Australia's International Sporting success moves to the high seas.

by Rob Mundle on 13 Jul 2001 In the wake of the Wallabies rugby win, the Ashes Test and Pat Rafter’s heroic battle at Wimbledon another outstanding Australian sporting result has come in America’s
most prestigious long distance ocean race, the Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Hawaii.

In the results just confirmed for the 2225-mile downwind slide the two top performing yachts, Pegasus which claimed fastest elapsed time, and the handicap winner Bull,
were built in Australia during the past year.

The common link between the two boats is that their construction and preparation was coordinated by the Australian group, Marine Project Management, a company
headed by America’s Cup sailors Iain Smith and Dave Sampson. Most of the work was carried out using services and facilities from what has become Australia’s offshore
yacht building headquarters, Sydney’s northern beaches district.



“It’s a great result for everyone concerned,” said Smith, who in his other life is a sheep and cattle grazier at Glen Innes, 600 kilometres north of Sydney. “Both boats were
developed with the Transpac as their target so to get the double speaks volumes for the effort that went into the project. Even more impressive was the fact that the
Transpac was the first race in anger for both yachts.



“We were honoured when both American owners came to us to manage their respective projects. It’s a tribute to Australian workmanship, ingenuity and technology.”



It was actually a battle between the Reichel Pugh 75-footer, Pegasus, owned by Philippe Kahn, and Seth Radow’s Bull for the win on corrected time. Bull, a modified
Sydney 40 class racer, was designed by the Sydney firm, Murray, Burns and Dovell, where America’s Cup sailor Iain Murray is a partner.



Pegasus, which is almost twice Bull’s size, averaged 11.4 knots for the distance to collect the Barn Door Trophy for line honours. It was then a waiting game to see if her
corrected time was good enough to also claim the handicap trophy. Bull had to finish more than 65 hours later to lose.



Radow and his crew harnessed a strengthening tradewind as they approached the Hawaiian Islands and crossed the finish line off Honolulu’s Diamond Head with more
than 90 minutes to spare.



Andy Dovell, from Murray, Burns and Dovell, said today that the only significant difference between Bull and the original Sydney 40 One Design plan was that it had been
fitted with a more efficient keel. The nickel, aluminium and bronze fin and lead bulb were heavier than the standard keel. The fin was also smaller and as a result drag was
reduced. The yacht carried masthead spinnakers so that maximum sail area was achieved for the downwind race.



Pegasus was designed by the American group Reichel-Pugh and built by McConaghy Yachts at Mona Vale, a northern Sydney suburb. She has a three-way match race
all the way to the finish with sistership, Chance (also built by McConaghy's) and Roy E. Disney’s Pyewacket, the previous line honours winner and race record holder. Bull
was built at the Sydney Yachts facility at Nowra, south of Sydney.



After coordinating the building of the two yachts Smith, Sampson and their team went to California to commission the yachts and assist with preparing them for the
Transpac Race.


Marine Project Management recognises the contributions made by:


Mainstay Marine Electronics (Mona Vale, Sydney) for the electronics installation.

Barrenjoey Marine Electrics (Newport, Sydney) for the house electrics system.

Terry Wetton Signs (Brookvale, Sydney) for the design and application of graphics.

Phil Bate Yachtworks for the Grand Prix optimised rope and rigging packages.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT IAIN SMITH AT MARINE PROJECT MANAGEMENT ON 61-2 6732 5734. EMAIL smithI@northnet.com.au