Southern Spars rigged yachts dominate the 2012 Superyacht Awards

by Josh Impey on 9 May 2012
Southern Spars’ rigged yachts once again dominated the 2012 World Superyacht Awards, with S.Y Vertigo taking top spot as she was crowned the 2012 sailing superyacht of the year and best sailing yacht 40m+ size range.

Southern Spars’ rigged Vertigo, is an astounding 67.2m and is equipped with the latest technology in both racing and cruising performance. She has a full Southern Spars rig and rigging package, a 64m main mast and a 48.10m mizzen mast, both with Southern Furl booms and both equipped with EC6 rigging.

It comes with no surprise after taking line honours victory in the Transatlantic Superyacht regatta and the Caribbean 600 that S.Y. Hetairos was awarded the judges’ Special Award in the 40m+ size range, for her notable contribution to the technical advancement of sailing superyachts. Hetairos sports a full Southern Spars’ rig package with racing box booms, a 62.5m high modulus main mast with a Code Zero lock that is capable of locking up to 40 tonnes – the biggest Southern Spars has yet designed.

The 30m Southern Spars rigged and Yachting Developments built composite pilothouse sloop S.Y. Antares III won the award for the 'Best Sailing Yacht 30-40m'. She sports a 42.7m tall high modulus carbon fibre rig with EC6 continuous composite rigging and a Southern Furl boom, allowing her to carry an impressive 4,876sq ft. of sail area up wind.

It has been ten years since Southern Spars’ rigged S.Y. Destination was a finalist at the international Superyacht Design Awards and after an extensive refit she is back; crowned ‘Best refitted Superyacht 2012’. ‘Her cleverly conceived refit…not only brought her up to date but changed the whole aura of the yacht to create a relaxed, sophisticated and comfortable interior suited to the lifestyle of her new owners.’ – The Judging Panel.

Southern Spars would also like to congratulate Neville Crichton for receiving the ‘2012 Legacy Award’ for his instrumental role in the establishment and growth of the New Zealand superyacht industry, for his leading position in the world of the sailboat racing, his generosity of spirit, and his inspiration to others in these fields. Neville has been a continued supporter of Southern Spars over the past 25 years and has been a huge contributor to the growing success of the company, after utilizing Southern Spars rigs on many of his cruising and racing yachts; including the hugely successful Alpha Romeo II campaign.

‘Without Neville Crichton the enormous growth in the superyacht industry in New Zealand… would simply not have happened’ – Ed Dubois.

The 2012 World Superyacht Awards have been yet another great triumph for Southern Spars, expressing the quality and caliber of projects that the company is involved with. Southern Spars would like to congratulate all of the designers and boat yards that contributed to these remarkable projects and brought these yachts to life.