Newly launched Carkeek 40 ‘Rebellion’ ready to race in the UK

by Joe Hall on 5 Jun 2015 ‘Rebellion,’ the high-performance Carkeek 40 Mk II built by Premier Composites that launched in the UK earlier this Spring, is ready for her first competitive season in the UK.

Owned by Stewart Whitehead, ‘Rebellion’ is the second of the Mark II Carkeek 40s to be built by Premier Composite Technologies. She was commissioned in Dubai before being shipped to Hamble, England, in mid-April. ‘Rebellion’s' first competitive outing was the Brooks Macdonald Warsash Spring Series, where she scored a race win against a competitive 18-boat fleet in IRC 1, and the team are now preparing for a competitive inshore and offshore racing programme.

The Carkeek 40 comes from the drawing board of Carkeek Design Partners and builds on a strong history of co-operation between the design house and Dubai-based high-tech boat builders. This ‘second generation’ design is created to be competitive under both IRC and HPR (High Performance Rule) and sports a lightweight carbon infusion construction, carbon rig and rod rigging, square-top main, hydraulic forestay, under-deck systems and pedestal winch package for a ‘grand prix’ sailing experience.

This type of high performance, fun and safe sailing looks set to herald the future direction of handicap racing in many regions, as faster, lightweight boats are rated increasingly competitively under IRC. ‘Rebellion’ is due to compete at the IRC Nationals, Cowes Week and a series of RORC Channel Races to qualify for the biennial classic offshore, the Rolex Fastnet Race.

Owner Stewart Whitehead explained that he chose the Carkeek 40 from Premier Composite Technologies because he wanted a boat that combined light overall weight and planing performance with high quality and confidence-inspiring construction.

“The average conditions we tend to sail in here in the Solent is 8-15 knots, so it made sense for me to pick a hull and complete package that was light. What I wanted was a fast planing boat, but with the ability to do some offshores as well as inshore racing.

“I want to do some of the classic offshore races in it. The build quality on the Carkeek 40s is very good. I really didn’t like the sound of going offshore in a boat that might have structural issues! The tooling facilities, quality control, and existing boats from PCT – I’d had recommendations from a couple of people on the yard – made the decision pretty easy. And having seen the build quality, it’s an excellent finish, both interior and exterior.

“With a lot of the options I’ve gone for – the TPT rig, EC6 rigging etc – the idea was to keep the weight at the bottom of the boat rather than at the top of the rig, and keep light in general. That’s something we can tweak if needs be for IRC or offshore at a later stage, so we can add some weight in the keel if we feel we need to. We discussed definitely trying to weigh sub-4000 kilos, PCT were aiming for 3900kgs and it ended up being 3897kgs, so it was a good result all round and shows that the PCT control methods through the process have worked.”

The Carkeek 40’s light weight also means that ‘Rebellion’ can be easily adapted to compete under different rating systems around the world. “The focus was to have a fast boat, to have the potential to go to the Caribbean if I wanted to do that season, we could definitely do the Middle Sea Race – I could almost make it an ORC boat and put it in the Med. It gives me a lot of flexibility over the next few years,” explained Stewart.

Launch to full speed

Andy Greenwood, boat captain of ‘Rebellion’, helped commission the yacht in Dubai with the assistance of the team from Premier Composite Technologies, and idyllic conditions for the boat’s first test sail sailing on the Arabian Gulf.

“We spent two or three days with guys from the yard putting the boat together,” he recalled. “That worked really well, being able to go through the process, and a few days later taking it apart, as you’ve got plenty of experienced people who had built the boat on hand to answer any questions. Then you’ve got a nice 15 knots of winds every day for testing – you couldn’t ask for a better area.”

Andy has also been impressed by the construction of the Carkeek 40. “The build quality is first class. With a bare carbon interior there’s nowhere to hide, you can’t paint over it, and the finish inside Rebellion is as good as any boat I’ve ever seen. The attention to detail with all the smaller, semi-custom components is really top-notch.

“When the boat arrived, we offloaded it from the truck on Tuesday late afternoon, and we were sailing Thursday morning. So we were literally 36 hours from being shrink-wrapped on a truck in bits to out sailing, which shows it’s a nice efficient design.”

The ‘Rebellion’ team report that in over half the races they have entered so far they have been first to the top mark, despite sailing with a cruising mainsail and instrument calibration ongoing. They also enjoyed some two-boat tuning against a highly successful 42-footer, and after experimenting with mast rake and weight distribution had visibly faster pace upwind despite their lesser waterline length, and were also comfortably quicker downwind, especially in light airs.

“The boat is great, straight off the blocks we’ve been more or less where we need to be in terms of performance,” commented Andy. “I’d say out we were more than happy with the performance – not only in terms of on handicap, but also a fast boat to sail, you’re always going to come in with a grin on your face!”

Refined production

Premier Composite Technologies expects to complete hull number three of the high-performance racing design by mid-summer 2015. The Dubai-based boat builders have made some minor modifications to the production process for future Carkeek 40s. Max Waimer, Technical Director at Premier Composite Technologies, explains: “The whole aim was to basically make the boat marginally simpler in the building process, and therefore, be able to reduce costs.”

The changes include a move to a two-piece rig, which will also make the Carkeek 40 highly transportable. Waimer adds: “On the first two boats we had the halyards positioned below decks, and now we have the halyard exiting from the mast, and going back in a trough on the outside to the pit area. It simplifies the systems.”

There have also been alterations to the hull construction – bulkheads are now made of an infused foam construction, and the structures have been modified for a more efficient production process. “Basically, all the longitudinals and the forward bulkhead have flanges on one side so we can bond them into the boat, and only the mast bulkhead is taped both sides, which takes out a lot of time for the secondary bonding process,” explains Waimer. “The third thing we’ve changed is how we have done the hull-deck joint, again it is basically a more production-friendly way, now we are bonding the deck on only, with no secondary taping.”

The construction changes incur a minor weight penalty of around 40 kilos, which has been accounted for with a 100mm deeper keel draught and 100kg lighter bulb to maintain the same righting moment. The Carkeek 40 will continue to be offered with a wide choice of specification options, with tiller steering offered as standard and twin wheels as an option.

Improvements to the production process mean owners placing an order for the Carkeek 40 will enjoy a markedly quicker delivery time this summer, together with reduced costs. “These changes have major aims, one is the cost saving because it takes time out of the production hours, and the other one is that we are able to deliver the boat faster. I would say we have reduced production from almost six months to four months, so it’s quite significant,” reports Max Waimer.