Big Time

Reader Rail Meat posted this superb description of the new 140' Mari Cha IV in the forum yesterday. Since so many postings just get buried to to the volume of traffic (i'm not complaining), and this was so good, I decided to put it here for those who did not get to see it. Thanks again to Mr. Meat and good luck to the boys on MC as they attempt to break the the Transatlantic Record. - Ed

Photo courtesy of Thierry Martinez

Let me start by saying Robert Miller deserves some serious kudos. It is easy to say that the guy has the pocket change to buy a boat like this, but when you see her it is clear that it takes vision, commitment and more than a pinch of crazy to embark on a program such as Mari Cha IV. The boat took my breath away.

One of the first things I noticed when stepping on board was an American football on the deck. And it is not because the crew was off playing on some field. The acreage of deck makes it easy to practice your bombs. You can get a serious work out just walking the perimeter. Another thing that strikes you as you walk it is how clean and well sorted the boat is. Except for two relatively small blister coach roofs where the companion ways are, the deck is remarkably flush. The cockpits are not very deep, maybe 2 feet. And they have painted the two feet or so of deck closest to the rail with a contrasting white color that is different than the rest of the gray deck in an apparent attempt to give the crew a visual reference that they are getting close to the rail. Without it, the expanse of the deck is so vast it is easy to lose one's orientation.

Almost all deck hardware is Harken, and the systems are incredibly cool. Their car adjustment system is both elegant, and appears to be very effective. There are three stations for winch pedestals and they drive the winches as well as the Navtec hydraulic systems. This does not count the ram for the canting keel, which is electrically powered. The ram itself is the size of an oil drum, and apparently is best powered by having the engine running when you want to move it. Supposedly the genset can do the job, but the engine is best for throwing off the amps necessary to do the job.

In addition to the canting keel, the boat has water ballast. However, the tanks are relatively modestly sized, more in the range of what you might find on a Volvo 60 than a boat this size. Apparently, it takes about 4 minutes to fill the tanks and the pumps are as modest as the tank size. All water tank controls are at the top of the stairs of the aft companion way.

As discussed yesterday, the sail program is all North, built in their NZ loft. The mainsails currently being used are Carbon 3DL, with taffeta. This is the cloth of choice through out the boat, although their stay sail is, if I remember correctly, a Dacron sail. The reinforcement patches are all Kevlar. The mains themselves were actually built well before the boat's completion and have been sitting on a shelf, as it were, waiting for the rest of the boat. North does not have a 3DL mold large enough for these monsters and the top and bottom halves were actually joined at one of the battens. Because of the length of run on the fibers a considerable amount of time and effort went in to getting the lay up correct. Over the next couple of months North NZ will be building two new mains. While the current ones are in very good condition, they are looking to add more size through increased roach. As it stands currently, the mains weigh about 230 kgs each.

The boat has no running sails. They have a Code 0, 1, 3, 5 and 7 all set on custom Facnor furlers. The largest head sail they have is 800 some odd square meters. Because they are using halyard locks, the headsails are all tensioned hydraulically at the tack. The mechanism is actually really cool, but a bit hard to explain. The carbon furling unit on the head stay is custom built.

Photo courtesy of Thierry Martinez

Forward of the mizzen mast they set mizzen stay sails that are tacked to a fitting that is immediately aft of the forward companion way. When tacking or gybing, the MS 1 or MS 2 sails are furled, the tack is blown and the sail walked back behind the main boom, then the gybe is executed and the mizzen sail is retacked on and set. There are no asyms for the mizzen mast.

The rigs themselves are huge. I can not even imagine what kind of whistling sound the booms make as they gybe. They have lazy jacks set up and angles on the side of each slab boom to help with the flaking of the mains. The stays are all stainless rod ("stick with what you know" was the comment made).

Below, there are zero concessions made to cruising comforts. This is a stripped out racing machine. The galley consists of 2 separate gimbaled propane burners, a sink and 4 drawers for supplies. Carbon counter top and that is it. No table, no sitting area, no fridge, no nothing. You eat freeze dried out of a Tupperware with your carbon spoon on this boat.

Pipe berths in the mid to aft ship area on each side, and a head. There is a Yanmar diesel power plant in the center of the boat, and a genset immediately forward of that. I did not see the owner's cabin, but based on the rest of the boat I think the only concession it makes is one of privacy. The navstation is under the forward companion way and has two nice race car chairs and the usual equipment. B&G 2000 displays are all over the boat and give any crew a good view of what is going on. They are using a dedicated Furno radar, and their nav package is Max Sea. The navstation is the only place on the boat where there is any cushions or padding, and this is all in the form of protection for the navigator(s). Clearly, no one expects to spend any time below on this boat unless they are in their rack. That being said, there is 6' 3" head room through out every compartment of the boat so moving around is painless. Immediately under the aft companion way is a crew "ready room" with stowage for foul weather gear and the like. The head is directly aft of the stairs and the racks are on either side of this space.

They are taking a crew of 23 on this record attempt. They sailed her over to the States with 18, 10 of whom got off in Bermuda, with 8 sailing her for the last 660 miles. During sea trials they were able to sail her with as few as 5.

The crew is about 10 kiwis, 8 frogs, a south african, a couple of americans and one or two others. Robert Miller is making the run with them for the record.

The comment was made that she really was not finished yet, and you can see that in a few spots around the boat. She has been in the water approximately 2 months, and as soon as they finish this attempt they will be bearing off to France taking her out of the water for more work. Masts are going to come out of the boat and they plan on playing with the rig a bit and doing some finish work for a month or two. The guy I spoke with did not know what the notch in the bow stem was, but figured it was some sort of additional fitting for a sprit stay that would be fitted in this next round of finish work.

The crew was meeting at the boat at 0600 this morning and had planned on heading down the Hudson River to make the run to Falmouth. Looking out my office window, I can not see the masts up at Chelsea Piers so I think they are off. Best wishes for a safe and record breaking passage.