‘One of the coolest things we’ve ever done’ is how Adolfo Carrau of designers Botín & Partners recalls the Botín 65 racer-cruiser High Spirit

Sleek looks, yes, but don’t be fooled – High Spirit is more than a stylish package. Design sister Caro finished runner-up in IRC 1 in a highly competitive 2016 Rolex Middle Sea Race on corrected time, finishing less than one hour behind the full-on lightweight DSS racer Maverick.

Just two boats have been built to the Botín 65 design. One, Caro, has been very extensively campaigned but is still a beautiful yacht. The second, High Spirit, is barely out of the wrapper and ready to win.

‘We are usually approached to design pure racing boats and we seem to do very well in this high-end market niche,’ says designer Adolfo Carrau.

‘However, when a private owner calls us to design a fast and beautiful boat without comprom ises and forgetting about any rating or box rules, then it’s a dream come true!

‘This is what happened when we designed Caro and High Spirit, as both owners were interested primarily in having a very fast boat to enjoy with friends and a small crew, mixing cruising and racing around the world.

‘We had a blank sheet of paper to create a unique boat for each owner, and we had a great time with both! The build standard matches the latest TP52 or Maxi72 – the owner really wanted the very best.’

‘All our experience in racing boats for the Volvo and America’s Cup has been applied to the build of this amazing yacht. Using the most sophisticated materials and to a great design, High Spirit is one of the finest yachts that we have ever launched.’ – Pablo Santarsiero, managing director of King Marine

Built by the composite artisans at King Marine at the end of 2015, High Spirit is equipped for sale with an inventory that would flatter a superyacht of twice the size. Every thing about the yacht is to the highest spec imaginable: high-modulus spars and bowsprit, carbon 3Di sails and an electronics and hydraulics inventory powerful enough to launch a satellite. And every single element of this boat is today as good as (or better than) new.

High Spirit features an all-carbon hull and structure, with a Nomexcored deck to keep the centre of gravity low and sailing stability high, finished off with a beautiful teak deck. Then there is a hydraulic lifting keel to get you in close to the sand plus a state-of-the-art hydraulic drive train to silently but speedily spin the latest Harken performance winches.

Sailing electronics are by B&G, hydraulic management and power by Cariboni, lines and cordage are all by Armare, with a second North Sails delivery wardrobe to keep the 3Di race sails pristine. As we said, the best of the best wherever you look.

This fast lift-keel 65-footer is being offered in as new condition for offers on €3,950,000 – a deep discount compared with building new. Not to mention that the boat is ready on the dock in Valencia today for this year’s Med racing season…

A race-winning new yacht from one of the world’s top designers and with a contemporary and light interior, the High Spirit cruising offer is also both elegant and extraordinary. And that race performance… a yacht with this degree of elegance that gets up on the plane when you start to lean on her in earnest. What else could any ambitious sailor ever ask for?

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Coming to a (big) race near you – Mirpuri Foundation Save the Ocean

Those of us lucky enough to cross an ocean or race offshore for any length of time will have an innate sense of appreciation and wonder at the beauty and power of the sea – it’s this very primal urge within us that binds us all together as sailors. And yet, as we know, some of the most important features of the sea and its ecosystems are under threat from human interference – most likely for the first time in the planet’s history. Consequences now include measurable effects and influence on not just our aesthetic values as sailors but also the lives and well-being of those who depend on being on and around the sea.

The Mirpuri Foundation is a non-profit organisation set up by businessman and philanthropist Paulo Mirpuri as a vehicle to support specific projects in many diverse but interrelated fields, including marine conservation, wildlife conservation and general social responsibility.

In marine conservation the foundation is promoting a number of projects and initiatives relating to ocean conservation and events to consolidate and reinforce these objectives moving forward into the future. Besides specific projects such as the Save the Ocean campaign, the Mirpuri Foundation also works to spread a message of increasing awareness among global authorities of the importance of protecting oceans and of the wider dangers faced by the whole planet due to pollution and the effects of the human contribution to climate change – over which we do have power to control.

Main picture: the Reichel-Pugh design Green Dragon was the VO70 on which 2014/15 race winner Ian Walker cut his ‘Volvo race teeth’. Green Dragon was built in a rush and came out overweight which greatly hampered the team’s competitiveness, Walker’s team finishing 5th out of eight entries – but the two-time Olympic medallist skipper was not put off…

Above: Paulo Mirpuri at the helm of his chartered VO70 Green Dragon. The well-known Portuguese businessman and philanthropist has a remarkably diverse range of investments spread around the world – including co-founding NetJets Europe with the wizard of Omaha Warren Buffet; the ‘Uber’ private jet operation is of course transport of choice for a select few superyacht racing crew...

Ocean-related scientific research is a powerful tool to help us to better understand what is going on and how to protect the oceans, which ultimately means protecting the life of our future generations. There are many issues that informed governments should be dealing with as a priority, including illegal fishing (accounting for 20 per cent of the fish caught in the ocean), deep-sea mining projects, sea temperature rise, ocean acidification and the spread of invasive species.

