racing yacht refit

Professional BoatBuilder Magazine

Duracell’s refit for cruising.

By Dieter Loibner , Nov 24, 2022

On a hot October afternoon, Janni Petersen and Matt Steverson take a break from the Duracell refit that will give Mike Plant’s iconic Open 60 another lease on life.

Matt Steverson and Janni Petersen, experienced cruisers in their mid-30s, are restoring Mike Plant’s first Open 60, Duracell , in Port Townsend, Washington. They document their doings on their own YouTube channel to create income, attract sponsors, and build a fan base that follows the project, with some offering free help. Previously, the couple had cruised the West Coast, Mexico, the South Pacific, and Hawaii on Louise , a seaworthy sloop, and Steverson competed as crew in the first Race to Alaska.

“ Louise was a pretty small 40 ‘ [12.2m] cruiser,” Steverson said. “It is an excellent boat for a couple, but adding crew or guests, the boat became cramped quickly.” In 2015, Louise was the ideal getaway vehicle after they ditched their day jobs and sailed south. En route in San Francisco Bay, they anchored at San Francisco Maritime Historic Park off Ghirardelli Square, rowed ashore, and walked to City Hall to get married. They honeymooned and settled into the cruising lifestyle. On the side, they freelanced—Petersen as a middle-school science-curriculum developer, and Steverson as an independent boatbuilder who knew how to fix what others broke. Serendipitously, one of his gigs also set them on course to intersect with Duracell .

Mike Plant works at the mast as Duracell charges along on a reach in her erstwhile racing configuration, which included a small doghouse and a very different cockpit layout.

“I didn’t need to look for work, but when the opportunity arose, I jumped at it,” Steverson said. “I did a few deliveries during the cruise, and captained a couple charter boats while in French Polynesia when the local charter base was desperate for captains. While in Hilo, I got to help rebuild one of the traditional Hawaiian voyaging catamarans, similar to Hokulea that was being built to train local kids to sail.” That meant meeting and working with designer and builder Chris Morejohn, a good learning experience, according to Steverson, and the contact that introduced him to Rodger Martin , the late designer of Duracell (see Professional BoatBuilder No. 193, page 14).

Steverson and Petersen pose with feline mate, La Paz, during a stopover in Port Phaeton, Tahiti, in 2018 with their first cruising boat, the 40′ (12.2m) sloop Louise.

Steverson called the boat “a small 60-footer,” but it’s still a couple of sizes larger than Louise . Once the refit is done, she will be a step up in speed and comfort as well, with the capacity to accommodate children and/or sail-training students on board.   Beyond that, faster is always better for someone who loves racing and wants enough horsepower to outrun weather and reach anchorages before dark. As for the challenge of tackling a big proj ect, Steverson, who hails from Idaho and holds a liberal arts degree from Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington, is a professional boatbuilder. He’d worked at CSR Marine in Seattle for three years before going independent. The complete refit of a 60 ‘ (18.29m) racing yacht is indeed a big undertaking, not just in size but in expenses and logistics, but he’s confident they can swing it. “Janni and I enjoy challenges and trying new things, and this project is putting us out of our comfort zone but also documenting it for the world to watch.”

Petersen, who grew up in the Bay Area of California and in Norway (her father’s home), is adding videography to her skill set as a middle school science educator. She posts an episode every week, taking cues from other successful YouTubers, including Leo Goolden, whose replica project—the Albert Strange–designed cutter Tally Ho —is a 10-minute drive from their compound. Petersen admitted that they were kicking around the idea of a YouTube channel for a couple of years before starting it. “We felt we had to do it, but the Internet can be a scary place full of trolls,” she recalled, and it felt especially daunting for these two self-described introverts. “It’s surprising how many talented people around the world come forward and offer their help [with refitting Duracell ] and how much positive feedback we get. I had to reexamine my attitude toward [YouTube],” Petersen said. She also seems to enjoy recording Steverson doing what he loves. “I’ve never seen him so committed. He lives and breathes [restoring Duracell ],” she said. “He has a twinkle in his eye, a bouncy step, and that goofy grin on his face.”

The boat’s sail plan in racing configuration also shares the particulars. As a cruising boat Duracell will have a shorter rig and less external ballast.

Duracell is not just any old 60-footer. Plant built the boat himself to a design by Martin with the explicit goal of competing in the larger and more competitive Class I in the singlehanded nonstop Vendée Globe Challenge, first run in 1989/90. He was already a household name in singlehanded ocean-racing circles after winning Class II (up to 50 ‘ /15.24m LOA) in the BOC Challenge in 1986/87. His new ride was “sturdy as a brick outhouse,” as Martin allegedly said, built of fiberglass and vinylester over Airex foam, with Kevlar reinforcements in the bow. Luck did not smile on Dura cell and skipper Plant, as he had to pull into an exposed anchorage on Campbell Island, south of New Zealand, to repair rig damage. To help save the boat when his anchor dragged, he accepted outside assistance from two scientists stationed on the island. Plant dutifully reported the incident, and he was promptly disqualified, according to the rules, but still finished the course to a hero’s welcome in France and also set an elapsed-time record for U.S. circumnavigators. Next, he refitted the boat and modified the rig to compete in the BOC Challenge 1990/91, another singlehanded round-the-world race but with stopovers. The only American in this contest, he finished fourth in Class I, unable to match the latest generation of wide-stern Open 60s the French sailed. While Duracell ’s conservative design—with a 15 ‘ (4.58m) beam she is 20% narrower than modern IMOCA 60s—did not finish in the money in the BOC, it helped her secure second and third leases on life later on.

