New high performance yacht, Bristolian

by Southern Spars Media on 3 Jun 2008
It’s landed! The mast for the new space-age looking superyacht Bristolian, was stepped in mid-May, standing an impressive 51 metres high in Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour.

If there was ever a time when you asked yourself how is race boat technology currently being applied to new super-yachts, here is the perfect example… the new Bristolian is everything ‘performance’.

Bristolian is a 120ft Briand designed performance cruiser. This sleek looking ship is constructed of composite materials, has a moderate beam and a draft of 5.25m which can be reduced to 3.25m with her lifting keel.

The five spreader rig is made from high modulus carbon and the rigging is EC6 carbon rigging discontinuous, meaning it runs from spreader to spreader with tip-cups at the end of the spreaders. The rigging is one of the longest sets of EC6 carbon rigging made for a superyacht to date.

By using EC6, 700kg’s in rigging weight alone was saved over nitronic rod. This weight saving has created substantial performance benefits for Bristolian - righting moment is increased, sails can be carried to a higher wind range and faster speeds achieved.

The entire rig/rigging including electronics weighs in at just 4 tonnes.

Bristolian’s sail wardrobe includes a code zero sail. An external strop lock is used to support this sail which has a safe working load of 17 tonnes.

A new feature specifically designed for the rig is a pneumatically operated swinging radar arm. The placement of radars on a superyacht rig, either front of mast or on spreaders, has always meant a trade-off between performance and aesthetics.

However the new radar system on Bristolian will automatically move to the optimal position depending on the yacht’s situation. So under sail the radar can be positioned in front of the mast, giving it a wider field of view and, keeping it out of the way of flogging sails when tacking. At anchor the radar can be positioned on the spreader.

Bristolian will spend the next month undergoing sea trials around the Hauraki Gulf. From there, she sets sail to the Whitsundays where her owner will join the team and sail on to Indonesia.