Billionaire Jim Clark built the 100-foot monohull superyacht Comanche for just one reason: speed records. If he wins races and knocks off rivals along the way, so be it, but this boat is all about going faster than any yacht ever has.
Currently headed to Australia, Comanche will go racing for the first time this December in the speed-hungry Sydney to Hobart race, a contest that's been dominated for the past seven years by Bob Oatley's Wild Oats. While Comanche is the same length as Wild Oats, it's a much different beast. Comanche sits deeper, runs wider, and weighs less than its rival.
Clark can thank pre-impregnated carbon fiber construction for those advantages. While French designers Van Peteghem Lauriot Prevost and Guillaume Verdier created the plans for Comanche, it was Hodgdon Yachts from Booth Bay Harbor, Maine, that pulled off a 100-foot monohull in the pre-impregnated style. Constructing such a massive monohull and deck with pre-woven composite fibers required the builders to heat the entire structure once it was done to properly cure the vessel.
Still, the entire yacht was built in a year—about half a typical yacht construction timeline, and includes a main mast set toward the boat's stern and a hull that can displace nearly 30 tons. Water-ballast tanks add stability, which is needed because the Comanche has more sail area than most vessels its size and runs stiffer and lighter than the competition.
Now, though, comes the record-setting stage. It's up to American skipper Ken Read, one of the world's most accomplished sailors, to push the yacht well beyond its expected average speed of more than 30 knots (around 35 miles per hour). While nobody expects the red and black Comanche to sail perfectly in its first race in the water (and staring out with the Sydney-Hobart represents a doozy of an inaugural run) the yacht has some big dates yet to come. Clark, a Navy vet, will set the Comanche in the Transatlantic, Transpac, Fastnet, and Middle Sea races in 2015. Every new race offers a new chance to wow the world.
Via Gizmodo.
Tim Newcomb is a journalist based in the Pacific Northwest. He covers stadiums, sneakers, gear, infrastructure, and more for a variety of publications, including Popular Mechanics. His favorite interviews have included sit-downs with Roger Federer in Switzerland, Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, and Tinker Hatfield in Portland.
