of somewhere between 6 and 7 tons, and the Rio 100 that emerged from the shed was an entirely different beast than the old Lahana that had entered it.

On the water, the boat immediately proved her merit in hard offshore racing in New Zealand and Australia. After her training and adventures Down Under had concluded, Rio 100 was shipped to California, where she began an ambitious few years of Pacific Ocean campaigning.

In her first two Transpac races, in 2015 and 2017, Rio indeed claimed the Barn Door Trophy, though she failed to come up with the type of performance that would make the boat truly legendary. Rio 100′s crew saved that performance for the 2016 Pacific Cup race. In a record-setting El Niño-affected summer, the North Pacific was bursting with hurricane and cyclonic activity for the duration of the season. It was a navigator’s nightmare, in which many of the competitors (including this writer, aboard a Swan 42) finished in the middle of named tropical storms that were uncharacteristically battering the island of Oahu.

As well as the storms, the race was epic because of a nuking breeze almost all the way across the course, with a large broad-reaching racetrack that was set forth before Rio and the fleet. Maintaining a starboard jibe almost the whole way, Rio’s crew set their reaching spinnaker and smashed their way to Hawaii, knocking some two hours off the already impressive course record set by the 40-foot-longer Mari Cha IV in 2004. Finishing the 2,070-nautical-mile race in just 5 days, 3 hours, 41 minutes, Rio 100 claimed an outright course record in the “other” big Hawaii race.

I got my invite to do the Rio delivery in the midst of my studies at Hawaii Pacific University. Of course, there was no way I could take time off to cross the Pacific in the middle of a semester. Or could I? After all, it was a supermaxi. I immediately realized that if I let the opportunity pass, I’d regret it forever. I said yes, informed my professors I was leaving for a bit, and packed my sea bag. In hindsight, it was the best decision I’d made all semester. I blame it all on Rio.

After a false start in which our crew collectively realized that the old laminate racing mainsail provided to us was doomed to failure, we reappropriated it to the nearest dumpster and had the current racing mainsail shipped in. From the moment we started our second attempt at the delivery, things could not have gone better. The night before leaving, we departed Honolulu’s Ala Wai harbor on a high tide to bend the mainsail on and attach it to the many luff cars that slide up and down the mast—not a simple task on a 100-footer. With another crewmate, I was hoisted about 15 feet above deck to hook up the massive sail’s square-top section with its huge gaff batten and two headboard cars; soon enough, we were joined by two humpback whales. In the thick of their annual winter stopover in the islands, the pair of whales swam alongside and seemed to watch over us and wish us a safe passage from Hawaii. Fifteen feet up the mast, on a calm full-moon night in the tropics, with whales alongside, I had the first of many magical “pinch myself” moments of the trip.

We left Honolulu the following day. In contrast to the normal pounding that one takes when close-reaching north away from the islands, we were granted a very gentle escape. With easy conditions that allowed us all to gain our sea legs before the rough stuff, we saw the gentle trades gradually replaced by reinforced winds that would carry us north. Day after day, the breeze continued blowing as Rio knocked off miles under heavily reduced sail. Even throttled all the way back in an effort not to damage the boat, we still managed double-digit speeds most of the way, while attempting not to slam the boat too hard. With an extra-long flat-bottomed vessel, there is an unusual—and somewhat disconcerting at first—sensation each time the boat slams hard upwind. As skipper Kilpatrick described it, “We’re effectively on a 100-foot-long teeter-totter.” When driving, you’re standing some 40 or 50 feet behind the keel—and the origin of the reverberating motion—and can literally feel the boat moving up and down in a fashion unfamiliar to anyone who hasn’t sailed a boat of this length.

As the breeze finally abated and we entered the Pacific High, we were able to shed a couple of layers for the first time in days. Advised by the weather routers to stall in the high for a day or more to avoid 40 knots of breeze along the coast, we effectively shut down everything and commenced our halfway party. A few repairs here, a beer or two there and a live ukulele concert by one of the crew was the perfect way to break up a wintertime delivery across the Pacific.

Back into the breeze we eventually went. On our four-day-long glory run back to the California coast, we began knocking out miles toward the mark in wholesale fashion, three-sail reaching toward the coast. Flying toward Cali with plenty of fuel left on board, we sailed ourselves out of the breeze about 100 miles off the coast and motored toward our eventual destination of San Diego, arriving at Driscoll’s Boat Works in Mission Bay in the dark of night. On a crisp, clear winter evening, we tied up Rio, stepped off, and reveled in that special moment that comes with the conclusion of any big adventure or ocean crossing. We had made it.

