Well, the latest 100 foot supermaxi speed machine has been dunked. EBS Yachting splashed it’s custom-designed, canting-keel, rotating wingmast monster today. They’ve got a month of sea trials and then the yacht–christened “Maximus” (apparently the name “Biggus Dickus” wasn’t quite subtle enough)–is off to Antigua and beyond. Here’s the fun you can have if you are a multimillionaire with a massive, er, racing yacht:
April 2005: Caribbean – Antigua Race Week http://www.sailingweek.com
May 2005: Gulf Stream – 24hr World Record Attempt http://www.sailspeedrecords.com & Rolex Transatlantic Challenge http://www.nyyc.org
June 2005: St. Tropez, France – Giraglia Rolex Cup http://www.yci.it/giraglia/
July 2005: Sweden – Round Gotland Race http://www.gantgotlandrunt.org
Aug 2005: England – Skandia Cowes Week http://www.cowesweek.co.uk & Rolex Fastnet Race http://www.rorc.org/fastnet
Sept 2005: Costa Smeralda, Italy – Rolex Maxi Yacht World Cup http://www.yccs.it
Oct 2005: Malta – Rolex Middle Sea Race http://www.rolexmiddlesearace.com
Dec 2005: Australia – Rolex Sydney to Hobart http://www.rolexsydneyhobart.com
You can watch a video of the EBS story here. And a video of the move from the build shed to the water here. Maximus (I’m sorry, I just can’t take this name seriously. It just cries out for the right sponsorship, like “Viagra Maximus” or “Trojan Maximus”) will go up against Mari Cha in the Transatlantic Challenge, which should be an epic match race, and could line up against nine other supermaxis in next year’s Sydney-Hobart (assuming everyone has their keels and masts repaired by then). Here are some shots from the launch (the full gallery is here). I think this thing is going to fly…
Monster Maxi Maximus…
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