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JUNE 29th 2012 - KER 40 WINS IN THE HARSHEST CONDITIONS
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Since the first Ker 40 being launched in the UK in May 2012, designed by Ker Design the McConaghy built Ker 40s have delivered on their promise and exceeded expectations of being an exceptional offshore IRC racing yacht. Competing in some of the world's harshest racing, from the Rolex Fastnet Race to The Rolex Sydney to Hobart the Ker 40 fleet has endured some of the toughest conditions, coming off unscathed and last weekend's race in the UK, the RORC Myth of Malham was no exception.
Andrew Pearce and the crew of Ker 40 Magnum III battled it out in what has been recognised as the harshest conditions in the Race's history to take line honours and 1st in her division in the Myth of Malham Race (Round Eddystone). The 230 mile race is one of the longest on the RORC's calendar, and this year with a forecast of 30 knots and the promise of big seas many boats did not even make it to the start line or subsequently retired. Magnum III were unstoppable after coming off the back of winning the IRC Nationals the week before, Andrew Pearce commented that they were ready for anything, and that's exactly what they got.
About as rough as I think I have seen it, said Andrew Pearce. Just not nice, but we are seasoned campaigners and so know that you dig deep, protect the boat as much as you can and keep pressing.
Thee Needles Bridge was something else: the standing waves had us pointing skywards and then crashing down the other side only to hit the next one. Luckily we have experience and we plugged on knowing that this would not last forever.
By daybreak Saturday life began to return to some normality for an Offshore race. What kept us going was the thought of the downhill rush that we were going to have once round Eddystone. We were not disappointed. With 18k from the SW we charged along regularly maintaining 15-17 knots boat speed for long periods so our return was in less than half the time it took us to get out and some reward for the tough conditions going out.
We finished just after midnight Sunday morning so what I had thought a week previously was going to be a race duration of about 24-26 hours turned into and 30 hour race.
A very tough race, pleased to have finished with the boat and crew coping well in these trying conditions.
Congratulations to Andrew Pearce and crew. Magnum III is one of 5 Ker 40s that will be lining up in the UK this summer. They aree looking forward to a slightly less intense race this weekend when they compete in the RORC Round the Island Race in the lead up to the greatly anticipated Brewin Dolphin Commodores' Cup. Four out of the seven teams will have a Ker 40 competeing.
For more information on the Ker 40 email us or visit
www.mcconaghyboats.com
www.kerdesign.com
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MAY 20th 2012 - KER
IRC DOMINATION
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McConaghy built Ker 40, Magnum III won the RORC IRC British Nationals in Cowes this weekend. In "kite shredding" conditions the recently launched Ker 40 battled it out against XP 46s, Grand Soleil 43, and the Ker 46 Tonnerre de Breskens 3, the 2010 RORC Boat of the Year, to claim winner of IRC 1.
"Fantastic, just elated!" exclaimed Andrew Pearce. "We have put in six months of dedication and hard work to improve the team's ability and to become national champions is such a joy. In the team brief on Sunday, our tactician Andy Beadsworth said not to worry about the points but to just sail as best as we could. It is a great feeling to win, I can safely say this is the biggest win I have ever had in the sport."
This is an amazing start to the season for Magnum III, as well as for the rest of the Ker 40 fleet racing together in the UK. Jamie McWilliam's Ker 40, Signal 8 from Hong Kong will be joining the four Ker 40 already sailing in the UK.
The domination of the Ker 40 class in IRC keeps being proven with Ice Breaker on the other side of the globe in New Zealand already taking home two major IRC wins this year at the BMW Auckland Cup and the Bay of Islands Regatta.
Last week saw the McConaghy built Ker 40 Catapult take its first splash. This is the first Ker 40 for North America - look out for the red rocket blasting around in the Annapolis area over the next few months before it heads north.
Congratulations to Andrew Pearce and the Magnum III crew
Links:
www.mcconaghyboats.com
www.ker.com
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APRIL 2nd 2012 - KER 40 TAKES THE TRIFECTA
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Connel McLarens’ Ker 40 Ice Breaker is yet again at the top of her division, following the win at the Bay of Island Regatta back in January. Ice Breaker took home the trifecta last week at The BMW Cup, coming first in PHRF A-Division, IRC Nationals and winning the overall BWM Trophy. Ice Breaker belted the other 40s around the track and was hot on the tails of the 50 footers in her division.
Connel was delighted with the boat’s performance across the range of conditions. “It was a fantastic regatta, we have not found a weak point of sail yet and the boat is strong in all conditions.” Connel is looking forward to their next challenge which is the Auckland Noumea race and then over to Australia later in the year for Hamilton Island race week.
Ed Psaltis has also had a fantastic end to his season with the Ker 40 AFR Midnight Rambler, winning the CYC Autumn Ocean Point Score Series. They also battled it out to the last race with the TP52 Quest to also take home the Summer Short Ocean Pointscore Series.
Congratulations to both Connel, Ed and crew.
This has been an amazing year for the Ker 40 fleet, since the first boat, Keronimo, arrived in the UK in May 2011, there have now been ten boats sold world wide. The inaugural American Ker 40 Catapult leaves the factory next week. This season we will see 5 Ker 40’s battle it out against one another in the UK, with Jamie McWilliam’s (Hong Kong) Signal 8 joining up with the 3 boats in the UK and also the boat headed for the Netherlands.