The dash across the Pacific was likely the only time I’ll ever sail the boat, and it was an experience that I will cherish forever. Soon enough, I was back in class. Daydreaming of Rio.

Ronnie Simpson, his studies concluded, is currently based in Fiji, having recently returned from—what else?—a delivery to Hawaii. A contributing editor to Cruising World, he’s used his college degree wisely, carving out a career sailing, writing and doing media work for major yacht races.

• More: How To , offshore , print 2021 jan , voyaging
• More How To

3 Clutch Sails For Peak Performance

It’s Time to Rethink Your Ditch Kit

8 Ways to Prevent Seasickness

How To De-Winterize Your Diesel Engine

Kirsten Neuschäfer Receives CCA Blue Water Medal

2024 Regata del Sol al Sol Registration Closing Soon

US Sailing Honors Bob Johnstone

Bitter End Expands Watersports Program

• Digital Edition
• Customer Service
• Privacy Policy
• Email Newsletters
• Cruising World
• Sailing World
• Salt Water Sportsman
• Sport Fishing
• Wakeboarding

• CLASSIFIEDS
• NEWSLETTERS
• SUBMIT NEWS

RIO100 wins Merlin Trophy in Transpac 50

Related Articles

Upcoming Events

• CLASSIFIEDS
• NEWSLETTERS
• SUBMIT NEWS

Dreaming of the big league? Super Maxi Transpac champ Rio 100 is for sale and charged to go

Related Articles

Bakewell-White 100

Used yachts for sale, sail monohulls 50ft >,        bakewell-white boats for sale.

Published on March 18th, 2021 | by Editor

A Delivery Aboard Rio 100

Published on March 18th, 2021 by Editor -->

How do you get offshore experience when you can’t get a crew invite for a race? Seeking out boats that need a delivery crew provides a chance to gain skill without the pressure of competition. Who knows… you might even get a once-in-a-lifetime offshore delivery aboard a supermaxi racing yacht.

Here’s a report by Ronnie Simpson for Cruising World:

It was 0300, and I was on the helm of one of the fastest monohull racing yachts on Earth; the Bakewell-White-designed supermaxi racing yacht Rio 100. With a reef in the main, a small jib set and a large reaching gennaker unfurled, we were romping along at sustained speeds in the high teens with bursts well into the 20s. I was decked out in the latest, greatest foul-weather gear from Musto and “talking story” with a Volvo Ocean Race veteran serving as my watch captain. Pinching myself to be in this place in time, we were fully sending it across the Pacific on what was quite easily the fastest boat I’ve ever sailed on a long bluewater passage.

A multimillion-dollar, all-carbon-fiber racing yacht that has set numerous course records on the West Coast and from there to Hawaii, Rio wasn’t exactly the waterborne equivalent to a Formula One car, but she was damn close. She might not have been the lightest, nimblest, highest-tech machine on the water, but when allowed to stretch her legs for more than your typical grand prix race, she was tough to beat. A race-car analogy? How about a 1,000-horsepower, top-tier 24 Hours of Le Mans racer. That sounds right.

Taking advantage of Rio’s generous 100 feet of water-line, we were knocking out the miles en masse on our approach to California. After racing to Hawaii in the Transpac the previous summer, then stuck there for repairs, eight other souls and I were now sailing Rio home to Cali in the dead of winter so she’d be ready for upcoming regattas. – Full report

Editor’s note : Rio 100 will have 17 crew when it crosses the start line for the 800nm Cabo Race on March 20.

Tags: Cruising World , Rio 100 , Ronnie Simpson

Related Posts

Sailing Movies: we keep coming back →

Tough reality of ocean sailing →

Simpson rescued in South Atlantic →

Offshore season begins with Islands Race →

© 2024 Scuttlebutt Sailing News. Inbox Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. made by VSSL Agency .

• Privacy Statement
• Advertise With Us

Get Your Sailing News Fix!

Your download by email.

• Your Name...
• Your Email... *
• Comments This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Rio-100-finished-first-of-the-non-powered-monohulls

Transpac 50: Rio 100 wins Merlin Trophy

With a finish time of 19:34:25 HST today, Manouch Moshayedi's Bakewell-White 100, Rio 100, has become the fastest monohull without powered performance systems to finish the 50th edition of the biennial 2225-mile LA-Honolulu Transpacific Yacht Race.

In doing so, Rio 100 she has won the Merlin Trophy, which this year was re-defined from its original criteria of being awarded to the fastest monohull of any configuration in the race.

