McConaghy's Knockout by Innovation

by John Curnow on 21 Jan 2010
When McConaghy's co-owners, Jono Morris and Mark Evans, announced the McConaghy Cup in December 2009, they did so to commemorate the prizefight that would be the 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

They knew the showdown at the front of the fleet was not only going to be a historic moment, but a true battle of epic proportions. Here were the most 'winningest' supermaxis the world has ever seen, all in the one place, at the one time and uniformly with their eyes on just one thing – the Line Honours win in the world's most-covered annual yacht race.

Alfa Romeo II, ICAP Leopard 3 and Wild Oats XI each had good reason for being all set to go. Alfa Romeo designed by Reichel Pugh and engineered by SP, wanted to extend on their amazing 142 race wins and records, Wild Oats, which was also designed by Reichel Pugh and engineered by SP, wanted to amass an incredible five wins in a row, and ICAP Leopard, designed and engineered by Farr Yacht Design, wanted to win all three major Rolex races in the one year.

All three campaigns were also meticulously prepared and expertly sailed, so it was not too surprising to see them put such a good margin over all the other 90 to 100 footers that were out there, early on in the race. There is no doubt that this was a direct result of a dedication to innovation, which makes a McConaghy boat lighter, stronger and stiffer.

Not only do they perform better, they look a little different too. 'This is fantastic for all three of the campaigns and we could not be happier for our clients and the McConaghy team that built them all', Mark Evans commented at the time. The wind certainly created different equations during the race, however, and ultimately Mark got to give the coveted trophy to Neville Crichton for Alfa Romeo's emphatic win-from-the-front.

The trophy itself was also something a little bit different and a product of the innovation the McConaghy team is so famous for possessing. Alfa Romeo's campaign tender now has a carbon fibre steering wheel, smaller for sure, but very much like the ones both Alfa Romeo II and Alfa Romeo III use.[Sorry, this content could not be displayed]
However, this one has a personalised, engraved hub commemorating the win to make it even more special. So in order to understand why one maker can produce boats that step away from all the others so easily, it is probably best to not only look back into the origins of the company, just as much as it is to review their future directions.

John McConaghy founded the business in 1967. He kicked off building little Moths and other dinghies, which he then raced himself. His boats started winning and so he started to get some orders from fellow competitors. He chipped away at the dinghies, getting slightly bigger and bigger.

Then he got into the 18-foot skiffs with their amazing speed and designs. That's what got him into prepreg carbons (where the polymer is pre-impregnated directly into the fibres, not painted over the mat), which at that stage, were only used in the aerospace industry.

Jono Morris adds, 'Today a lot of yards still don't deal in prepregs, but Macca was into it all, 30 years ago. John has always been a real innovator, pushing the boundaries of the accepted norm. That's been so much of what John started with the company and I think it's formed the culture of the business. It really is very much with us today - with every project we do, we're still trying to push the boundaries and come up with something better, lighter stronger and faster.'

Peter Kurtz was the first one to drag John into yacht building, from the 18-foot skiffs. It was only glass at that point, but they were using glass and foam core for the yachts and still building prepreg skiffs.

McConaghy, the yard, started to get some successes in yachting and one thing led to another. Eventually they were doing bigger and bigger yachts, like the Adams 20m, The Office, in 1984, which went on to become Helsal III.

Eventually there were prepreg yachts too. 'One of the main headline jobs of the time would have been in 1987, when they built the hugely successful Frers 80, Windward Passage. She was engineered by SP, as a complete prepreg Nomex core monocoque and was quite a groundbreaking construction, especially for her time. A lot of the guys that were involved back then, almost as young kids, are still with McConaghy's today and form a major backbone of the business', Jono commented.

Jono started at McConaghy's in 1993 with the Reichel Pugh designed Exile project whereas Mark Evans started in about 1995. John McConaghy asked the pair if they wanted to be involved in the ownership of the business in 2000. He wanted to wind back a little bit and not take as much responsibility.

'Mark was the factory foreman at the time, so he'd been running the whole factory floor for a few years by then. I was the project manager and been running all of the Farr 40 program that we started here, as well as a few cruiser/racers that we built, which I would manage from the office point of view. We also built Neville Crichton's first 80-footer, Shockwave 5, during those times', said Jono.

Mark and Jono already had the responsibility for running the factory between them anyway, but John was still Managing Director and as such, was ultimately responsible for everything that was going on.

What he saw in the pair was the opportunity to give them a little bit more rope and see what they could do with it. Since then Mark and Jono have been charging on full steam ahead, trying to make the best they can out of the sensational opportunity they were given. 'We've been pretty fortunate to have had a really good run and a great deal of really successful boats in that time frame', both Jono and Mark stated.

The passion for sailing is as imbued in the McConaghy mindset as much as the dedication to innovation. Jono has been very close to Neville and the Alfa Romeos that he's built and was onboard for the recent win in the Rolex Sydney Hobart. 'Yes. For sure, sentimentally I'm a bit attached to the Alfa Romeos, not only because I've spent so much time working on those boats for Neville, but also sailing with him. I've done a lot of miles on all of the boats and I really do enjoy sailing with so many of the crew who have been onboard them all, as well.'