The Mirpuri Foundation is heavily invested in spreading the message to the public and governments across the globe, informing them of the levels of pollution we now experience, with the emission of billions of tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into earth’s atmosphere; the oceans are currently absorbing about a third of this pollution, about 22 million tons a day. But this buffer cannot last for ever and will reach a saturation point, one that some scientists regard as a potential point of no return for preventing increased atmospheric C02.

In this scenario the Mirpuri Foundation aims to lead by activities planned for 2017-2019 includes the promotion of initiatives to transmit a clear message accessible to as many people as possible. The first item in the Save the Ocean campaign was to assemble a boat and crew to make a transatlantic crossing from the Cape Verde Islands to Barbados, with meetings and media events at each end of the passage designed to highlight ocean conservation. These issues are very real for the fishermen and divers in Cape Verde, who gave testimony to the degradation of their fish stocks due to overfishing from foreign fleets and a depletion of coral reefs from acidification and pollution. With help from the foundation, a local Oceanographic Institute has been established as well as support for an artificial reef initiative to help recreate habitats for both diving and fish stocks.

Like his Portuguese forefathers, the master mariners of the 15th century, Paulo Mirpuri and his team headed west from Cape Verde for the New World. Their destination, Barbados, was discovered by the Portuguese a century before the English colony was established in 1627 and used as a stopover en route to Brazil. But unlike his forefathers, Mirpuri and his team covered the 2,300nm trip in only 160 hours on their chartered VO70 Green Dragon, reaching speeds unimaginable in the 15th century.

This fast passage had significant symbolic value for the project, with Mirpuri saying ‘The work and dedication of a yacht crew to achieve their objective, to follow a route and arrive safely, are reflected in the values of the Mirpuri Foundation. Ethics, courage, tenacity, persistence, hope, team spirit, technology and innovation are fundamental in the saga of an ocean crossing.’

There were also broader benefits to this trip, with Mirpuri adding ‘To cross an ocean helps us to become aware that it is truly possible to make the world better for future generations, starting with our own children. To know that every decision and every step count for the success of a sailing expedition, or for the good of humanity and of the planet, is to recognise the importance of teamwork and the values that guide it. When work, commitment and pleasure are combined, nothing is impossible.’

This brief passage to Barbados is just the beginning of a three-year programme for Save the Oceans which plans to assemble a team to participate in ‘a significant roundthe- world race in 2020’ – pointing towards that year’s edition of the Volvo Ocean Race. As a Portuguese national Paulo Mirpuri intends to honour his country and its long history with the oceans. ‘This is why we decided that the Mirpuri Foundation yacht will have an all Portuguese crew; we will use the next three years to train this team to the highest level.’

The Mirpuri sailing project has already received dozens of applications from top Portuguese sailors, some with world titles and Olympic participation on their CV.

Depending on the talent recruited, it will only then be decided whether the crew to take part in ‘the regatta’ will be male, female or mixed. ‘It is not enough for them to be good technically. It is essential that, as ambassadors of the Mirpuri Foundation, they share our values. Our main aim will be to publicise the foundation’s work on the conservation of marine ecosystems.’

As a matter of policy, the Mirpuri Foundation also supports projects investigating new means by which to protect marine species, as well as seeking to raise awareness of the need for more sensible – and acceptable – conservation laws and policies. Save the Ocean believes that a high-profile racing project will help facilitate this mission.

Confirmation of the ‘chosen’ international racing event will come in June and by the end of 2017 the final selection of the team will be concluded. Offshore training will then continue right through until the ‘mystery event’ begins in 2020.

‘I will be present throughout the training process and at all the race stopovers, and I will be onboard the Mirpuri yacht but only during the last stage of the race…’ says Paulo Mirpuri. ‘A round-the-world ocean race is a very serious undertaking and must be left to professionals; I shall leave that part to them!

‘Of course I dream of a victory for our team, but our main objective is to take part and to complete the race, taking the message of the Mirpuri Foundation to all continents and raising awareness of our cause among the maximum possible number of people.’

Click here for more information on The Mirpuri Foundation »

With more space and better aesthetics, Oyster take a top-down approach

When builders point to the greater volume of a new model over its predecessor the risk is that the increase has been achieved at the expense of looks. More volume rarely leads to better aesthetics. Yet Oyster’s G6 range marks a step forward in both areas, delivering sleeker, more modern appearance while offering significantly more space above and below decks.

But the new style is much more than simply a smart exercise in creating a good-looking, voluminous boat. Since the G6 range was first announced in 2012 the project has been an ambitious one that extends from the new flagship of the fleet, the 118 that is currently in build, through seven models, to the recently announced 565 and 595s. A comprehensive new lineup that is arguably one of the boldest in the company’s history. There are certain details in the G6 approach that stand out immediately.

Stepping onto the new 745 (above) most noticeable is the sleeker, lowerprofile deck with its tinted, wrap-around saloon windows. The landscapeoriented ‘seascape’ hull port lights are another signature of the new marque. Cleaner-looking, clutter-free decks are also part of a new style, as are sail plans that incorporate blade jibs, bowsprits, swept-back spreaders, full-width chainplates and carbon rigs.