Rio 100 is the first boat in the history of Transpac to have won both the Merlin and Barn Door Trophies. Asked how he felt about this, Moshayedi said “It feels fantastic, I'm going to go down the list of trophies, one by one.”

Two years ago when Rio won the Barn Door Trophy, she was not at full speed for the latter portion of the race, having hit debris that broke one of her two rudders. Quick work by the crew and the hole in the hull at the rudder bearing was patched, with the team sailing on for an elapsed time win.

This time the only debris hit was a long hawse line from a fishing boat that the crew believe slowed them “for about one and a half – two hours,” Moshayedi said, while they removed it from the keel. All in all, he felt this was a “cleaner” race. Their elapsed time of 6 days 9 hours 8 minutes 26 seconds is the fastest yet for a non-canting Monohull.

Dobbs Davis/Transpac media

ALSO ON MYSAILING

OGR – Winners and Losers on Leg 4

GSC – Andrea Mura reclaims joy on podium

Final Club Championship results at Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club

Race is on to win 2024 Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race

Outteridge takes the wheel as Schneiter steps back for remainder of Season 4

Windcraft presents award-winning sail and power line-up at 2024 Auckland Boat Show

Step into the World of Exploration Boating with the RAND Roamer 29

Tasmanian Sailing – Weekend Wrap

12ft Skiff – Father and son finish top two in NSW Sprint Championship

BYS Women’s Sportsboat Regatta – Day 2

Matador charges to win first Act of TP52 Gold Cup

18ft Skiffs – Queen of the Harbour 2024

Join Our Newsletter

• Name First Last
• Email This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Read all of the latest sailing news

Dinghy and Yacht Racing News

News from the offshore world

Cruising Stories from around the world

Boats & Gear

The latest boats and yachting gear

Watch everything sailing and boating

Latest Sailing News, Racing, Cruising, Boats, Gear and more

Please use a modern browser to view this website. Some elements might not work as expected when using Internet Explorer.

• Landing Page
• Luxury Yacht Vacation Types
• Corporate Yacht Charter
• Tailor Made Vacations
• Luxury Exploration Vacations
• View All 3568
• Motor Yachts
• Sailing Yachts
• Classic Yachts
• Catamaran Yachts
• Filter By Destination
• More Filters
• Latest Reviews
• Charter Special Offers
• Destination Guides
• Inspiration & Features
• Mediterranean Charter Yachts
• France Charter Yachts
• Italy Charter Yachts
• Croatia Charter Yachts
• Greece Charter Yachts
• Turkey Charter Yachts
• Bahamas Charter Yachts
• Caribbean Charter Yachts
• Australia Charter Yachts
• Thailand Charter Yachts
• Dubai Charter Yachts
• Destination News
• New To Fleet
• Charter Fleet Updates
• Special Offers
• Industry News
• Yacht Shows
• Corporate Charter
• Finding a Yacht Broker
• Charter Preferences
• Questions & Answers
• Add my yacht

RIO 100 Interior & Exterior Photos

30.2m  /  99'1 | hakes marine | 2003.

• Amenities & Toys

NOTE to U.S. Customs & Border Protection

SIMILAR LUXURY YACHTS FOR CHARTER

Here are a selection of superyachts which are similar to Rio 100 yacht which are believed to be available for charter. To view all similar luxury charter yachts click on the button below.

30m | Southern Wind

from $55,000 p/week

31m | Compositeworks

from $60,000 p/week ♦︎

Amazon Solo

28m | Custom

POA ♦︎

Besame Mucho

30m | Pelitoglu Yachting

from $37,520 p/week

Bonaventura

29m | Custom

from $13,400 p/week

Carpe Diem I

30m | Etemoglu Boatyard

from $15,000 p/week ♦︎

from $30,000 p/week ♦︎

30m | Valena Yachting

from $27,000 p/week ♦︎

Dream Voyager

EYLUL DENIZ II

30m | East Yachting

from $19,000 p/week ♦︎

from $50,000 p/week ♦︎

As Featured In

The YachtCharterFleet Difference

YachtCharterFleet makes it easy to find the yacht charter vacation that is right for you. We combine thousands of yacht listings with local destination information, sample itineraries and experiences to deliver the world's most comprehensive yacht charter website.

