The 170ft match race

News from the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge

21 of the world's largest and fastest yachts are now due to take the start line of the New York Yacht Club's Rolex Transatlantic Challenge, celebrating the centenary of the Kaiser's Cup and Charlie Barr's historic record to the Lizard in the schooner Atlantic.

The Volvo Open 70 Telefonica Movistar has withdrawn from the race but has been replaced by Tempest, the classic 80ft (24.4m) Sparkman & Stephens maxi ketch. Co-chartering and co-skippering Tempest are Arthur Bugs Baer who was third to finish the DaimlerChrysler North Atlantic Challenge on board her in 2003, and fellow NYYC member William Hubbard III. In the crew will be Hubbard's son, William Hubbard IV, currently captain of the Columbia University Sailing Team.

The 21st entry in the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge is another giant yacht, the 174ft (53m) Drumbeat. Better known in sailing circles as Salperton, the yacht was acquired by her present owner in October of last year. A ketch, her mainmast towers 197ft in the air, and from both her carbon fibre masts, 26,000sqft of downwind sail area can be flown, balanced by 91 tons of lead in a deep fin keel. Aside from the 250ft (76m), three-masted square rigger Stad Amsterdam - chartered by members of the Storm Trysail Club - Tiara and Drumbeat are the largest entries in the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge, and due to their similarity, look set to match race their way across the North Atlantic come the start on 21 May.

"I think the draw for the owner was celebrating the centenary of a great race and the opportunity to race against Tiara," says Drumbeat's British skipper Julian Spier. "And to be involved with the social events going on at the New York Yacht Club and the Royal Yacht Squadron, which are very attractive." This will be the first occasion on which the two giant yachts have raced one another.

While both Tiara and Drumbeat were designed by Dubois Naval Architects (as was Randall Pittman's entry, the 140ft (42.7m) Whirlaway) and built by Alloy Yachts, there are some differences between them. Launched in 2004, Tiara is two years newer than Drumbeat and a fraction longer. She also has a helipad, but most significantly, while Tiara is a single-mast sloop, Drumbeat is a ketch.

"I think in terms of sail area we possibly have an advantage off the wind, and they have an advantage on the wind," says Spier. This is fortunate for Drumbeat, as the prevailing winds for the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge course are off the wind. While Tiara's rig allows her to carry bigger sails, Drumbeat's ketch configuration allows her to carry more sails, in particular mizzen spinnakers, to improve her performance downwind.

Another advantage for Drumbeat is that her crew has more experience racing her, as they have competed in regattas in the Mediterranean and Caribbean. This is the yacht's first oceanic race, however.

Despite Drumbeat's colossal size, Spier reckons they will compete in the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge with a crew of 18-20 divided into three watches. Thanks to modern aids such as hydraulic winches and hydraulic furling for the sails, Drumbeat can be handled by just six crew at a time, although "we'll have experienced helmsmen along with crew who know how to sail the boat," adds Spier. Among the crew will be the yacht's designer Ed Dubois. For the race they are not going to strip the boat down but will remove superfluous items such as the tenders.

At present, both Tiara and Drumbeat are in Antigua, as are several other entries in the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge including Anemos and Windrose, but they will be heading north in the next week.

The Rolex Transatlantic Challenge is sponsored by Rolex and also by Moran Towing Corp., Sandy Hook Pilots, and P&O Ports North America. The race is supported by the City of New York and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Showboats International is the event's official marine publication; program sponsors include Rolex, North Fork Bank and Holland Jachtbouw.