And when you drill down into the detail on deck, the arrangement of control lines that run back discretely to cockpit-mounted rope clutches makes for an intelligently laid-out configuration that is easier to use, while relying on fewer winches than would traditionally have been the norm. Leading the jib sheets aft in this manner has also addressed the issue of keeping flogging lines away from the guest cockpit!

But this is still a long way off the full story behind the development of the G6 range. Instead, the starting point for the project was the gradual change in the size of boats that owners were happy to handle themselves and the way in which they used them. The increased volume that is a feature of the G6 range came from a different area of development.

Frequently new models are developed as owners look to move up in size and, while the G6 fleet will provide a natural progression for those looking to trade up, it was not the manner in which the new range was conceived. Rather, the development came the other way, with lessons learnt in much bigger models providing the cues for smaller boats. And the model that triggered the change was the Oyster 100.

Her length means that she has to comply with the marine and coastguard agency large yacht code (LYC) which, among other details, sets out minimum dimensions for some of the accommodation. The net result is this professionally run 100-footer has two cabins for crew and just three for guests.

Owners of, say, a 56 or 575, who have no crew to cater for and will be used to having four cabins for themselves and their guests, would be justified in questioning the appeal of a boat that is almost twice the length but has less guest accommodation.

It was this that triggered a new approach.

The starting point was to create a design that was close to, but not exceeding, the lower limit of LYC compliance, resulting in the 885. From here the designers looked at how to make full use of the voluminous hull from an accommodation point of view while at the same time using the fuller form to boost performance. In essence this came down to a subtle shift in the distribution of buoyancy to generate more righting moment and hence more power, yet without increasing wetted area.

From here a towing tank program at the Wolfson Unit in Southampton provided validation of the new hull shape. A fuller form in the after-sections also lends itself to twin-rudders which in turn offer other benefits including reduced draft, reduced drag and more efficient performance, particularly upwind. All of which was again validated in the towing tank.

When it came to the accommodation layout, the new shape and greater volume allowed some fresh thinking, starting with options for two different superstructures; this gave us scope to create a greater choice of cabin configurations and a variety of layouts to suit both professionally crewed and owner-run boats. The concept was repeated aboard the 825 and then the 745.

The central challenge of the new G6 range has been to take some of the best features and styling cues from Oyster’s largest designs and then work hard to replicate them in a yacht that is more likely to be sailed without many – or often even any – full time crew

Step aboard any one of the current crop of G6 models and you will see the changes first hand. Having sailed the 745 (and being familiar with the previous generation, in particular the 56), it was easy to feel the difference with the new fuller hull and twin-rudder configuration. Upwind in 10-15kt of breeze she has a balanced feel, one key to a successful twin-rudder configuration. Downwind, with large gennaker set, she maintained the direct feel with plenty of grip, even when pushed hard.

Below decks it’s again clear to see where the 745 has taken her cues. Most notably with the dual companionway forward either side of the mast. To starboard there is a guest cabin, while to port the longitudinal galley also provides a passageway forward to the crew accommodation.

Having two passageways forward was an idea that was taken from the 825 and allows crew and guests to move back and forth freely without having to pass through each other’s areas. Another innovative detail is the sliding panel and door on the galley side that allow the galley and crew accommodation to be closed off completely from the guest accommodation. Particularly useful when chartering.

From the 745 evolution continued ‘downward’ with the development of the 675. Once again the additional hull volume plus the new style allowed designers to develop new layouts while incorporating some of the lessons learnt aboard her larger sisterships.

The latest models to join the range are also the smallest in the G6 range, the 565 and 595. Embarking on two new models, both with new and individual hulls, has been another bold call for the company. Despite being almost half the length of the former flagship that prompted the new approach, these two fifty-something footers carry the same DNA as the bigger boats in the range. They have twin-rudders, bowsprits, blade jibs and the same rig configuration as their bigger sisters, yet these boats have been specifically designed for family sailing and to be easily handled shorthanded. Indeed, when the experience from owners and crews of a growing round-the-world rally fleet was factored in, Oyster believe they have been able to bring a new level of design refinement to the whole G6 range.

The experience gleaned from these rallies suggests that owners are happy to utilise modern design and tech - nology to make boathandling easier. As such, boat sizes have grown while crew sizes have shrunk. Today it is common to sail long distances with four rather than six. Some are sailing the same-sized boats but as couples. This has freed up space below decks and allowed a different approach to the overall layout.

So while the outward appearance continues in a similar style, the interior layout sees new ideas including the option of moving the owner’s cabin forward to the bow with twin guest cabins aft, plus an extended transom (left) with integral dinghy garage – all made possible by some subtle tweaks of the freeboards. A forward owner’s cabin is particularly attractive for Mediterranean sailing where mooring stern-to is now the norm.

The next wave of G6 launches will follow over the coming 18 months at both ends of the range. The first 118 is expected to launch in December 2017 with handover in spring 2018. The first 565 will be launched in 2018 too, with the 595 following in April 2019. By then Oyster’s G6 range will have expanded in more ways than one, yet not at the expense of good looks.

Click here for more information on Oyster Yachts »