San Francisco

• Like us on Facebook
• Follow us on Twitter
• Follow us on Instagram
• Find us on LinkedIn
• Add My Yacht
• Affiliates & Partners

Popular Destinations & Events

• St Tropez Yacht Charter
• Monaco Yacht Charter
• St Barts Yacht Charter
• Greece Yacht Charter
• Mykonos Yacht Charter
• Caribbean Yacht Charter

Featured Charter Yachts

• Maltese Falcon Yacht Charter
• Wheels Yacht Charter
• Victorious Yacht Charter
• Andrea Yacht Charter
• Titania Yacht Charter
• Ahpo Yacht Charter

Receive our latest offers, trends and stories direct to your inbox.

Please enter a valid e-mail.

Thanks for subscribing.

Search for Yachts, Destinations, Events, News... everything related to Luxury Yachts for Charter.

Yachts in your shortlist

Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2023

RIO 100, is an American entry known better to the Hobart race as Zana, Konica Minolta and Lahana. Built as a 98-footer named Zana for its New Zealand owner in 2003, RIO 100, according to new proprietor Manouch Moshayedi, has been extensively modified and lengthened to 100-feet. She is also sporting a new silver/grey paint job, magnifying an undeniably sleek appearance.

The yacht’s water ballast was removed by cutting off the back 50 foot section and a new wider, longer stern has made it six to seven tonnes lighter than it was as Lahana. It also sports a new, longer boom, a new longer bowsprit and the wheels have been pushed back. Some other modifications, undertaken by Cooksons in New Zealand and overseen by Moshayedi’s boat captain Keith Kilpatrick, include a lifting keel (14-19-feet) so it can be taken into western US marinas, and twin rudders. The refit took nine months with around 20 to 25 people working on it seven days a week.

Although his yacht has experienced the Rolex Sydney Hobart seven times under her various names and owners, it will be Moshayedi’s debut. The 2014 will the yacht’s last Rolex Sydney Hobart. Moshayedi, a computer technology magnate from the USA, will base his new acquisition at Newport Beach, California.

Competitor Details

• Line Honours

Full Standings available approximately three hours after the start.

OFFICIAL ROLEX SYDNEY HOBART MERCHANDISE

Shop the official clothing range of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in person at the Club in New South Head Road, Darling Point or online below.  

From casual to technical clothing, there is something for all occasions. Be quick as stock is limited!

30m IRC super maxi yacht RIO 100 to receive full set of Doyle Stratis ICE sails

• Inspiration

Related News

Popular news this week, popular news this month, latest news.

• Yacht Charter & Superyacht News >

Written by Zuzana Bednarova

Doyle Sails NZ is proud to announce that it will supply a full race inventory of its carbon ICE sails to the 30m IRC super maxi yacht Rio 100 , previously known as Zana, Konica Minolta and Lahana. Purchased in 2014 by owner Manouch Moshayedi, sailing yacht Rio 100 is currently going through refit work at Cooksons in New Zealand .

Rendering of the 30m superyacht Rio 100 - Image courtesy of Brett Bakewell-White

Superyacht Rio 100 has been redesigned and reconfigured by her Kiwi designer Brett Bakewell-White for use on the West Coast of the USA . With her impressive track record, the yacht will be one to watch once back on the race circuit.

Luxury yacht Rio 100 from above - Image courtesy of Brett Bakewell-White

Please contact CharterWorld - the luxury yacht charter specialist - for more on superyacht news item "30m IRC super maxi yacht RIO 100 to receive full set of Doyle Stratis ICE sails".

• Charity & Fund Raising
• CharterWorld News
• Classic Yachts
• Coronavirus
• Cruise Ship
• Ecological Yachts
• Expedition Yachts
• Expert Broker Advice
• Feature Superyachts
• Interior Design
• Legal & VAT Yacht Issues
• Luxury Catamarans
• Luxury Gulet
• Luxury Phinisi
• Luxury Trimarans
• Luxury Yacht Design
• Luxury Yachts
• Marinas & Harbours
• Marine Ecology
• Marine Electronics
• Marine Equipment
• Mega Yachts
• Modern Yachts
• Motor Yachts
• New Launch Yachts
• New To Charter
• Open Style Sports Yachts
• Private Jets
• Sailing Yachts
• Social Media
• Sports Yachts
• Superyacht Crew
• Superyacht Photographers
• Superyacht Products & Supplies
• Superyacht Refits
• Superyacht Reviews
• Superyachts
• Uncategorized
• Yacht Builders
• Yacht Charter
• Yacht Charter Destinations
• Yacht Charter Picks
• Yacht Charter Specials
• Yacht Delivered to Owner
• Yacht Designers
• Yacht Events & Boat Shows
• Yacht Fashion
• Yacht Industry News
• Yacht Photos
• Yacht Racing
• Yacht Racing & Regattas
• Yacht Safety Equipment
• Yacht Support Vessels
• Yacht Tenders
• Yacht Videos
• Yachting Associations
• Yachting Awards
• Yachting Business
• Yachts For Charter
• Yachts For Sale

Quick Enquiry

Superyacht news:.

