Introducing the 'big' Ker

Race 1 teams up with Jason Ker again for Admiral's Cup big boat contender

Following the introduction last year of the Race1 Ker 11.3 Race1 has teamed up again with Ker Associates to launch the Race1 Ker 50.

The new Ker 50 has been designed to comply with the RORC's newly announced specification for the 'big boat' for the 2003 Admiral's Cup, the Race1 Ker 50 has been designed to be competitive under IRC as well as IRM.

The Race1 Ker 50 will be a development of the 11.3 with a number of design refinements that will make it an even more competitive yacht. In boat for boat performance terms, the VPPs for the Race1 Ker 50 show that it will be between 12.9% and 13.2% faster than the 11.3 around different courses on average across the wind range. However, both the IRC and IRM ratings are expected to be only 12.5% higher than the 11.3 (1.304 IRC and 1.178 IRM for the Race1Ker 50 against 1.159 IRC and 1.047 IRM for the 11.3), which will ensure that the Race1 Ker 50 will be a strong contender for the 2003 Admiral's Cup.

The Race1 Ker50 will be built in Cape Town, South Africa. Philip Crebbin of Race1 and designer Jason Ker recently visited there to select the builder who is Acheson Rossa, run by Richard Acheson with Jan Rossa looking after the technical side of the build program. They have the facilities and the capability to build the yacht to the high-tech standards required and Jason Ker himself will spend a substantial amount of time at the premises to oversee the construction. Carbon will be used throughout, in the hull construction as well as for the mast, spars and other parts.

In the limited time available only four or five boats can be completed in time for the 2003 Admiral's Cup. The first boat is already allocated to a South African customer, who is planning to compete with it in the 2003 Cape Town to Rio race next January. Other enquiries have come from the UK and Europe and as far afield as the USA and the Far East.

Race1 will offer the yacht in a similar way as the 11.3, complete and ready to race including sails, instruments, twin wheel steering and other items such as shipping cradle. There will be some options available, such as choice of sailmaker and sail construction, or choice of winch spec, with only the additional cost premium, if any, added to the price. The full specification is available on request. The price of the yacht will be less than £400,000, not inc VAT, for this ready to race spec, ex Cape Town. Shipping cost to the UK/Eire will be approximately £10,000 - £12,000.

The principal dimensions are:-

L (IRM measured length) 15.00m
LOA 15.15m
Beam 3.95m
Draft 2.99m
Displacement 8,000kg