The yacht, which had been sailing as Northwest Spirit , became available in 2019. Her previous owner, John Oman from Seattle, bought her in the early 1990s, when Plant was building his next Open 60, the more radical but ill-fated Coyote . Here’s the note he posted to advertise his intention of letting Duracell go:

“My plan was to do my own, non-racing, solo non-stop circumnavigation. After bringing her to Seattle (through the canal) and winning the Pan-Pacific Race, I brought her solo back from Japan as a shakedown. My circumnavigation was cut short by losing the top 50 ‘ of the mast in a collision with a freighter down by the equator. Putting her on the hard next to my home, it was my intention to put it back together and return to sailing. Shore life got in the way with business and family obligations and now age and health issues. I no longer have the means to chase that dream. So what now? I love that boat. I can’t imagine a more easily handled, seakindly, safe, proven, shorthanded boat capable of sailing anywhere on earth. So, a refit for a solo circumnavigator? Or shorthanded go anywhere? Move the helm aft and replace the short pilothouse with a long coach roof, build in creature comforts for a fast, shorthanded cruiser or six-pack charter boat? A Salish Sea, sailing/whale watching boat sailing out of Deception Pass?”

I met Steverson and Petersen last summer for a walkthrough of Duracell ‘s refit  with some local boatbuilding and design luminaries, including designer Tim Nolan and composite fabricator and tooling expert Brandon Davis. The sticker price was zero dollars, a suspicious amount that hides the true cost of a used boat, but youth, talent, and determination are valuable assets for such an undertaking and can make up for subsequent monetary challenges. “Of all the things that came off or out of the boat, a few notables are four petrified rats, lots of 1990s electronics, 25-year-old sea­water in the ballast tanks, a Yanmar engine, and a Balmar generator,” Petersen wrote in Cruising World . The hull survey did not indicate dam age such as excessive moisture or delamination, so the couple has confidence in the structural integrity of this 34-year-old boat.

(From left) retired naval architect Tim Nolan; Brandon Davis, principal at Turn Point Design; and Steverson, shown here in the future saloon, discuss design and construction. Note the painted mural, which will be preserved.

About a year after they made the first cut, much visible progress broadly followed the direction Oman had suggested, e.g., replacing the tiny doghouse with a more substantial one, and ripping out the original cockpit, the tiller steering, and the three-cylinder water-cooled Yanmar 3JH auxiliary diesel Oman had installed. Rather than merely follow drawings, Steverson also mocked up cockpit seats, twin steering wheels, and the coamings, so he and Petersen could try out and agonize over sheeting and backrest angles, dimensions, and the best stand-over height to operate a few of those 11 massive Lewmar winches that came with the boat. He had already modified the transom and installed chainplates for backstay attachment. “For the cheeks, which carry the composite chainplates, I used 1 “ [25mm] Bluewater 26 Coosa board, while the chainplates themselves are 40 layers of 1700 biax glass, with about 10 more layers inside and out to distribute load,” Steverson said.

Crowdsourcing Outside Help for Duracell’s Refit

Canadian naval architect Evan Gatehouse assisted with the engineering of the backstay chainplates.

Two advisors, good Samaritans, offered free and welcome design and engineering help. One is Evan Gatehouse, a naval architect with a background in mechanical engineering, who is a project director/senior naval architect at Robert Allan Ltd (Vancou ver, British Columbia), where he designs small commercial workboats. He also has serious chops in racing-yacht design (e.g., at Farr Yacht Design) and in bluewater sailing as a circumnavigator on his family’s 40 ‘ Richard Woods foam/glass catamaran. “I watch lots of YouTube videos of sailing, and it’s marked as an interest, so the early episodes caught my eye, especially because I knew about Mike Plant and Duracell ’s origins. I decided to offer some help because, I said to myself, ‘Here’s a guy doing an interesting project who clearly doesn’t have a huge budget and could probably use some free advice.’”

On the stern, Steverson marked the position of the split backstay’s heavily reinforced composite chainplates.

Gatehouse said that aside from his interest in assisting with sailing-related engineering projects, he also tries to educate participants by showing calculations and giving explanations so they can learn why he makes certain suggestions. In Duracell ’s case, he collaborated with Steverson on the design of the chainplates for a split backstay. But so long as a new (used) replacement mast is not locked in, they have to hedge their bets. “It’s hard to install bent metal chainplates that line up with a masthead that isn’t known yet,” Gatehouse said. “We’ve settled on a multiple-pass Dyneema lashing through a reinforced solid-glass insert in the transom. This will align nicely with any backstay orientation and is a lighter and corrosion-free option compared to metal. As [ Duracell ] is using an adjustable backstay, the small amount of movement with a Dyneema lashing is okay.”

More voluntary support came from Piraeus, Greece, from Markos Thiraios, a naval architect, yacht designer, marine engineer, and hazmat expert with a degree from the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, U.K.), where he wrote a thesis paper about converting a diesel-powered passenger and car ferry to fully electric propulsion. He also is the cofounder of Odisea Catamarans, which builds and markets a 48 ‘ (14.63m) aluminum performance world cruiser; and he’s managing the conversion of a retired Greek Coast Guard interceptor into a 25-passenger luxury day boat.

A rendering by Greek naval architect Markos Thiraios, who connected with Steverson via the YouTube channel, inspired the cockpit modifications with added settees and dual wheels.

Thiraios confessed his love for sailing, which he began at an early age, and yacht design. “When I found out about Matt’s channel, I was very interested in helping him by creating a 3D model of his vision. Duracell is legendary and a huge technological milestone in sailing history; hence I wanted to get involved. I believe the most crucial [factor] for converting a singlehanded racing boat to world cruiser is the water ballast the boat needed for singlehanded sailing. Due to the large sails and the large heeling forces, these ballast tanks were necessary, but a cruising vessel with less sail force and less heeling angle [doesn’t need them]. Also bear in mind that these tanks occupy a lot of interior space as well; hence, it is important to remove them to create more volume.”

The boat originally had five ballast tanks, one in the bow, which Steverson removed, and two on each side, which he reduced in size to make room for cabinets. He thinks he’ll store 250 gal (946 l) of potable water in each.

Bulkhead Builds

Creating more space for a crew of two and guests was the primary aim for the deckhouse and the cockpit, which now has an open stern and twin-wheel steering farther forward. “The old vessel needed [only] enough space for one person…, which meant it had to be very efficient in terms of size, weight, air resistance, and protection from the elements,” Thiraios said. “The new superstructure and cockpit have to accommodate more people with much more comfort.” A topic of conversation in the walkthrough was the aft bulkhead separating the companionway and cockpit, which will have to be watertight and has an oval opening for a door. What kind of door will fill it is still open to debate. “It’d be cool to have it lightweight so it’s not this big, heavy thing that can crush someone,” Turn Point Design’s Brandon Davis suggested, but Steverson entertains a different vision: “I’m thinking about a Dutch door, where I can open the top and the bottom separately, especially at sea.   If there’s potentially water coming in, I can close the bottom half.”

