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Displaying items by tag: First Yacht 53

After two years of development, Beneteau’s First Yacht 53 will be shown for the first time at the Cannes Yachting Festival this September, followed by autumn boat shows in Genoa, Barcelona and in the US at Annapolis.

The 17-metre yacht — with a hull designed by America’s Cup veteran Roberto Biscontini and interior/exterior stylings by Lorenzo Argento — is a performance-ready vessel that aims for excellence in fast, comfortable sailing to meet the expectations of the most demanding sailors, according to the French luxury yacht marque.

Featuring a full plumb bow and a maximum beam further aft, the twin rudders promise perfect feedback to control the highly responsive hull.

The 2.5m or 3m draught (with lead bulb), as well as an optional carbon mast, are intended to give the First Yacht 53 the competitive advantage to clock up miles quickly.

“To achieve maximum thrills at the helm, we focused on balancing weight and balance under sail when we designed the boat,” Beneteau explains.

“We worked hard to optimise the position of the centre of buoyancy in relation to the centre of effort, guaranteeing a lively yacht under sail, responding quickly to the helm.”

Beneath asked “the best outfitters” to provide their top-performing products: North Sails for the sails, Harken for the deck gear, Lorima for the mast and Lemer for the keel. All were involved on the recent design of the Figaro Beneteau 3 with foils.

Upgrades for this newest in the First range include improved deck circulation with a layout emphasising the experience above deck, and a hull built using the infusion process.

“I have always looked for performance on the boats that I sail and build. The First Yacht 53 is a lot like me!” Biscontini says.

Beneteau yachts are distributed in Ireland by BJ Marine, which will be at Cannes to see the launch of the French marque’s other new arrival, the ‘Smart Luxury’ generation Monte Carlo 52.

Published in BJ Marine

The Kingstown to Queenstown Yacht Race or 'K2Q', previously the Fastnet 450

The Organising Authority ("OA") are ISORA & SCORA in association with The National Yacht Club & The Royal Cork Yacht Club.

The Kingstown to Queenstown Race (K2Q Race) is a 260-mile offshore race that will start in Dun Laoghaire (formerly Kingstown), around the famous Fastnet Rock and finish in Cork Harbour at Cobh (formerly Queenstown).

The  K2Q race follows from the successful inaugural 'Fastnet 450 Race' that ran in 2020 when Ireland was in the middle of the COVID Pandemic. It was run by the National Yacht Club, and the Royal cork Yacht Club were both celebrating significant anniversaries. The clubs combined forces to mark the 150th anniversary of the National Yacht Club and the 300th (Tricentenary) of the Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Of course, this race has some deeper roots. In 1860 the first-ever ocean yacht race on Irish Waters was held from Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) to Queenstown (now Cobh).

It is reported that the winner of the race was paid a prize of £15 at the time, and all competing boats got a bursary of 10/6 each. The first race winner was a Schooner Kingfisher owned by Cooper Penrose Esq. The race was held on July 14th 1860, and had sixteen boats racing.

In 2022, the winning boat will be awarded the first prize of a cheque for €15 mounted and framed and a Trophy provided by the Royal Cork Yacht Club, the oldest yacht club in the world.

The 2022 race will differ from the original course because it will be via the Fastnet Rock, so it is a c. 260m race, a race distance approved by the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club as an AZAB qualifier. 

A link to an Afloat article written by WM Nixon for some history on this original race is here.

The aim is to develop the race similarly to the Dun Laoghaire–Dingle Race that runs in alternate years. 

Fastnet 450 in 2020

The South Coast of Ireland Racing Association, in association with the National Yacht Club on Dublin Bay and the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Cork, staged the first edition of this race from Dun Laoghaire to Cork Harbour via the Fastnet Rock on August 22nd 2020.

The IRC race started in Dun Laoghaire on Saturday, August 22nd 2020. It passed the Muglin, Tuscar, Conningbeg and Fastnet Lighthouses to Starboard before returning to Cork Harbour and passing the Cork Buoy to Port, finishing when Roches's Point bears due East. The course was specifically designed to be of sufficient length to qualify skippers and crew for the RORC Fastnet Race 2021.

At A Glance – K2Q (Kingstown to Queenstown) Race 2024

The third edition of this 260-nautical mile race starts from the National Yacht Club on Dublin Bay on July 12th 2024 finishes in Cork Harbour.

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