Following a major refit in New Zealand, Rio 100 has already being making waves on the regatta circuit, and her performance in the recent SoCal 300 was no exception.
Equipped with a new Hall Spars & Rigging racing boom, Rio 100 tore
around the 260 nautical mile SoCal 300 course, finishing the race in 16
hours and 27 minutes. The California race, which the Rio team say is
the best in the state, gave Rio's new Hall package a chance to
prove itself over the challenging course which saw the fleet weave
through offshore islands in some of the roughest water in California.
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| Image: Rio Racing |
Rio 100 has the upcoming TRANSPAC 2015 set firmly in her sights, and these latest results show she will definitely be one to watch.
Picasso, one of the first yachts to be fitted with a Hall Spars Oceanfurl
boom, when she was launched 17 years ago, recently had a Hall Spars
refresh during her major refit. The boom was changed from manual furling
to hydraulic furling to suit the new owner's push button sailing
requirements. It received a new carbon mandrel and other upgrades to
lighten the boom and lower the centre of gravity of the boat, improving
its sailability.
The Hall Spars New Zealand team have been in Hong Kong assembling the rigging on the new Ker 46, Zannekin. Zannekin
is a light-displacement, fully carbon-racing yacht designed to perform
to the highest level across a range of conditions in mixed fleet,
inshore and offshore races and Hall Spars was pleased to contribute to
the yacht's upcoming regatta campaigns.
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| Zannekin |
She was berthed next to her rival, the Mills 41 Ambush which
recently won the RHKYC Nations Cup thanks to some great crew work and
some good boat speed. Both of the high-performing new yachts are Hall
Spars NZ launches and both were meticulously crafted by McConaghy Boats.
The Ker 46 has a high-modulus two spreader carbon mast and carbon boom.
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| Ambush |