Mocked-up settees are shown against the new traveler bulkhead with windows and an oval companionway opening. Steverson is contemplating a Dutch-door-style closure.

Invasive fiberglass surgery in the interior was the next frontier for Duracell’s refit and Steverson, who said he’ll keep the forward locker for sail storage, lines, and fenders and put a stateroom where the original sail locker used to be, promising to keep the murals painted on the hull interior by a friend of Plant. The boat also needs a good-size galley, a real head, and extra accommodations for guests, which represents significant up­grades to the austere racing interior. So far, he’s chosen 1700 biax pretty much exclusively for ease of use and because he’s familiar with it. He’ll want lighter weight materials for interior cabinetry, which he’ll make from foam-core construction. “PET would be great even for the benches, where you’re not really worried about hitting a dock,” Davis suggested. “Divinycell is a lot better [against] impact, as it has a lot more elasticity.” Another important factor is cost, which is much lower for PET foam. “I’m going to buy a pallet of 1 ⁄2 “ [13mm] recycled PET foam and probably 12-oz [407-g/m 2 ] biax or similar weight cloth,” Steverson said.

In Duracell’s original spartan interior, Mike Plant is at the workbench above the water ballast tanks in an area that served as sail locker and storage for tools and provisions.

A critical piece of Duracell’s   refit is the new main bulkhead at the aft end of the new coach roof, which has to support 6,000 lbs (2.7 t) of static sheet load in 30 knots of breeze and shock loads as much as four times higher in case of an accidental gybe. It was engineered with the help of Randy Neureuter (chief naval architect at Delta Marine , a builder of large custom luxury motor­yachts i n Seattle), who, like Gatehouse and Thiraios, is a fan of the Duracell video channel and in his spare time pitched in with engineering calculations and finite element analysis.

“Matt and I connected through Insta­gram, where I occasionally share a bit about my own refit project of a 1982 Frers-designed 38 ‘ IOR One Tonner [@sv_white_lightning], but the Duracell project is bigger and much more ambitious,” Neureuter said. He grew up sailing on the Great lakes and prior to moving to Seattle studied naval architecture at Webb Institute, where he raced in many of the classic East Coast offshore regattas. Today Neureuter cruises a converted raceboat heading north to the San Juan and Gulf Islands. “It is the best reminder of why I love designing and just messing around on boats,” he said, adding that “volunteering to help Matt was a fun opportunity to do some light design work on a sailboat other than my own for once.”

Naturally, Neureuter knew about Duracell ’s and Mike Plant’s story, but had no prior connection with the boat, which spent decades in Seattle. But the mix of the yacht’s history, its proximity to Seattle, the ambitious venture, and the relation to his own sailing projects captured his attention in a way that other refits have not. His day-to-day work requires a diverse set of traditional NA skills, Neureuter explained, but his forte “is the design of large com posite structures and motor­yacht hydrodynamics. In both areas I focus on using advanced simulation software with the goals of improving performance, efficiency, strength, ease of construction, seagoing capabilities, and the client’s enjoyment of the yachts.”

The traveler position on top of the companionway bulkhead required finite element analysis of the laminate strength ratio in an assumed crash-gybe scenario.

Steverson did the initial calculation of expected mainsheet loads of 6,000 lbs (2.7 t) using a standard formula of Harken’s mainsheet loading calculator, assuming the full (estimated) mainsail area in 30-knot winds. Neureuter said they agreed that reefing the main much sooner than 30 knots would be prudent, but it is also important to have some buffer just in case. Steverson built this new traveler bulkhead, which ended up much stronger than his own original design. Neureuter engi neered it to carry 24,000 lbs (10.88 t) of shock loads (4 x static load). “The shock loading is tougher to predict [and] the loads in a crash gybe can be extremely high,” he explained. “We felt the 4 x static load gave a comfortable margin over the published breaking load of the traveler car and blocks Matt plans to use. There is [also a] suitable margin in the bulkhead structural design that some component of the mainsheet system would fail prior to the composite structure.”

The schedule for a stout laminate of the traveler bulkhead.

Following the numbers of Neureuter’s calculations and assisted by a cruising friend and an online supporter, Steverson laminated and vacuum-bagged the bulkhead in multiple steps with nine layers of 1700 biaxial over 1 “ 5-lb/cu-ft   (80-kg/m 3 ) H-80 foam core on both sides, overlapping at the top with six layers of unidirectional carbon. Additional strength is derived from four vertical straps that each comprise six layers of unidirectional S-glass.

More bulkhead work can be seen in Episode 47 of the YouTube channel, which details installing the partitioning of the new forward stateroom, separating it from the rest of the interior. First, Steverson built the starboard half by gluing the 1 “ PVC foam and then laminating and vacuum-bagging two layers of 1700 biaxial on both sides. He said he applied a slow-curing epoxy mixed with colloidal silica. Once the bag was in place, he sped up curing by building an oven around the piece while the laminate was still under vacuum. He was eager to fit this half of the bulkhead, which came out at 42.5 lbs (19.25 kg). In the video, Steverson also said he tries to minimize waste by carefully removing the plastic film and the perforated plastic from the vacuum bag to reuse them.

Steverson vacuum-bagged the starboard half of the stateroom’s bulkhead with two layers of 1700 biax on each side over 1″ (25mm) PVC foam core.

For the portside half of the bulkhead, he used virgin PET structural foam, which has similar properties but is cheaper and heavier than PVC foam core. With a laser determining the location of the forward face of the bulkhead, he then tented off the area to grind the hull and deck areas where he would eventually tape the bulkhead in place. For shape, he employed the tick-stick method using a batten to draw the cutting curves from the tick board. While this bulkhead primarily divides the forward space for accommodations, Steverson has more work to do around the mast. He said that when the time comes, he’ll install carbon fiber chainplates between the two aft ring frames for a 22° sweep of the spreaders of the yet-to-be-acquired rig.

