Out of the mould

Graham Dalton's Open 60 has been released from it's mould in New Zealand...

A new Open 60 designed by the Owen Clarke Design Group was turned over and released from the mould this week at Southern Ocean Marine, Tauranga, New Zealand.
The yacht, for New Zealander Graham Dalton, is the first Owen Clarke 60 to be built. It follows on from the 50’ designs for Viktor Yazykov and Kip Stone. The boat's development owes many of it's features to the Kingfisher campaign, where Merfyn Owen and Allen Clarke worked alongside Rob Humphreys in the creation of Ellen MacArthur's famous Vendee entry and winning boat of the Europe1NewmanSTAR, and EDS Challenge.

SP Technologies are again engineering the carbon Nomex structure, while Owen and Clarke have been busy recruiting, doubling the full time staff to six. They now have a very capable expanded in-house design team, amongst whom is MSc graduate, Nadjean Geslain, who spent he summer tank testing for the new 60. This group, along with consultants in a number of fields from around the globe, highlight the Owen Clarke Design Group's emphasis on collective design in the many disciplines involved in creating a high tech racing machine.

The yacht is not expected to be seen in North Atlantic waters until the Summer of next year, prior to it's entry in the Around Alone. The launch is scheduled for January, with trials, working up and qualification all being completed in the south, prior to shipping north of the equator. As such, owner, designers and builders are playing their technical cards very close to their chests. The name of the sponsor is also being kept secret for the time being.

While the design is completed and the boat being built Dalton has launched on a hectic technical and physical training programme. His previous solo racing experience included a placing in the 1986 storm ridden singlehanded Trans Tasman Race, having capsized earlier in the event. This and some 10,000 miles of singlehanding stands him in good stead to take on the role of Open 60 skipper.

In order to help him climb the learning curve he has gathered an experienced technical team about him, including winning Volvo navigator Mike Quilter and Around Alone class 2 winner, David Adams. Sailing is a family trait, since, with brother Grant having won both the Volvo and more recently, The Race on Club Med. It's expected that both the boat and the sailor will be highly competitive entries in next year's single handed round the world race.