AS MULTIHULLS GET BIGGER AND FASTER, IT’S NO SURPRISE OWNERS WANT TO TEST THEM ON THE RACECOURSE, AS ANDI ROBERTSON REPORTS
The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda is one of the most prestigious yacht clubs in the world, its marble atrium and exclusive pool deck usually welcoming owners and crews of superyachts, Swans, and iconic classes like the Star, J-Class and TP52. But this autumn the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, the club’s season finale, broke new ground with three catamarans given pride of place at the YCCS’s race dock.
The three different, but equally exciting, powerful big cats went on the prowl in a newly introduced multihull division within the 45-strong entry at the showcase Maxi event. Lord Irvine Laidlaw’s brand new Gunboat 80 Highland Fling 18 lined up alongside Adrian Keller’s 84ft Irens-designed Allegra (launched 2014), and the new Gunboat 68 Convexity, campaigned by Don Wilson and Suna Said. For the record, Allegra won overall by two points from Highland Fling which missed the second, windy race due to a ‘teething gremlin’, but then won races three and four when the breeze had diminished. Convexity finished 3rd, on equal points aggregate to Highland Fling.
Highland Fling 18 is Laidlaw’s first new build multihull, after he had an interim pre-owned ‘starter’ Gunboat 68 (hull No1) in 2021-2022 while the 80 was in build. The red-hulled beast is undoubtedly the benchmark for a growing breed of Maxi Multihulls which are now starting to become more popular in Europe as well as in the Caribbean and the USA.
She’s an out-and-out racer – indeed a day racer at that. Built entirely in pre-preg carbon fibre, using the same construction methods as the VPLP Ultims and IMOCAs, a focus has been on keeping weight down to the absolute minimum and, more importantly, carefully distributed. The 80-footer, which has a 33ft beam, has aircraft-grade furniture inside and further weight savings were also made in the paint and glazing technology. The Gunboat 80 has long, asymmetrical L-shaped daggerboards, the rig set slightly further back for a better overall balance. The boat was only launched in July, and racing in Porto Cervo in September the crew included many longstanding Fling team members, including the likes of Jan Dekker, and Kiwi (now Newport-based) match racer Cameron Appleton. Offshore legend Loïck Peyron has had an ongoing role with the boat and sails on board as the team’s resident multihull expert, working closely alongside the owner who, as usual, steers.
By contrast, Allegra has already earned a long, successful track record offshore, including back to back class wins in the Rolex Fastnet Race. The third entry was another new Gunboat, raced at her first event by Don Wilson, who is better known for his M32 programme of the same name.