Email Your Yachting News to: news @ charterworld.com

New Zealand

Australia & New Zealand

Doyle Stratis sails for growing number of superyachts

New 52m superyacht DONA FRANCISCA to feature full suit of Doyle Stratis sails

Majestic 33m Yachting Developments Superyacht Hull 1012 to Feature Sails by Doyle NZ

Sailing yacht TEMPUS FUGIT featuring full Doyle Stratis inventory

53m support yacht FIVE OCEANS launched by Damen Yachting

News from Feadship about superyachts PROJECT 712 and PROJECT 715

35m luxury yacht MINOR FAMILY AFFAIR offering a special discount

Stunning 70m superyacht ALFA welcoming charter guests for the first time

65m Feadship superyacht PROMISE.D delivered

Discover our Top 10 brand new yachts available for charter worldwide this year

Florida charter yacht REAL SUMMERTIME offering 10% discount

Discover summer in New England aboard a luxury charter yacht: Escape to this beautiful northeast corner of the USA

Looking ahead to the 2024 MYBA Charter Show in Genoa

Westport announce the first hull of their 36m W117 range is nearing completion

Last minute yacht charter deals in the Bahamas

49m sailing yacht ANIMA MARIS is offering discounted rates for the remaining summer weeks in Croatia

2024 Registration is Open!

April 23, 2022

2022 Race , Press Release

RIO100 Blows Away Previous N2E Record

ENSENADA, Mexico –  Rio100 , a custom Bakewell White and its crew, led by owner Manouch Moshayedi, has decimated the Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race’s elapsed time record for a monohull with an unofficial finish of 7 hours 02 minutes 17 seconds, a remarkable 2 hours 33 minutes and 17 seconds less than the previous record set by Steve Maheen’s R/P 63  Aszhous  in 2016.

The record also represents the first time a monohull has crossed the finish line here before sundown.

Not far aft in  Rio100’s  wake, the rest of the Maxi fleet; some also positioned to break the old record, battled for top-of-the-class honors.

According to the YB tracker, multiple-time N2E winner Bill Gibbs’  Wahoo  led the entire fleet down the coast until being passed by  Rio100  off San Diego - about the time its spinnaker blew out. They recovered and were south of the border before Ray Paul’s 65 Botin  Armetis  passed by. Still, the 45-foot Schionning was the first ORCA-class boat to arrive, setting a new personal-best finish for team  Wahoo . 

Friday morning winds that blew directly from the west at 18 to 20 knots off the Balboa Pier, represented one of the windiest and bounciest starts in recent memory.

Yet Moshayedi called the record-breaking conditions “Fantastic; a straight shot down the coast, a great experience.”

Included in the crew of 16 U.S. and New Zealand-based sailors were his son Sebastian and Peter Isler. The win gives Isler the exclusive distinction of being part of two record-holding crews. The multihull record set by the Mod70  Orion  in 2016, and now the monohull record set by  Rio100 .

By 1 a.m. about a dozen boats had crossed the finish line. Diminishing overnight winds between 4 - 8 knots have slowed progress for some but are predicted to pick up mid-Saturday morning and usher in the remaining competitors.

Thanks to our Sponsors

Bridge Sponsor

Supporting Sponsor

Flag Sponsor

GET IN TOUCH WITH US

949-220-4461

PO Box 7485

Newport Beach, CA 92658

[email protected]

A delivery aboard Rio 100

A college student skips school for a once-in-a-lifetime offshore delivery aboard a supermaxi racing yacht.

It was 0300, and I was on the helm of one of the fastest monohull racing yachts on Earth; the Bakewell-White-designed supermaxi racing yacht Rio 100. With a reef in the main, a small jib set and a large reaching gennaker unfurled, we were romping along at sustained speeds in the high teens with bursts well into the 20s. I was decked out in the latest, greatest foul-weather gear from Musto and “talking story” with a Volvo Ocean Race veteran serving as my watch captain. Pinching myself to be in this place in time, we were fully sending it across the Pacific on what was quite easily the fastest boat I’ve ever sailed on a long bluewater passage.

A multimillion-dollar, all-carbon-fiber racing yacht that has set numerous course records on the West Coast and from there to Hawaii, Rio wasn’t exactly the waterborne equivalent to a Formula One car, but she was damn close. She might not have been the lightest, nimblest, highest-tech machine on the water, but when allowed to stretch her legs for more than your typical grand prix race, she was tough to beat. A race-car analogy? How about a 1,000-horsepower, top-tier 24 Hours of Le Mans racer. That sounds right.