Follow the bulkhead lamination in this episode

Friends and Role Models

Much will depend on what kind of mast he can find to replace the original, which came down in the mid-ocean collision with a freighter when Oman owned the boat. Steverson said he likes the idea of a double-spreader cutter rig that can use a reduced staysail as a storm jib. When the winds are not blowing, he’d like to use a die sel- electric hybrid propulsion system, and—because the boat’s twin rudders won’t get much propwash—a bow thruster to help maneuvering in tight spaces.

Al Hughes, Steverson’s friend and mentor, suggested a sturdy solution for cruising. As Hughes won the single­handed Transpac multiple times, his judgement carries weight, especially because he campaigned Dogbark , aka Jarkan Yacht Builders , an Open 60 of the same vintage as Duracell , designed by John King and built by Kanga Birtles in Australia for the Vendée Globe Challenge and the BOC 1990/91. That boat was later raced on the U.S. East Coast as Margaret Anna before moving to Seattle’s Shilshole Bay Marina and starting a new life as Prime Time America . But the boat was never campaigned by the previous owner, so Hughes bought and refitted it for his singlehanded ambitions. “I renamed her Dogbark but did not have an instruction manual, so it took some time to figure her out,” he said. “I did the singlehanded Transpac on her in 2004, 2006, and 2008. I did terrible because I went too far south and had poor sleep management, but still got line honors.”

Conceived for singlehanded round-the-world races, Duracell’s interior was taken up by 3.4 t (7,500 lbs) of water ballast, storage, and systems.

Hughes said he thought about converting the racer to a cruiser but ultimately decided that job might be in better hands with Graeme Esarey, a known local sailor with family, who also crewed alongside Hughes and Steverson in the first Race to Alaska, in 2015, which they won on a 25 ‘ (7.62m) Farrier carbon fiber trimaran. Anticipating Steverson’s project with Duracell somewhat, Esarey took over Dogbark , added two staterooms for his kids, and cruised her to the South Pacific and far north to attempt the Northwest Passage in 2019 but got stuck in Prudhoe Bay because of ice. Hughes also discussed the happy mix of speed and strength, which served him well on Dogbark . “The boat is super sturdy, because Kanga built it so. He told me he could not afford a shore crew and support team, so it had to be stout.”

The original keel’s bulb has a flattened tail, while the fin shows a crack in the fiberglass sheathing where the lead bottom joins the steel top.

Stout is also the operative word for Duracell ’s keel, currently a lawn ornament in Petersen’s and Steverson’s driveway. The keel has two parts—a stub from Corten steel and a lead fin and bulb bolted to it. The fin’s fiberglass sheathing has cracked at the joint, indicating that all is not well. Steverson has time to decide what he’ll do, mainly because it will depend on the rig the boat will carry. With water ballast, the original boat’s righting moment was 635 kg-m (6,227 N-m), he said. “And we’re going to get it down to about 400 kg-m [3,922 N-m] [with a shorter rig and a shorter keel]. When the boat sailed originally without water ballast, it was 385 kg-m [3,776 N-m].” Steverson maintained that these were Rodger Martin’s numbers for sail ing at 1° of heel.

The two-part keel of lead and Corten steel may or may not be reusable.

Ideally, he’d like to reuse the Corten steel stub if it is serviceable, and recast the lead to a bulb that then gets bolted to that stub. Another option could be a welded steel bulb filled with lead, but designer Tim Nolan advocated for a lead bulb because lead is soft and better suited to absorb grounding impacts. Or it could be cast into a bulb with a flat bottom, so the boat could also stand on its own keel when hauled out.

The walkthrough included a review of the paper plans Steverson received from Martin, which revealed in great detail the design ideas and the fine drafting skills of Martin and his associates, who included Jeremy McGeary. “This was right at the time when they started doing computer drawings,” Steverson said.

While designer, builder, and original skipper have sailed for Fiddler’s Green, Duracell endures. As her new custodians, Steverson and Petersen intend to add another chapter to her storied history, and Petersen, as the documentarist, is doing her best to make sure the world can watch.

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Behind the scenes: Clipper 70 fleet refit

26 August 2022

After completing the twelfth edition of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, the eleven-strong fleet of Clipper 70 racing yachts are finally back at HQ in Portsmouth Harbour, UK ready for refit.

During the 2019-20 edition, the identical 70ft yachts raced over 40,000 nautical miles though some of the most inhospitable stretches of the world’s oceans, withstanding both extreme heat and freezing temperatures. Now back at base, they will undergo an extensive decommissioning, refitting and commissioning process ahead of the Clipper 2023-24 Race.

No stone is left unturned during the Clipper Race refit. It takes the 20-strong team of both dedicated refit and Clipper Race maintenance staff approximately 35,000 work hours to strip out, lift, inspect, maintain, clean, and, where necessary, repair or replace parts or fittings.

AQP of Zhuhai, James Finney, climbs the mast during the Clipper 2019-20 Race

Justin ‘Jay’ Haller, Chief Engineer, has been with the Clipper Race for 20 years. He has worked on every generation of Clipper Race ocean racing yachts and oversees the mammoth refit operation. Jay said: “These boats are over-specced compared to what you’d see on a regular yacht. Everything down to the thickness of the hull is over-specced. So although I’m not surprised, I'm pleased to see that the boats have held up really, really well. I have no qualms about them doing another race. There are some cosmetic repairs, naturally, but that’s to be expected.

Rigger Andy Peck dissembles a Clipper 70 mast

“The boats come out of the water for 36 days and we work on them two at a time. After the masts are removed, one of the first jobs we do is take the generators and main engines out to work on them in the yard.”Martyn Read and Dan Jones remove an engine through the deck hatch.