For more information on the Ker 40, and also the new Ker 46 visit www.mcconaghyboats.com (and check out the latest project to be launched from the Sydney Factorywww.mcconaghyboats.com/deepsea/
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- JANUARY 30th 2012 -
KER 40 AND MC38 EXTENDS McCONAGHY'S WINNING STREAK
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Following the fantastic success of the MC 38 "Carbonado" winning the high performance class at Quantum Key West Race Week just days after launching. The first Ker 40 in
Ice Breaker won Division A IRC by 7 points overall and also PHRF by 2 points, the owner and crew were delighted by the results in such a competitive fleet. They sailed in a range of conditions from 5 to 30 knots on the last day and excelled through the varying conditions.
These latest results from "Ice Breaker" adds to the global success of the Ker 40 fleet, with AFR "Midnight Rambler" last week winning the Australia Day - City ofCHECK OUT OUR LATEST YOUTUBE VIDEO
MC 38 Carbonado onboard at Key West Race Week
www.mcconaghyboats.com
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- MAY
30th 2011 - McCONAGHY KER 40 KERONIMO BEATS TONNERRE
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Over the past few months, the focus has been on the new McConaghy Ker 40, with much anticipation from the sailing scene. Would this new breed of 40 footer exceed expectations on the circuit and raise the bench mark, or prove its critics right. The time came this weekend to really see if this boat was going to fly as so many had predicted.
While only being launched just over a week ago, all eyes were on “Keronimo”, Ker 40 as she entered her first competitive race. The RORC Myth of Malham (Round Eddystone) is a 230miles test of endurance from Cowes to the Eddystone Lighthouse and back, it is one of the longest races on the RORC calendar. It marks the start of the 2011 Rolex Fastnet Series and Jonathan Goring owner of Keronimo was more than a little eager to see how his new boat would perform.
“Keronimo” was up against The Ker 46 “Tonnerre de Breskens 3”, the in-form IRC boat on the RORC series. This boat also took out the Jazz Trophy for the overall winner of the season's points series. Having won with a record margin, was without doubt the favourite coming into this race. “Keronimo”, regarded as the new “Machine” on the circuit, showed this “RORC boat of the Year” that she was here for business, pushing “Tonnerre” into second place to win her class.
The very excited Jonathan (Keronimo) commented on their first race challenge:
“We had a great start, fetching out of Solent in 25 knots of wind, we lead Tonnerre past the needles. The fetch turned into a starboard tack beat about 50 miles into the race, both Tonnerre and us banged the left corner probably far too hard, as the beat became a fetch as the breeze swung from WSW to WNW so we were both got caught out. We did well to recover from that, but probably lost around 40 minutes in the five-hour beat to windward. We rounded Eddystone Rock about an hour after first boat in 17 knots of wind... then we let all the dogs out for the downwing leg!!!!
She's is an absolute weapon downwind, seldom dropped below 14 knots of boat speed topping out at 22.5 and we had a great time stuffing her into some standing waves off Portland Bill!
About 2 hours from the finish we once again experiencing between 20-29 knots of wind. With the Big square top main, staysail and then back to a big kite, the boat never broached, just beautiful to sail in those conditions, we had the pedal down the whole way!
Her positive features are too many to mention. We were amazed by the upwind performance. I guess having all the fat on the rail helps with righting moment, but it is just so good to sail.
In summary she has exceeded mine, and all the team's expectations......... Still learning, but it's a huge buzz!”
Jason Ker and Simon Schofield of Ker Design, recognized as one of the top IRC Designers commented on the first race for the their latest creation.
"We are delighted that Jonathon and the crew of the Keronimo are already enjoying sailing her and better still, winning!
We have maintained that it is possible to be highly competitive under IRC at 40ft while also enjoying high performance, so this result goes a long way to vindicating that. We continually invest in ever more advanced CFD systems so it was also pleased to note during her sea trials the previous weekend that her balance and performance exactly matched our predictions".
Not only did the Ker 40 exceed expectations on the water but back at the dock her polished finish and attention to detail left onlookers amazed. Delivered to the UK earlier this month, hitting design target weight, she also rated one point below the trial certificate that was issued last year. Standing back from the boat it is clear to see that like every boat that comes out of McConaghy’s winning stable, she looks remarkable and it is hard to believe that this is a production boat. The bar has definitely been raised both on and off the water
“Keronimo” was the first Ker 40 to leave the factory with the second hull having left the factory last week bound for Singapore. Later on this year it will be the third boat’s time to shine when it competes in the Rolex Sydney to Hobart. Boat four is in the mould presently and will be on her way to her Japanese owner soon. Boats five and six are following closely behind. ‘The orders keep coming in’, said a delighted Mark Evans, joint MD of McConaghy Boats. Mark has been based full time at the 10,000m² Australian owned factory in China since it was set up over 6 years ago, which employs over 220 people and 15 full time expatriates. This latest project highlights the close relationship between the McConaghy Facilities in Sydney and China.
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- MAY
25th 2011 - THE KER 40 TAKES ITS FIRST SPLASH
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McConaghy Boats latest IRC flyer hit the water over the weekend carrying out sea trials on the Solent, UK.
The much-anticipated arrival of this new breed of IRC racing machine, designed by Jason Ker, impressed those who were privileged to witness the first hit-out in ideal sailing conditions.
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