max Z86 Class embraces canting keel technology

by Sail-World on 28 Nov 2002 The founding owners of the maxZ86 Class have voted to embrace the use of canting keels for their new
86-foot turbo-sled maxiboats. Well-known designer Bill Lee, Santa Cruz, CA, who is writing the level rule for the new class, announced the move today.

Bob McNeil of San Francisco, who six months ago launched the water-ballasted Zephyrus V as the first of the new maxi class, is joining sled owners Roy Disney, Los Angeles, and Hasso Plattner,
San Francisco, in building canting-keel maxi-raters designed to the modified maxZ86 level class rule.

Other potential owners are
expected to follow suit.

Disney & Plattner’s boats under already construction. The new
Pyewacket is building at Cooksons Boatyard in Auckland, New Zealand
and will be launched in September next year.

Work has also started on the new Morning Glory at McConaghy Boats in Sydney for delivery in the Australian spring.

McNeil will use his present boat as a
test-bed and will start construction on a new canting keel boat in
the latter half of 2004.

The maxZ86 owners will race their speedsters as the new line honors
class for the 43rd Biennial Transpac Race in 2005. The Transpacific
Yacht Club approved canting keels in 1997, and has approved the new
class, subject to three boats starting in the 2005 race. The class
has planned an extensive three-year racing schedule, starting in
2004.

In early November, McNeil skippered Zephyrus V to a line honors
victory in the inaugural Isla Navidad Race spanning 1,178 miles
from Long Beach, California, to Manzanillo, Mexico. Nicknamed the
“El Ultimo Mexico Race”, the event was organized by Newport Harbor
Yacht Club and Long Beach Yacht Club. Zephyrus V completed the
course in four days, 10 hours, 55 minutes, 11 seconds and corrected
to first in Class A and second overall in the 11-boat fleet.

In July this year, McNeil's new boat made its race debut in the
West Marine Pacific Cup Race from San Francisco to Kaneohe, HI,
when, sailing with a heavier-than-usual keel and without water
ballast she set a new record over the distance for boats without
water ballast. Zephyrus V raced to Mexico with her light keel and
water ballast.

'Never has a boat proven faster or more exciting,” said McNeil
today. “With Zephyrus V, we set out to bring a fast new,
streamlined look to the top end of the owners' game in sailing and
with did that with distinction. However the debut performance of Bob Oatley's canting keel Riechel Pugh 60 Wild Oats at Australia's Hahn Premium Hamilton Island Race Week 2002 this August
foreshadowed the future. The decision to adopting canting keels was a logical path for our class to follow while still in its formative stages.'

Roy Disney, who joined with McNeil in founding the maxZ86 Class,
said: 'Bob's pioneering efforts with his present boat and his
selfless decision to support and encourage the use of canting keels
has bestowed added focus and brings added impetus to the new game
at the top of the sport of sailing. Everyone involved with maxZ86
is looking for fast, exhilarating competition in similar boats and
we are a major step closer to this goal.'

The owner-led class has directed Lee, famed for his success over
two decades with ULDB sleds, to incorporate canting keels into the
level class rule. Lee, who intends to publish the first draft of
the revised rule in the near future, is seeking input from
interested designers and potential owners.

“We intend to open this class to as many designers and owners as
possible,” Lee said. “To that end, the rule will recognize boats
using a variety of canting keel approaches, including single and
twin daggerboards common to the Open 50s and 60s and the patented
DynaYacht Canting Ballast, Twin Foil™ (CBTF) technology used on the
Schock 40s and Wild Oats.”

Elaborating on the rule philosophy, Lee added: “The mechanism by
which the maxZ86 rule intends to create close racing is to allow
generous, but not unlimited, amounts of each speed-producing
factor. The rule will be subject to a freeze for a period of time,
followed by systematic reviews as newer and faster technologies
become practical, such that the fleet can be updated at reasonable
intervals.”

There will be an Owner-Driver Rule for inshore racing and for
starting and finishing offshore racing. For more information about
the class, including a draft copy of the maxZ86 Rule, contact Bill
Lee at wizard@fastisfun.com.

All three founding members of the maxZ86 Class are long-time ocean
racing sailors who have broken many major offshore sailing records.

Bob McNeil, a businessman who makes his home in San Francisco, is a
long-time competitive sailor. His history includes 505s, Solings
and Stars. He is a past 505 Class North American champion. All
told he has raced in some 19 different countries. In 2000, his
turbo sled Zephyrus IV broke the Cape Town to Rio Race record by
almost two days.

Roy Disney, Los Angeles, vice chairman of the Walt Disney Company,
has had an ongoing love affair with the Transpac since his first
race in 1975, missing only one since (in '97, due to a broken leg).
He's raced four Transpacs on his Sparkman & Stephens 52-foot yawl
Shamrock, one each on the SC 50 Samurai and the ULDB 60 Dare, two
on his N/M 68 Pyewacket, three on his SC 70+ Pyewacket, and two on
the 75-foot Pyewacket. He is the current Transpac record holder.

Hasso Plattner, CEO and co-founder of SAP AG, divides his time
between San Francisco and Walldorf, Germany. He started sailing on
the family 30 square-meter at the age of four. Sailing in 470s and
Windsurfers followed. His current 80-foot IMS maxi Morning Glory
has broken records in the Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro and
Sydney-Hobart Races.


THE maxZ86 CLASS CHAMPIONSHIP CIRCUIT

Racing on the championship circuit for the maxZ86 Class will
include at least one inshore regatta each year and a minimum of
three long distance offshore events where the class can stretch its
legs. The proposed schedule for the first three years is:

Season I - 2004

Jan. – Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Race
Mar. – St Maarten Regatta
April – Antigua Race Week
June – Bermuda Race (tentative)
July – Cork Race Week, Cork, Ireland
Sept. – Sardinia Maxi Regatta
Oct. – Middle Sea Race or St Tropez

Season II -2005

Feb. – Pineapple Cup, Montego Bay Race
April – Ensenada Race
July – Transpac
Sept. – Big Boat Series, San Francisco

Season III - 2006

Jan. – Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro
April – Antigua Race Week
June – Transatlantic Race
August – Fastnet Race

The web site for the new class is http://www.maxz86.com. The web
site for Zephyrus V is http://www.zephyrus5.com.