The first yachts to be lifted are CV20 (Imagine your Korea) and CV22 (Seattle). Former WTC Logistics Race Skipper Dan Jones is part of the refit team and has been overseeing the first engine lift. He explains: “ When we lift the engines, we have to disconnect the gear box and the shaft to the propeller. We then have to disconnect the fuel lines and the water pipes, battery cables, alternators, mounts and then the actual engine mount.

The engine is lifted from CV22 during refit

“We can lift the engine through the hatch on deck and then lower it to the hanger floor so that we can sandblast the brackets, replace the mounts, remove and service the raw water pumps, remove the alternators to send them away for a strip and service. Once it’s out it's much easier to do that way.”

Scheduling the work is a task in itself to ensure the yachts are ready in time for the next intake of training and to fulfil Clipper Events sailing commitments. The workload is extensive, as Jay explains: “Each boat is stripped, sanded and painted in the interior. Once painted, we replace all the piping - saltwater, freshwater, all of it as a matter of course. The floorboards are then inspected and if any are damaged they will either be sanded down, repainted and covered with kiwi grip - or replaced if necessary. The gas infrastructure is replaced as a matter of course.

“Each yacht’s wiring gets inspected and replaced, then all the standing rigging is stripped off and replaced. At this point, we often get the team at Sta-Lok to take a look at the fittings that have come off so they can see how well it has stood up against the elements and for future product development. The masts are inspected and stress tested where necessary.

Big splash on the bow of a Clipper 70

“We have had surveyors down who confirmed that there’s nothing major we need to do. However we will still remove the keel bolts and inspect them as a matter of course to see if there is any corrosion on the keel and to check the bolts themselves.”

Whilst safety absolutely comes first, the refit is carried out with sustainability in mind. Jay explains: “Our aim is to repurpose as much as possible but if there's any sign of potential damage - or a health or safety issue - then we absolutely replace the part or fitting.”

For the first time, thanks to the Coppercoat covering, the Clipper Race fleet doesn't need antifouling - saving time and reducing the refit’s carbon footprint with the environmentally responsible coating. Jay said: “The Coppercoat has lasted REALLY well! Each of the hulls will have a light sand.

“We had a rudder for one of the boats rebuilt in Cape Town which we didn't have time to Coppercoat, so we had to use regular antifoul on it. It’s a stark comparison, it has about half an inch of growth on it, whereas the rest of the boat had Coppercoat, including the yacht's other rudder and it was as good as new with just a simple pressure wash.”

Coppercoat on the hull of GoToBermuda

The refit also offers Jay and his team the chance to update, upgrade or make changes to improve performance, comfort or the sailing experience for future race crews. Once back in the water, each yacht has its mast, which has also undergone full inspection and had each wire replaced, restepped and is rigged with a whopping 1,439m (excluding spares) of Marlow Ropes lines.

There’s no rest for the refit team, which is split up to tag team the conveyor belt process of each stage of the refit. Jay says: “A week before the pair of yachts are ready to go back in the water, we begin decommissioning the next pair of yachts - so everything comes off and goes into a container, and then will swap over with the current two yachts which be recommissioned and ready to go.”

Once the yachts are back in the water, the refit team thoroughly tests the systems before they are used again. But even when the entire fleet has been through refit, and systems are checked, the inspections don’t stop. Jay explains: “The fleet is Cat2 registered - for UK inshore and coastal sailing - until Race Start. Then before the race they have the CAT0 survey which is another in depth survey.”

The Clipper Race refit is a demanding operation, but one which gives the team a lot of satisfaction. Jay adds: “Being part of the refit team is a great job opportunity for anyone wanting to learn about yachts - but also those interested in engines, electrics, and anything hands on. Some refit staff end up working full time for us, too.”

Inspired to find out more about working as part of the Refit Team on the Clipper 70s? The Clipper Race is looking to expand its refit team, and is hiring refit staff to help ensure the fleet is race ready ahead of the 2023-24 edition. Find out more via the Clipper Race careers page.

https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/jobs

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Behind the scenes: Clipper 70 fleet refit

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Component Ordering and Installation

Due to time constraints, refits are often more challenging than new builds as a larger number of components are being installed or serviced at any one time in comparison to a new build. Performance Yacht Brokerage will ensure that all the components are ordered on time to allow for their lead times and installation requirements.

Refit timeline and budget.

Two key components of a successful refit period are to maintain a strong timeline management and fiscal discipline during the refit. Performance Yacht Brokerage works to the owners’ refit brief to ensure that the project is kept within the brief parameters to maintain the set out timeline and budget.

Race yacht refit management is much like a building a new race yacht where the right decisions need to be made at the onset of a project.  A good understanding of timeline management and budget control is crucial. Whether it be for a repair or a race yacht performance upgrade, Performance Yacht Brokerage can manage a project from start to finish.

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Determining the desired outcome from a refit at the onset is vital to establishing a correct time frame and budget for the works to be completed. Performance Yacht Brokerage will ensure that the brief is fully understood and kept front of mind during the refit process.

Depending on the brief, a yard will need to be selected for the work to be carried out on the race yacht. Availability, quality and budget will all need to be considered when selecting a yard for the refit. Performance Yacht Brokerage can evaluate all possible options and present them for a final decision to be made.

Commissioning

The end of a refit period is commenced with the commissioning of all the new systems and recommissioning the old systems. Knowing that Performance Yacht Brokerage has been with the project from the onset and has worked towards the refit brief for the entire process, you can be assured that your race yacht is relaunched as per the refit brief.  

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What superyacht owners have learned from refit projects

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Thinking about undertaking your first refit? The owners of G2 and Vibrance , who recently completed their first major refurbishments, share their wisdom on how best to refit a superyacht on budget and without compromise.

The sailing yacht refit: G2

The couple that would create the sailing yacht G2 had a specific dream: to sail around the world on a modern fast carbon cruiser with a lifting keel. There were plenty of aluminium yachts on the brokerage market in their size range, but very few existed in carbon. So why buy and refit rather than build new?

“I was hoping I could do it a lot more quickly,” says the owner. That didn’t go exactly to plan though. “Big projects generally cost more and take longer than you think. It certainly applies to this sector – it applies even more than I had expected.”

