CQS skipper says radical supermaxi crew are on steep learning curve

by John Roberson on 28 Nov 2016 Ludde Ingvall and his crew on CQS have taken line honours in the Royal Akarana Yacht Club's Round White Island Race. The eye-catching super-maxi completed the 320 nautical mile race in a few seconds less than 1 day, 4 hours.

Speaking after the finish, Ludde said it had been a good shake-down for the boat and the crew, and paid tribute to everyone who had put in such a huge effort to get it from the builders to the starting line in time.

'We have now qualified for the Rolex Sydney Hobart, which was the prime objective of this race for us,' the skipper said. 'It has given us a valuable opportunity to put the boat through its paces, and for us to work together as a crew in a competitive situation, for the first time.

'We had winds of 25 to 30 knots, and we achieved some good speeds during the race, but we know we are still on a steep learning curve. She has shown that she has potential, we now have to learn to maximize that potential.'

With heavyweight Kiwi sailing talent like Chris Dickson, Rodney Keenan and Chris Main in the team, there is no shortage of expertise to get the boat tuned up ready for the Boxing Day start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race.

The Round White Island Race started on Auckland's Waitemata Harbour on Friday morning, and took the fleet across the Hauraki Gulf, then south to the Bay of Plenty where they rounded White Island, an active volcano, before returning to Auckland.

CQS crossed the finishing line off the Royal Akarana Yacht Club at 13:14:04:44 local time, nearly seven hours ahead of the second boat, and set a new monohull course record.

For the CQS website click here