Leopard sails!

Yesterday Mike Slade's new supermaxi went for her maiden voyage

Just three weeks after arriving in the UK from her builds McConaghys in Sydney, so Mike Slade's new 30m Farr-designed supermaxi Leopard went sailing yesterday in the Solent for the first time. The team led by Chris Sherlock opted not to sail the boat in Sydney but had all her major components delivered to Southampton where the boat has hurried taken shape.

"It went together like a big jigsaw puzzle. We are very pleased," Sherlock told thedailysail. "We didn’t have any majors at all along the way. The keel cants beautifully, the daggerboard go up and down..."

While the first outing yesterday was to start the process of testing systems, Leopard's first sail in anger is expected to be on Wednesday when she is joined by her race crew. Her first race will be this weekend with the JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Island Race.

Read the full story about the new Leopard here