Six Teams Committed to STP65 Campaigns

by Barby MacGowan on 1 Sep 2008
The STP65 fleet is building in numbers, with a third boat soon to be launched and three additional campaigns having signed on to create their own versions of the much heralded 65’ 'Box Rule' racing yacht.

At the end of this month, Udo Schütz (Selters, Germany) will launch his previously announced Judel/Vrolijk-designed Container, built at Germany’s Knierim Boatyard. As well, three additional owners have begun the process of designing and building STP65s. They are: Patrizio Bertelli (Arezzo, Italy), with his Judel/Vrolijk-designed Luna Rossa; Dario Ferrari (Milan, Italy), with his Reichel/Pugh-designed Cannonball; and Carlo Puri Negri, with his Umberto Felci-designed Atalanta III. Luna Rossa is being built by Richard Gillies of 3DM Composite and has a scheduled launch date of November, 2008, while Cannonball, to be built by Cookson Boats in New Zealand, follows with a launch date sometime in March. Atalanta III is scheduled for launch in the summer of 2009.

Already sailing are the Farr-designed Rosebud/Team DYT, owned by Roger Sturgeon (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), and the Reichel/Pugh-designed Moneypenny, owned by Jim Swartz (Edgartown, Mass.). Rosebud/Team DYT was built by California’s Westerly Marine and launched in June 2007, while Moneypenny was built by Australia’s McConaghy's Boat Yard and launched in April of this year.

'Some of the finest designers and builders are involved in this fleet,' said Swartz, who along with Sturgeon has taken the lead in keeping lines of communication open among the owners. 'It bodes well for a successful, long-lived class.'

Swartz explained that the Storm Trysail Club (headquartered in Larchmont, N.Y.) and the Transpacific Yacht Club (Los Angeles, Calif.) announced in July of 2006 their joint partnership in developing the STP65 Rule. The goal was to create a boat that could compete both as a Box Rule and an IRC or ORR performer, with tight enough parameters to minimize obsolescence.

Rosebud/Team DYT’s project manager and technical guru Malcolm Park says the STP65s 'are a subset of the IRC pocket maxis that are the latest phenomenon in the big boat world.' The defining difference, however, is that the Box Rule’s speed-producing facets, such as construction, length, displacement, draft, VCG and sail area, are controlled. 'This means that as the class grows, the STP65s can begin racing within the box without time allowance, effectively as one-designs with an owner/driver rule,' he said.

The day when the class could ask for its own start could be as soon as next Spring. Meanwhile Rosebud/Team DYT plans to continue proving she is the hot rod she was designed to be. Among her accomplishments are winning the prestigious Rolex Sydney Hobart Race in 2007 and the Storm Trysail Club’s Block Island Race and New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex in 2008. At the 2008 Newport to Bermuda Race, sailing under the ORR rule, Rosebud/Team DYT finished third in her class while Moneypenny finished fifth.

Both Rosebud/Team DYT and Moneypenny will compete in the upcoming Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, which starts September 1. Container’s first scheduled race is the Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, which starts Sept.27.

An Owners’ Advisory Committee has been formed, the purpose of which is to advise the STP65 Board of Directors (currently comprised of Storm Trysail and Transpacific Yacht Club representatives) prior to transfer of control from the STP65 Board to an Owners’ Association. According to STP65 Bylaws, the Owners’ Association can be established after five Owners have qualified by being Members in good standing and having a valid STP65 certificate on file with the Chief Measurer.

The first meeting of the Owners’ Advisory Committee has been scheduled for this September’s Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, held at Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in Sardinia, Italy.

The STP65 rule, bylaws and other supporting information can be found at http://www.stp-65.org/