Taking advantage of Rio’s generous 100 feet of water-line, we were knocking out the miles en masse on our approach to California. After racing to Hawaii in the Transpac the previous summer, then stuck there for repairs, eight other souls and I were now sailing Rio home to Cali in the dead of winter so she’d be ready for upcoming regattas.

Delayed by a full day or more in the Pacific High, drifting in circles, to allow a weather system to pass in front of us, we’d then been gifted an open 1,300-nautical-mile runway to the coast in picture-perfect conditions (a distance that we would ultimately knock out in less than four days). Rio was fully coming to life, reveling in the reaching conditions and mellow following seas created by the 10 to 20 knots of northwesterly pressure that was propelling us onward. At those angles, Rio slid along quicker than the wind speed, oftentimes cruising at 15 knots in 12 knots of breeze and closer to 20 knots of boatspeed in 15 knots of pressure.

With a massive bulb keel that draws more than 21 feet when fully down, and twin rudders, the boat felt incredibly stable and very much in control when driving her in these conditions. When one got rocked up on a wave or gust, or in a puff/ wave combo, the boat heeled predictably and gave the helmsman plenty of warning before wanting to round up. When that inevitable force did come, however, a quick press of the helm to leeward was met with an instant reaction from the boat, which responded just as the helmsman intended, and oftentimes with a long, rewarding surfing run and a sharp acceleration in speed. It wasn’t the small, quick bursts of speed that a lightweight dinghy or skiff delivers, but rather the long, pronounced surfs of a massive racing yacht powering its way forward, propelled by impressive amounts of sail area and inertia.

Sailing Rio was an educational experience. I’m a pretty experienced big-boat sailor, but there are several systems and design characteristics on this behemoth that I had never seen before yet would come to understand and love by the end of the trip. One of the chief joys of sailing well-sorted racing yachts is seeing how talented boat captains and professional sailors have chosen to tackle certain problems or set up various systems.

For example, headsails are hoisted up all the way until they are resting on a halyard lock. Once the sail is on lock, a 2-to-1 hydraulic tack line pulls down on the tack until the desired “halyard tension” is achieved. The twin-wheel, dual-rudder steering system is a magnificent array of foils, steering wheels, Spectra cables and sheaves and, finally, carbon-fiber tie rods and track-and-car assemblies in the hull.

At first glance everything seemed complex, but once broken down bit by bit, there’s a theme of simple, robust, effective systems in place throughout the yacht. While some of them are indisputably complicated (and no boat is ever perfect), I’ve been on boats about half the size of Rio that were at times more frustrating and laborious to sail and maneuver. With the larger headsails hanked onto the forestay (I’ve never been a huge fan of head foils) and the smaller ones on furlers, keeping Rio in phase with the conditions was a fun and relatively straightforward process, even with a somewhat shorthanded crew.

Much of the credit for the relatively smooth sailing was boat captain and skipper Keith Kilpatrick, another Volvo Ocean Race veteran who has “been there and done that” everywhere in the world of yacht racing. Intimately familiar with Rio and her systems, Kilpatrick had assembled a group of old-school sailing pros, friends and crewmates who he’s known for decades, and thrown in a few talented “young guns” who were experienced, up to the challenge and keen to knock out some miles. Needless to say, I was beyond stoked to have earned a spot in “Kilpatrick’s Navy” for a couple of weeks. The sailing was fast, the food tasty, and while we were all focused on the job at hand, the vibe on board was decidedly relaxed and fun.

A little history: When computer-technology magnate and passionate racing sailor Manouch Moshayedi, Rio’s owner, set out to win the coveted Transpac “Barn Door” trophy for first-to-finish-line honors in 2015, he knew he needed a unique yacht. At the time, the Barn Door rules required a monohull to have human-powered winches and hydraulics, and conventional ballast (i.e., a fixed keel and no water ballast), so he couldn’t merely show up with any of the mammoth supermaxis such as those that competed in races like the classic Sydney-Hobart, many of which had canting keels and water ballast, and powered winches. (The Transpac rules have since been relaxed to allow canting keels.)

So when Moshayedi put the program together, he looked to purchase or build a fixed-keel supermaxi with no water ballast and all human-powered winches and hydraulics. After consulting with many top international sailors, the decision was made to buy the 98-foot Lahana and have the Kiwi design consortium of Bakewell-White redesign the boat for a full transformation, which would take place at the Cookson yard in New Zealand.

