MANDRAKE Breaks Record to Win Round The Island

by Mark Mills on 17 Jun 2001 Competing in a 1,735 strong fleet, the race's
second largest number of entries ever, 'Mandrake' completed the 50
mile circumnavigation in 5 hours and 45 seconds to win one of the
most coveted prizes in yachting - the Gold Roman Bowl. She crossed
the line second after the 90' Sloop Leopard, beating 3 Swan 60's, a
Farr 65, and a new Farr 52 over the water around the Isle of Wight
course.

The combination of tactics by owner Peter Morton, Adam Gosling on
helm, and navigation by Tom Schnackenberg, universally considered the
brains behind Team New Zealand's America's Cup Challenge, proved an
unbeatable force on the water, breaking by more than 10 minutes the
previous record of 5:12 set by the 84' Maxi Longobarda.

Designed to be a nice undistorted 'sportsboat' to rate well under the
IR2000 rules IRC and IRM Mandrake was built in under ten weeks using
the deck, rig, and gear from the IOR 50 of the same name. The new
hull was constructed using a novel foam and cedar core method in the
Elephant Boatyard in conjunction with RF Composites in 1999. The
flatter topsides were laid up in foam while the curved underbody was
smoothly and swiftly laid up with the cedar. This combined with the
high tech deck and bulkheads to create a very stiff structure with
minimal compromise, using the cedar to form the curved areas of the
hull shape quickly. Its light displacement allied with high
stability is a potent combination for high performance, impressing
owner Morton, veteran of numerous Admirals' Cups with her upwind
speed on her very first outing.

'This is excellent timing for us as we challenge the more established
design offices worldwide' said Mills Design principal Mark Mills. '
We hope to have an exciting announcement shortly which will build on
Mandrakes latest win and confirm our presence in the IR2000 Rating
Rule arena, to add to our recent Open Rule commissions'

More information on Mandrake is available at
http://www.mills-design.com and on the Round the Island Race at:
http://www.islandsc.org.uk/rtir .