The couple’s search for their first large yacht ended when they spotted Cinderella IV , a 39-metre carbon sloop built by Vitters in 2009 that had been languishing on the market for the better part of three years. It was an attractive buy and a high-quality yacht, and they quickly got to work reimagining it as their dream boat. They retained its original naval architect, Bill Tripp , whose mandate included scrapping the aft deckhouse in favour of an open flush deck. To realise their ideal minimalist interior – pretty much the opposite of dark, traditional Cinderella IV – they commissioned Nauta Design , who would work on the transformation at Pendennis in Falmouth.

What they all achieved is astonishing. G2 emerged from the yard 18 months later virtually unrecognisable. The new aesthetic, inside and out, is clean and contemporary without being cold or stark. It’s bright and soothing, with a cool colour scheme, bigger portholes and large expanses of glass added to the coachroof. Rearranging the layout forward also gave the couple a more comfortable master suite.

To get there required removing the original interior. “To that extent it was like a new build. I actually stood in the empty hull after they had taken out what was there and started again,” says the owner, who acknowledges that the stylistic aesthetic likely matters more to him than the average sailor.

“Light and space is really important to me,” he says. “That was the theme we were trying to achieve and you can’t really visualise it before you’ve done it. I think it not only met expectations, but it’s even nicer than I imagined it would be.”

The process did cost them one Med season longer than expected, and a lot more money than initial calculations suggested. Part of the extra time and expense came down to an increase in the scope of the work. The glass panels in the coachroof were a significant add-on, as was painting the superstructure. The initial survey also had missed some big-ticket items. In addition, the owner, who describes himself as “naïve” going into the project, quickly learned that refitting comes with challenges. “You have some highly skilled craftsmen doing some great work,” he says, but to achieve the result “you need a lot of them doing the right thing to the right quality and on time”.

The secret to refit success in the owner’s opinion? It’s all about teamwork. “The team that you assemble is really, really important,” he says. “It’s not sufficient to have the right naval architect or the right interior architect, or obviously the right yard. It is really the combination of those people and the extent that they have previously worked together that’s extremely valuable. In my case they hadn’t.

“Take your time, get good references and meet people,” he advises. “Don’t be shy to meet a few candidates for every position you want to fill. That really pays off afterwards, rather than rushing into it and maybe taking unnecessary risks or cutting corners.”

He also learned that having a captain from the planning stage would have been hugely beneficial. When Cinderella IV ’s captain left the boat, he warned the owner that it was a mistake not to have a captain on straight away for the refit. The owner thought the comment was self-serving – as the captain would have liked to have stayed on longer – but in retrospect he realised it was just good advice. “It is extremely useful to have a captain that not only has this kind of refit experience but also seems like he is like-minded in terms of quality control and taking ownership of the boat. I was extremely lucky to have that, but it was quite late.”

In the end, the couple got what they wanted: “a boat that we have created, so I’m really happy with the experience. And I would do it all again – a refit versus a new build,” says the owner.

After warm-up seasons in the Caribbean and the Med, G2 headed back to the islands to prepare to sail further afield. She flew her spinnaker for the first time in the Superyacht Challenge Antigua in March 2020 just before the lockdown started. G2 sat out the summer in Antigua, and as we spoke to the owner in late July, he was preparing to fly down to sail her from St Lucia to the Galápagos. After that it would be on to New Zealand or what the owner calls “a very nice Plan B”, Costa Rica. “I’m very excited to explore the world – starting this weekend.”

The motor yacht refit: Vibrance

The most arresting element in the refit that turned Volpini into Vibrance was the result of a happy accident. As the naval architect at Murray & Associates , Patrick Dupuis, was discussing the work to be done, a 3D image of the yacht spun on Dupuis’ screen, and for some reason it showed it as grey instead of its actual white. Dupuis began to apologise for the glitch when the new owner, Duane Robert (Bob) Donaldson, broke in, “Wait a minute, I love that.” He laughs, “I fell in love with the computer image while he was apologising.”

Thanks to that fortuitous glimpse of grey, the 49.3-metre Amels became one of the first superyachts to be painted in Awlgrip’s new High Definition Technology polyurethane clearcoat on top of its Silver Grey Metal flake, transforming a plain white boat into a shimmering head-turner that lives up to her name Vibrance . Donaldson calls the pricey paint job a roll of the dice, but it was a gamble he was willing to take. “I’m a New York construction interior contractor; I’m used to making these risk and reward decisions. If it didn’t come out this great I would have redone it, but it came out unbelievable,” he says, crediting the paint contractor, C&N Yacht Refinishing.

Vibrance ’s refit was a three-part process that began at IMS Shipyard in Toulon, France – where much of the major mechanical overhauls took place, including replacing the main engines – and ended at Fort Pierce Yacht & Ship in Florida, two yards Donaldson recommends. In between was a brief stint at a shipyard that he was not happy with: “We had a verbal deal, but as soon as they had my boat out of the water, everything changed,” he says. So he cut the scope of work down to the minimum and on his captain’s recommendation moved the yacht to Fort Pierce.

Once relocated, they did a huge amount of work in just five months. The interior and decks were redesigned by Kerry Allabastro of Allabastro Designs in Stuart, Florida. Every room received a makeover, with new upholstery, flooring, lighting and custom-designed pieces. The aesthetic had been similarly traditional on Volpini , but it looked tired. Allabastro updated it in a luxuriantly elegant transitional style, mixing modern elements into the traditional milieu. While the alder wood joinery was retained, dark burl wall panels were removed.

In place of those panels in the main foyer, for example, is a mural backing the stairwell, its colourful landscape replete with meaning to the owners. The refit also added an al fresco gym on the bridge deck port side where a tender had been stowed, and revamped the sundeck, a spot the couple particularly enjoy for cocktails.

“This was my first refit. I was just doing it the way my wife, Christie, and I want it to be done, but it came out so well that the yard nominated it for the 2019 International Superyacht Society award for Best Refit,” Donaldson says. That’s not to say it was easy. The timetable included a hard deadline to make the yacht’s coming-out party in New York before leaving for the Mediterranean days later. The pressure was intense, and many said it couldn’t be done.

