Deck and hull of German America’s Cup yacht joined

by United Internet Team Germany on 14 Mar 2006 The first German America’s Cup yacht GER-89 is taking shape. Last weekend
(11/12 March), the deck was fitted to the hull at the Knierim-Yachtbau shipyard in Kiel. This was another milestone on the way to the boat’s official christening on 24 April and it was passed without any problems. In summer, the United Internet Team Germany plans to take up the in-water testing to tune the boat for the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup of the Challengers of the 32nd America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain.

The tension was almost tangible – would they really fit together in the end?
Very slowly, the boat builders lifted the deck of the new GER-89 and lowered it above the hull. “Wedding“ is what they call this moment. And in spite of computer calculations that are exact to the millimetre, a certain degree of uncertainty always remains. So when the two carbon fibre parts matched perfectly together, the Knierim and United Internet Team Germany technicians gave a sigh of relief.

“I never had any serious doubts, but I am still glad to know everything went OK in the end,“ confessed the technical director Eberhard Magg, who could not witness the “wedding“ personally. He was at Formular Spars in Lymington, England to inspect the progress of the mast. “We are operating just in time on various levels,“ said the 41-year old from Southern Germany, “and there’s quite a bit of work left to do over the next couple of weeks.“ Now that the deck and hull have been matched for life with special glue, various reinforcements are required and the yacht will be equipped with fittings, winches, grinders and lots more. The inner structure of the German Cup yacht with the keel construction will be kept shut to curious eyes.

Magg: “How we have solved the important question of the stiffness of the boat will be kept secret for as long as possible.“ Just before the “wedding“, the pitch-black carbon hull had for the first time seen the light of day. For Hercules, a mobile crane, to be able to heave the deck above the hull, a part of the 30-metre long, custom-built oven for GER-89 had to be opened up. “15 of our best staff laid hands on the bride when she was at last walked in,“ said Steffen Müller, general manager of Knierim-Yachtbau.

His team will not even have a weekend off now. Until Monday, 24 April, when Eva Luise Köhler, the wife of Germany’s president Horst Köhler will christen the boat in Kiel, still a number steps need to be accomplished in the construction. Next, the keel fin will arrive, then the keel bulb, the rudder, and so on. And of course the boat will get a shiny finish for the big day.

However, she will not be used by the United Internet Team Germany in the Acts 10 to 12, the pre-regattas leading up to the 32nd AC in May and June.

Skipper Jesper Bank wants to take his time and carefully tune the boat for the bigger challenges lying ahead. “We are all anxious to see what potential the new yacht has,“ says the Dane, “but a pre-mature regatta test wouldn’t do any good at all.“


Typical technical data of an America’s Cup yacht:

Length-over-all: approx. 26 metres
Beam: approx. 4 metres
Draft: 4.10 metres
Mast: approx. 33 metres
Weight: max. 24 tons
Keel weight: nearly 20 tons
Sail area upwind: approx. 320 square metres
Mainsail: approx. 215 square metres
Spinnaker: approx. 510 square metres