Race1 Ker 50: Designed for the Admiral's Cup

Following the spectacular success of the Race1 Ker 11.3 in 2001 and already in 2002, Race1 has teamed up again with Ker Associates to launch the Race1 Ker 50 Designed to comply with the RORC's newly announced specification for the IRC Class at the 2003 Admiral's Cup, the Race1 Ker 50 will be very competitive in IRC competition as well as in IRM.

The Race1 Ker 11.3 has already shown how strong these yachts are in IRC with a spectacular series of results in 2001, including being 1st and 2nd in both the Queen's Cup and the Rocking Chair Trophy over all of Class 0 and Class 1 in Cowes Week. The top two Race1 Ker 11.3s had records of finishing either 1st or 2nd on corrected time in 69% and 58% respectively of over 50 races started in IRC competition, a performance that is difficult for any yacht to match. In the first main offshore event of 2002, the Cervantes Trophy race to Le Havre, five Race1 Ker 11.3s competed and they finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th in IRC Class 0.

The Race1 Ker 50 will be an exciting development of the 11.3 with a number of design refinements that will make it an even more competitive yacht. In boat for boat performance terms, the VPPs for the Race1 Ker 50 show that it will be between 12.9% and 13.2% faster than the 11.3 around different courses on average across the wind range. However, both the IRC and IRM ratings are expected to be only 12.5% higher than the 11.3 (1.304 IRC and 1.178 IRM for the Race1 Ker 50 against 1.159 IRC and 1.047 IRM for the 11.3), which will ensure that the Race1 Ker 50 will be a strong contender for the 2003 Admiral's Cup.

The Race1 Ker 50 will be built in Cape Town, South Africa. Race1's Philip Crebbin and the yacht's designer, Jason Ker, have recently visited there to select the builder. This will be Acheson Rossa, run by Richard Acheson with Jan Rossa looking after the technical side of the build program. They have the facilities and the capability to build the yacht to the high-tech standards required and Jason Ker himself will spend a substantial amount of time at the premises to oversee the construction. Carbon will be used throughout, in the hull construction as well as for the mast, spars and other parts.

In the limited time available only 4 or 5 boats can be completed for the 2003 Admiral's Cup. The first boat is already allocated to a South African customer, who is planning to compete with it in the 2003 Cape Town to Rio race next January. A number of people are already showing keen interest in the boat from the UK and Europe and as far afield as the USA and the Far East.

Race1 will offer the yacht in a similar way as the 11.3, complete and ready to race including sails, instruments, twin wheel steering and other items such as shipping cradle. There will be some options available, such as choice of sailmaker and sail construction, or choice of winch spec, with only the additional cost premium, if any, added to the price. The full specification is attached. The price of the yacht will be less than £400,000 (ex. VAT) in this ready to race spec. Shipping cost to the UK will be approximately £10-12,000.

Specifications