“I just went there myself and got it done, because this is what I do,” says Donaldson, who was on site for the project’s final month. “I build high-rises in New York City, so I deal with the smartest and toughest builders in the world.” As a result, he’s developed a laser focus to address issues pertaining to quality, schedule and cost. “At one point I had 85 people working. What [the previous yard] told me it would take, I did in less than half the time.”

The schedule does affect the cost, he explains. He’s a self-described “budget guy”, but in this case, he says to forget the budget – in fact, plan for it to double. “Get great naval architects, the best you can get, and great interior designers,” he advises. “Then understand your timing, the duration of the job. As my current captain tells me, ‘Give me more time and I can make it on budget. But if you’re going to push me for time, it’s going to cost more.’”

Donaldson’s other advice for owners is make sure you have an experienced  surveyor at purchase – he praises Simon Burt, director of Winterbothams in Portsmouth, for doing a good job for him. “An experienced project manager who understands your needs is also paramount,” he adds.

Looking back, Donaldson has no regrets other than not researching yards more thoroughly, and he feels a refit offered good value over a new build. Born in 2004 from a Dutch pedigreed yard, Vibrance was a solid build of steel and aluminium; now with its fresh interior, layouts tweaks, all-new systems and engines and, of course, that extraordinary paint job, she rivals any new launch. “What I am most proud of is my wife’s interior work with the interior decorator,” Donaldson says. “She has never done anything like that before. She just hit it out of the park.”

That imperative party that marked the refit’s end was meant to be the one chance in years the owner’s family, friends and associates would have to see the yacht before she disappeared over the horizon, but the pandemic put a wrench in those plans and Vibrance was recalled to New York. There is a silver lining though; now he and his wife get to share her with family and friends closer to home. They recently spent six weeks on board in Key West. “We sat in a Covid-free cocoon and it was just brilliant,” Donaldson says. “We’re enjoying it the way a boat of this magnitude should be enjoyed.”

This feature is taken from the November 2020 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.

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We are thrilled to announce the completion of the complete repainted Sunseeker Quicksilver yacht by our team at Yacht Refit Asia Ltd! The once-white gel coat has been transformed into stunning modern two-colour shades of metallic Awlcraft clear coats giving it a truly luxurious modern look.

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Project work included a full re-paint of the hull with storm damaged areas repaired, plus complete capping and bump rails were stripped back to bare wood and re-varnished with 15 coats of Epifanes for this yacht Dream. Carinthia Blue Awlcraft 2000 was applied to the topsides with Cloud White style […]

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She’s the first American woman to sail around world solo in race — and she’s from Maine

A s the sun rose, only one mile separated Cole Brauer from the coast of A Coruña in Spain, where a crowd of supporters eagerly awaited her arrival after 130 days alone at sea. The 40-foot yacht First Light sliced through the waves, its blue and red sails emblazoned with “USA 54″ billowing against the wind. Victory in sight, Brauer stood at the bow and spread her arms wide, a safety flare sparkling in each hand. As she neared the finish line, the 29-year-old sailor hollered and cheered, flashing a wide smile.

At 8:23 a.m. on March 7, Brauer made history. Four months after setting sail from A Coruña for the Global Solo Challenge , Brauer became the first American woman to race around the world without stopping or assistance. The youngest skipper and the only female competitor, Brauer finished second out of 16 racers.

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“I’m so stoked,” Brauer, of Boothbay Harbor , Maine, said in a livestream as she approached the end . She wore a headlamp over her beanie with the words “wild feminist” across the top, and a couple of boats trailed her. “I can’t believe it. I still feel like I’ve got another couple months left of this craziness. It’s a really weird feeling.”

She circumnavigated the globe by way of the three great capes — Good Hope, Leeuwin, and Horn — headlands that extend out into the open sea from South Africa, Australia, and Chile, respectively, and are notorious for presenting a challenge to sailors. Throughout, Brauer documented the arduous 30,000-mile journey in full on her Instagram feed. She amassed hundreds of thousands of followers, introducing many of them to the sport and upending stereotypes of a professional sailor.

Brauer, who is 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs just 100 pounds, has long defied expectations and overcome skepticism in reaching the pinnacle of the yachting world.

“I’ve always been not the correct mold. I had a guy who used to always tell me, ‘You’re always on trial because the second you walk in the door, you have three strikes against you. You’re young, you’re a woman, and you’re small,’” she recalled in a recent interview. “Now with my platform, I don’t have to be as careful about what I say or do because people care about me because of me — not because I’m a sailor.”

In her videos documenting her long days at sea, she was often vulnerable, crying into the camera when First Light had autopilot issues and sea conditions caused the boat to broach , throwing her hard against the wall and bruising her ribs. She was giddy, showing off her new pajamas on Christmas Eve and dancing in a pink dress on New Year’s Day . As her popularity soared, she was a guide for the uninitiated, providing a breakdown of her sailing routes , her workouts and meals, and how she replaces equipment alone .

A native of Long Island, N.Y., she spent her childhood on the water, kayaking with her sister across the bay to school and finding comfort in the roll of the tide. She went to the University of Hawaii at Manoa , where, longing to be back on the ocean, she joined the sailing team. Brauer learned quickly, becoming a standout and winning the school’s most prestigious athletics award.

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After college, she moved to the East Coast, hoping to start a career in sailing. But she found it difficult to break into the male-dominated industry.

“It was very difficult. I got a lot of ‘nos’. A lot of, ‘No way, we want nothing to do with you. You’re a liability,’” Brauer recalled.

Undeterred, she took whatever job she could, often for little pay.

Brauer found her footing in Boothbay Harbor , where her parents, Kim and David, were living. She coached the junior sailing team at the yacht club and met yacht captain Tim Fetsch, who became her mentor. While talking with Fetsch one night over dinner, Brauer shared her goal of competing in the prestigious Ocean Race , known as “sailing’s greatest round-the-world challenge.”

He sent her “ Taking on the World ,” Ellen MacArthur’s book on finishing the Vendée Globe, a solo round-the-world race, at 24. She cried while reading it.

“They allowed me to flourish in Maine,” she said.