The old water ballast was removed by cutting off the back half of the hull, which was replaced by a new, wider stern section that now sported the twin rudders. With the loss of the water ballast, the designers would need to rely on enhanced hull-form stability to keep Rio on her toes in fast power-reaching and running conditions.

She was further turbocharged by adding a longer boom and longer bowsprit to facilitate a larger mainsail and bigger spinnakers. With the input from two-time Volvo winner and three-time America’s Cup vet Mike Sanderson of Doyle Sails New Zealand, the boat underwent an extensive sail program that would ultimately reap huge performance gains on the water. Combine the added horsepower and righting moment with a weight savings of somewhere between 6 and 7 tons, and the Rio 100 that emerged from the shed was an entirely different beast than the old Lahana that had entered it.

On the water, the boat immediately proved her merit in hard offshore racing in New Zealand and Australia. After her training and adventures Down Under had concluded, Rio 100 was shipped to California, where she began an ambitious few years of Pacific Ocean campaigning.

In her first two Transpac races, in 2015 and 2017, Rio indeed claimed the Barn Door Trophy, though she failed to come up with the type of performance that would make the boat truly legendary. Rio 100′s crew saved that performance for the 2016 Pacific Cup race. In a record-setting El Niño-affected summer, the North Pacific was bursting with hurricane and cyclonic activity for the duration of the season. It was a navigator’s nightmare, in which many of the competitors (including this writer, aboard a Swan 42) finished in the middle of named tropical storms that were uncharacteristically battering the island of Oahu.

As well as the storms, the race was epic because of a nuking breeze almost all the way across the course, with a large broad-reaching racetrack that was set forth before Rio and the fleet. Maintaining a starboard jibe almost the whole way, Rio’s crew set their reaching spinnaker and smashed their way to Hawaii, knocking some two hours off the already impressive course record set by the 40-foot-longer Mari Cha IV in 2004. Finishing the 2,070-nautical-mile race in just 5 days, 3 hours, 41 minutes, Rio 100 claimed an outright course record in the “other” big Hawaii race.

I got my invite to do the Rio delivery in the midst of my studies at Hawaii Pacific University. Of course, there was no way I could take time off to cross the Pacific in the middle of a semester. Or could I? After all, it was a supermaxi. I immediately realized that if I let the opportunity pass, I’d regret it forever. I said yes, informed my professors I was leaving for a bit, and packed my sea bag. In hindsight, it was the best decision I’d made all semester. I blame it all on Rio.

After a false start in which our crew collectively realized that the old laminate racing mainsail provided to us was doomed to failure, we reappropriated it to the nearest dumpster and had the current racing mainsail shipped in. From the moment we started our second attempt at the delivery, things could not have gone better. The night before leaving, we departed Honolulu’s Ala Wai harbor on a high tide to bend the mainsail on and attach it to the many luff cars that slide up and down the mast—not a simple task on a 100-footer. With another crewmate, I was hoisted about 15 feet above deck to hook up the massive sail’s square-top section with its huge gaff batten and two headboard cars; soon enough, we were joined by two humpback whales. In the thick of their annual winter stopover in the islands, the pair of whales swam alongside and seemed to watch over us and wish us a safe passage from Hawaii. Fifteen feet up the mast, on a calm full-moon night in the tropics, with whales alongside, I had the first of many magical “pinch myself” moments of the trip.

We left Honolulu the following day. In contrast to the normal pounding that one takes when close-reaching north away from the islands, we were granted a very gentle escape. With easy conditions that allowed us all to gain our sea legs before the rough stuff, we saw the gentle trades gradually replaced by reinforced winds that would carry us north. Day after day, the breeze continued blowing as Rio knocked off miles under heavily reduced sail. Even throttled all the way back in an effort not to damage the boat, we still managed double-digit speeds most of the way, while attempting not to slam the boat too hard. With an extra-long flat-bottomed vessel, there is an unusual—and somewhat disconcerting at first—sensation each time the boat slams hard upwind. As skipper Kilpatrick described it, “We’re effectively on a 100-foot-long teeter-totter.” When driving, you’re standing some 40 or 50 feet behind the keel—and the origin of the reverberating motion—and can literally feel the boat moving up and down in a fashion unfamiliar to anyone who hasn’t sailed a boat of this length.