'Alternatively, with boats like Wild Oats, where I've only done sea trialing, I haven't really had the same sort of time onboard them. We, and I do mean the whole McConaghy team, are really proud of every project we do', Jono said.
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'Personally, I have had a tremendous time with the Alfa Romeos, as it has been a real progression. We started off on the 80-footer, which was quite an innovative boat for a while, then moved into the next innovation in the 90-footer with all its water ballast and finally onto the canting keel boat that just won the Rolex Sydney Hobart, which takes it to an amazing 143 wins and records since we put her in the water!'

'Another favourite for me is going back to the Mini Maxi (Alfa Romeo III aka Alfa Jnr), which is also a Reichel Pugh design, because there are lots of aspects to that boat which I think are really cutting edge', Jono then added. ‘She has only recently re-appeared out from the China factory with her new hull and decals and shows speed akin to RAN, which won IRC1 in the 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart.

Of Neville Crichton, Jono says '…he gives us a great degree of creativity and I suppose we do go a bit over the top sometimes, but Neville likes to have a boat that's not just a stripped out racer. He likes something that presents really well and that gives us a bit of an opportunity to do something creative and special, which is always good fun.'

Every project is part of the McConaghy team and Jono is sure this is why so many of the team have stayed and been involved, since those first few yachts in the 80's. The whole company had it's Christmas party out on Sydney Harbour to watch the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge and were delighted to see Wild Oats X get in for a third, ahead of her much larger opposition.

The Mini Maxis are certainly a field to watch as Wild Oats X, Ran and Alfa Jnr have shown. 'We are also still delighted with the 1-2-3 knockout punch our clients delivered as part of the historic, first-ever meeting of Alfa Romeo II, Wild Oats XI and ICAP Leopard 3 in the 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart', was his comment.
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Expansion was always part of Jono and Mark's future drive as they began to steer the McConaghy brand. As a result of their intimate involvement in the nitty gritty of the business, they had a deep understanding of all the cost and overhead structures.

Whilst delivering on the McConaghy promise with such a big run on the larger boats, they began to look to other countries where they might be able to produce their iconic, Y-frame composite wheel, which they created in the 80's, more cost effectively.

Initially, they formed a joint venture in China, but soon learned that you could, in fact, create a wholly owned foreign entity, so with the new three-factory facility in Zhuhai, they are now completely independent.

Mark is in China full-time, where they produce the wheels, Mach 2 Foiling Moths and some major race boat projects. Jono explains, 'The Reichel Pugh designed, Yendys, was the perfect job to kick off with up in China, because there's quite a lot of hesitance towards Chinese products initially. Geoff Ross is very familiar with China, as he does a lot of business there and was aware of the strengths that China could offer.

'So he was quite open to the idea of building his next boat there. That worked out perfectly for us. Mark arrived on site and the very next day he was into building Yendys. After that we built the Chinese America's Cup boat, which wasn't a complete, start-from-scratch type of build. They came along with a tight budget and said we've got this boat and we want to use as much as we can out of this and build a new hull, so Mark had a big cut and shut exercise on his hands. We then did the Reichel Pugh TP52 Patches for Eamon Conneely, as well as the Reichel Pugh V70 Green Dragon for the last Volvo Ocean Race.

'We also did another Reichel Pugh 55-footer, which was a sister ship to Geoff Ross's boat. She is called Rima 2 and was for an American client. I think he's doing pretty well. I'm not sure what he's doing right at the moment, but last year he did a lot of regattas. He's in the Stock Exchange in New York, so may well have a bit on. The boat was quite a successful job', Jono added.
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Rima 2 was the last boat that they built in the old factory before they moved into the new one down in Zhuhai, which is just over the border from Macau. McConaghy's now have 7500m2 over three facilities there to compliment their 2500m2 in Sydney.

'Zhuhai is an hours ferry trip from Hong Kong, so it's really quite handy, in terms of keeping close access to Australia and being able to go via Hong Kong on the way to Europe - it all works out too well, really.'

'As soon as we moved into our new facility in Zhuhai, we did a complete rebuild on Neil Pryde's Hi-Fi, which used to be a Farr 52 OD built by DK. We cut the hull off that, a little bit like what we've just done to Neville's (Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo III) and built a new Hugh Wellborn designed hull for it. Neil sails that a lot throughout all the Asian regattas and they were the Skipper and Yacht of the Year in the 2008/09 Asian Yachting Grand Prix Championship' he said.

Jono went on to also say, 'In addition to all of that, we've got a 42 metre, John Shuttleworth designed trimaran underway, which is an all resin-infused epoxy, with a foam core construction. In a departure from the norm for us, it's not a sailing trimaran, but rather a motor yacht and it looks truly incredible!'

In terms of the Australian yard, they are pretty busy right now with a Lutra designed 80-footer, which is a very high level fit out racer/cruiser. It's got a full teak interior fit out, but its super lightweight, all on carbon Nomex panels. It also has a canting keel like the other big boats that they've done and dagger boards, so it's got a lot of complexity. 'I think it would have been a big ask to take this kind of job on in China, because of that one off element and it is the ability to solve a problem and come up with solutions that is the major strength of our Australian team, primarily because they have done it for so long' Jono stated.

In the end, 1-2-3 may well have been the case for the recent Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, but in addition to that sensational knockout punch, McConaghy's are also delivering many terrific blows as a leader in the global marine business.

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