With Fetsch, she delivered boats to Mystic, Conn., and Newport, R.I., a sailing capital where Fetsch introduced her to his connections and she “was accepted pretty early on as as a worker bee.”

Her big break arrived when she became the boat captain for Michael Hennessy’s Class40 Dragon . She spent several years captaining Dragon and delivering it to races along the East Coast and the Caribbean.

In 2022, she was invited to try out for the Ocean Race. But after the two-week trials in France , where she sailed with a fully crewed team, she was dismissed. They told her she was too small.

“They didn’t want the 100-pound girl unless you were, you know, one of those big guys’ girlfriends, and I was not going to be that,” she said.

Describing the story to a couple of friends after the trials, Brauer made a vow — “I guess I just gotta go around the world alone.”

“It’s almost good that it happened because I needed that to push me over the edge,” she said. “I needed them to make me feel so little that I would do anything to be big.”

Later that year, Dragon was sold to a pair of brothers, who renamed it First Light and said Brauer could keep sailing it for the season. In June, Brauer and her co-skipper, Cat Chimney, became the first women to win the 24th Bermuda One-Two Yacht Race . After the victory, Brauer was prepared to take a break from competition and enjoy a “gorgeous Newport summer.”

Her sponsors had other plans. “You need to take the momentum with this win,” Brauer recalled the brothers saying. “This is probably your one and only chance to really show the world, and we’re willing to help.”

She set her sights on the Global Solo Challenge . First Light underwent a refit. With little time to prepare, Brauer suffered panic attacks and became worryingly thin. But the sailing community rallied around her and she assembled her team.

“Newport said, ‘You are our child, and we’re going to take care of you,’” she recalled.

Brauer took off from Spain on Oct. 29, and her online profile began to rise as she chronicled the voyage. The sudden isolation was overwhelming at the start, bringing her to tears at least once a day.

At one point in the race, while bobbing along in the Southern Ocean, things looked bleak. She was in excruciating pain after being slammed into the side of the boat and could hardly move. First Light was having issues with its autopilot system and she kept having to replace deteriorating parts.

“It took the entire team and my own mental state and my mother and my whole family to kind of be like, ‘You’re tough enough, like you can do this. You can get yourself out of this,’” she said.

In a race where more than half the competitors pulled out, their boats unable to withstand the harsh conditions, Brauer often listened to music on headphones to lower her anxiety.

“This is your everything. You don’t want to lose it,” she said. “Mentally, no one in the entire world knows what you’re feeling. They can’t understand the weather or the wind patterns.”

Her team monitored her by cameras, and she spoke each day to those close to her, including her mom, whom she FaceTimed every morning (she used Starlink for internet access). Sometimes they would just sit in silence. Brauer found comfort interacting with her Instagram followers, who peppered her with questions about sailing terminology and sent her messages of affirmation.

She made a ritual of watching the sunset and sunrise, each different than the last.

“Those were the most magical moments,” she said. “No obstructions, no buildings, no cars to ruin the sound.”

As she approached the finish, she described how surreal it felt that the journey was about to be over.

“It’s such a weird feeling seeing everyone. I’m trying to learn how to interact again with people, so we’ll see how this goes,” Brauer said with a slight smile and laugh on her livestream. “I don’t really know how to feel. I don’t really know how to act. I don’t really know how to be.”

Shannon Larson can be reached at [email protected] . Follow her @shannonlarson98 .

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Motorsport prime

Marussia f1 team return to russia for moscow city racing, andy webb, marussia ceo: we have seen the strength of that support again in the last few days following the very pleasing announcement of our new powertrain partnership with scuderia ferrari..

Max Chilton, Marussia F1 Team MR02

Despite the three-week gap between Rounds 9 and 10 of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship® the Marussia F1 Team has had little time to draw breath, embarking on a series of promotional events to reward the loyal support of its fans.

This week, while the race team conduct the Young Driver Test at Silverstone, the demonstration team are heading ‘home’ to Russia for their second year of participation in ‘Moscow City Racing’.

The event takes place on 20 and 21 July, with the demonstration runs scheduled for Sunday 21 July on the streets surrounding the Kremlin and the ‘paddock’ located close to Red Square.

Photo by: XPB Images

Visitors will also be given the opportunity to enter the inner-sanctum - the Paddock - to soak up the atmosphere and see for themselves the intricacies of Formula 1 design and engineering.

Aside from his on-track duties, Max will participate in a range of promotional activities, taking time out to mingle with the Russian fans during autograph sessions and photo opportunities.

Supporting the Marussia F1 Team over the weekend are main event partner Liga Stavok along with additional partners Instaforex, QNet and RBC.

Max Chilton: “There have been quite a few ‘firsts’ for me in my debut season in Formula One - new racetracks, new cities, meeting new fans - and Moscow City Racing will be my very first visit to Russia. I can’t wait. From what I hear from previous events, the demonstration runs are a fantastic spectacle and the crowd is huge and very supportive.

That’s nice, because we are the only Anglo-Russian team and it is good to keep building on their love of Formula 1 before Russia gets its very own race next year in Sochi. I’m really excited about making the trip and I hope to meet as many of the Russian fans as possible, when I’m not driving through their streets!”

Andy Webb, CEO: “The Marussia F1 Team are very excited to be returning to Russia to participate in the Moscow City Racing event for a second successive year. As the only Anglo-Russian team in Formula One, this event has become a very important date in our Team calendar, as we continue our determined efforts to bring more of F1 to Russia and more of Russia to F1.

This is our opportunity to get closer to the fans and for them to see our car and drivers right on their doorstep, not just on the TV. Our drivers Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton are enjoying a flying start to their exciting debut seasons and the Marussia F1 Team really is going from strength to strength now, making good progress towards its long-term ambitions.

We look forward to a fantastic crowd in Moscow and to expressing our thanks for all the incredible support we receive ‘back home’ in Russia. We have seen the strength of that support again in the last few days following the very pleasing announcement of our new powertrain partnership with Scuderia Ferrari. It seems the fans share our optimism for the future of the Marussia F1 Team.”

Marussia F1 Team

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