As the breeze finally abated and we entered the Pacific High, we were able to shed a couple of layers for the first time in days. Advised by the weather routers to stall in the high for a day or more to avoid 40 knots of breeze along the coast, we effectively shut down everything and commenced our halfway party. A few repairs here, a beer or two there and a live ukulele concert by one of the crew was the perfect way to break up a wintertime delivery across the Pacific.

Back into the breeze we eventually went. On our four-day-long glory run back to the California coast, we began knocking out miles toward the mark in wholesale fashion, three-sail reaching toward the coast. Flying toward Cali with plenty of fuel left on board, we sailed ourselves out of the breeze about 100 miles off the coast and motored toward our eventual destination of San Diego, arriving at Driscoll’s Boat Works in Mission Bay in the dark of night. On a crisp, clear winter evening, we tied up Rio, stepped off, and reveled in that special moment that comes with the conclusion of any big adventure or ocean crossing. We had made it.

The dash across the Pacific was likely the only time I’ll ever sail the boat, and it was an experience that I will cherish forever. Soon enough, I was back in class. Daydreaming of Rio.

Ronnie Simpson, his studies concluded, is currently based in Fiji, having recently returned from—what else?—a delivery to Hawaii. A contributing editor to Cruising World, he’s used his college degree wisely, carving out a career sailing, writing and doing media work for major yacht races.

First published in March 2021, by Ronnie Simpson for  Cruising World .

Rio 100 Supermaxi Racing Yacht

Cfd analysis of optimised hull and foil packages.

Rio100 is a 100ft supermaxi racing yacht and following it's transformation, a two-time winner of the Transpac "Barn Door" trophy which is awarded to the fastest monohull in the race. Multiphase Design was responsible for CFD analysis of redesigned hull and foil package prior to the successful Transpac campaigns. Working closely with Bakewell-White Yacht Design, we optimised the hull and foil design to successfully achieve the owner's goals.

Have a project you’d like to talk to us about?

Get XS Daily News  

Posts in category rio 100, a delivery aboard rio 100.

How do you get offshore experience when you can’t get a crew invite for a race? Seeking out boats that need a delivery crew provides a chance to gain skill without the pressure of competition. Who knows… you might even get a once-in-a-lifetime offshore delivery aboard a supermaxi racing yacht. Here’s a report by Ronnie Simpson for Cruising World:

It was 0300, and I was on the helm of one of the fastest monohull racing yachts on Earth; the Bakewell-White-designed supermaxi racing yacht Rio 100. With a reef in the main, a small jib set and a large reaching gennaker unfurled, we were romping along at sustained speeds in the high teens with bursts well into the 20s. I was decked out in the latest, greatest foul-weather gear from Musto and “talking story” with a Volvo Ocean Race veteran serving as my watch captain. Pinching myself to be in this place in time, we were fully sending it across the Pacific on what was quite easily the fastest boat I’ve ever sailed on a long bluewater passage…

A multimillion-dollar, all-carbon-fiber racing yacht that has set numerous course records on the West Coast and from there to Hawaii, Rio wasn’t exactly the waterborne equivalent to a Formula One car, but she was damn close….

For the rest of the story from Scuttlebutt Sailing News CLICK HERE!

World News click here

Enter the border run.

Sailing World

• Reineke’s Battle For the Berth
• One-Design Wingfoil Racing Takes Off
• The Wisdom of Augie Diaz
• Sailors Powerboat
• Thanks to all the Patriots that Insure your Boats w Chubb!!
• Tripp 41s - how many built?
• Where and how to find and buy a 25ish ft beer can series racer?
• Boat Bum Gal sinks on first Baha Ha-ha leg
• Entries feed
• Comments feed
• WordPress.org
• March 2024  (2)
• February 2024  (32)
• January 2024  (43)
• December 2023  (48)
• November 2023  (82)
• October 2023  (105)
• September 2023  (55)
• August 2023  (58)
• July 2023  (80)
• June 2023  (59)
• May 2023  (97)
• April 2023  (80)
• March 2023  (120)
• February 2023  (95)
• January 2023  (85)
• December 2022  (94)
• November 2022  (134)
• October 2022  (124)
• September 2022  (69)
• August 2022  (122)
• July 2022  (140)
• June 2022  (154)
• May 2022  (160)
• April 2022  (196)
• March 2022  (160)
• February 2022  (108)
• January 2022  (101)
• December 2021  (141)
• November 2021  (183)
• October 2021  (122)
• September 2021  (129)
• August 2021  (175)
• July 2021  (154)
• June 2021  (194)
• May 2021  (178)
• April 2021  (210)
• March 2021  (47)

EvoLve theme by Theme4Press  •  Powered by WordPress XS Sailing