Mari Cha goes deck cargo

139 containers displaced and other amazing facts about the shipping of the world's largest racing monohull

Mari Cha IV has entered the record breaking books yet again after becoming the largest sailing yacht ever to be transported on the deck of a container ship. In the past year Mari Cha IV has proved herself to be the fastest monohull sailing yacht in the world when she shattered the west to east transatlantic speed record by two days in October 2003, she became the first monohull to sail more than 500 nautical miles in a day. Mari Cha IV also holds the record for Antigua to Guadeloupe and the West Coast to Hawaii Pacific Ocean race.

The carbon fibre yacht, owned by Robert Miller, the founder of Duty Free Shoppers, was loaded onto an Italia Line container ship in Long Beach, California on 14 August. At a length of 140ft and a beam of 30ft she took up the space normally reserved for 139 containers. Although one reason for shipping Mari Cha IV was to give her crew a rest from their busy schedule, two crew members accompanied the yacht to ensure her safe passage to the Mediterranean.

For the organisers of the project, Complete Freight Ltd, the relocation of Mari Cha IV proved to be a demanding undertaking. “It is a challenging task as Mari Cha IV has a 20ft bulb at the end of the canting keel”, said Simon Judson, Transport and Export Manager at Complete Freight. Given the value of Mari Cha IV it was necessary for the marine transit insurance to be spread over ten underwriters.

The cradle design was both innovative and economical. Four empty containers formed the basis for the structure which, after precise location on the ship's deck, were chained down. Mari Cha IV was then lowered onto two enormous poppets welded onto the top of the two containers. Her overall height in this position was 40ft.

On 15 September she was successfully discharged in Genoa, Italy despite taxing weather conditions. “It was a tense time,” explained Angus Jones, Director of Complete Freight, “with winds gusting to 25 knots for most of the day, but we finally had a window to unload in the late afternoon.”

Mari Cha IV is in the Mediterranean to compete in the Voiles de St Tropez Regatta this coming week. After that she will head for La Ciotat to undertake alteration work to improve her already outstanding performance. Trim tabs are to be fitted to the keel, and a canard fitted to the bow. She will also receive a fresh coat of paint.

More photos on page 2...