From
the Designers
Out of Office Reply
Not
to let an opportunity to slip by, leave the office and laptop behind and
get in some great wet and wild sailing, Merfyn Owen of Owen
Clarke Design LLP is competing in his first Class 40 Marblehead-Halifax
race aboard ’40 Degrees’ skippered by owner Peter Harding alongside the
crew of Miranda Merron and Alex Sizer. Miranda recently completed the
Artemis Transat on ’40 Degrees’ with a creditable seventh place in 18
days and 9 hours.
As
the yachts sail North towards Quebec for the start of the Quebec to Saint
Malo race returning to Europe, the Boston
Yacht Club and the Royal
Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron have teamed up to host the first C40 Trophy
in North America. This edition of the MHOR for 2008 will exclusively be
for boats in the Class 40 and will count for the Class 40 World Championship.
Merfyn
is not just on board as an extra pair of hands but to glean more information
on what these boats do best and to look at ways to optimise existing boats
and further the knowledge base for successive projects. Merfyn has also
competed in the Transat Jacques Vabre and Bermuda One-Two on board American
sailor Kip Stone’s Open 50 ‘Artforms’, now under the careful helm of Philippe
Khans’ Pegasus Racing stable.
Owen
Clarke Design has also seen the latest USA Class 40 arrival from UK based
Composite Creations for Mike Hennessey. Be sure to keep your eyes open
for Mike’s distinctly dashing ride ‘Dragon’ as he carefully works her
up for his summer sailing programme on the East Coast. Photos courtesy Max Ranchi.
