Perhaps it is finally sinking in that I have a powerful
boat and a grand opportunity to make it famous. Only two weeks ago Kiwi Spirit
departed the shed at Lyman-Morse in the slings and eased her way into the water
for the first time. It was a memorable day and kudos go to the designers at
Farr and the construction crew at Lyman-Morse who have helped over the last
many months to make my dream reality. I have many goals, but to put it simply I
intend to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the globe using only the
wind, water and my own perseverance to finish.
On November 7th, Kiwi Spirit left the dock and
headed into the waters of the Gulf Of Maine for trials. There was a light
breeze, barely enough to produce the occasional white cap. We began at a steady
10 knots and we topped out at 12+ knots. She handled well and performed
magnificently. On board was a celebrity list of the yachting community: Bruce
Farr of Farr Yacht Design, Mike Toppa of North Sails and Mike Feldman Of
offshore Spars. The builder, Lyman-Morse, was represented by Drew Lyman and a
whole team of sailors, riggers, and electronics experts. My son Alan was also
on board (he sailed solo around the world in the Around Alone Race of 2002-3).
Together this collection of professionals provided me with the information and
support I needed. One by one the sails
and systems were hoisted and tested and all worked beautifully.
Two days
later we headed out again setting sail in cold and icy conditions. It was so cold
that after an hour at the helm my upper lip felt like I had dental anesthesia
and was slurring my words. But the boat, and it’s about the boat, performed
flawlessly. She sailed steadily at 10 knots and occasionally at 12 knots, a
full 30% faster than my previous yacht which was a Farr-60 built in 1998 - such
is the improvement in yacht design and build over the last fourteen years. Kiwi
Spirit’s hull is a blend of carbon fiber with fiber glass, and sports a carbon
fiber mast and boom. Measuring 63-feet in length she is just half the weight of
my previous boat. For any non-sailors out there reading this, weight is
important when it comes to speed. The same wind will propel a lighter boat
faster. Kiwi Spirit is fast!
On Saturday we had another magnificent sail. Temperatures here in
Maine were in the 30's and 40's with fair to strong winds. We tested a few more
systems including the water ballast tanks that are the equivalent of twenty men
sitting on the rail. Why do they sit on the rail? if you look at pictures of big racing yachts,
there is often a number of crew sitting on the edge of the windward side of the
boat, in an effort to right the boat to expose more sail to the wind and hence
to sail faster. My goal to sail Kiwi Spirit solo means I have to replace the
twenty men with tanks full of water to achieve the same righting moment. This is an elaborate pumping System to fill
and move the water between the four ballast tanks. Training makes these
complicated devises intuitive and I have a lot of training ahead!
As we put Kiwi Spirit through the paces I am consistently impressed.
We will certainly make some changes and additions based on the initial trials
on the water. The team I have worked with to create this magnificent yacht is
amazing and I look forward to all the training ahead. We aim to leave Maine for
Newport, Rhode Island Saturday morning. Please stay in touch and I’ll keep
feeding stories of our adventures off the boat as we test all the features of
the new Paris-63. You can stay informed with shorter posts on Facebook and also
see some wonderful videos by Billy Black on YouTube.
Cheers,
Stanley
