EBS Yachting

EBS Yachting Image Galleries ... The EBS Yachting Media Zone is packed full of images from throughout the opening stages of this exciting campaign.
With several galleries from throughout the design and build process and more recent images from the official launch and the first sea trials of Maximus there are plenty of fresh images here for your viewing pleasure.

Proudly supporting EBS Yachting
and Maximus throughout the
2006 Rolex Sydney to Hobart
Ocean Race .

Excellence in Sport

[ 02 / 09 / 2005 ]

Rolex Advertorial written by the International Herald Tribune (Appeared Friday, 2nd September 2005).
Among the most splendid boats, Super Maxis duel on high seas.

Taking line honors in a Maxi - being the first boat to cross the line regardless of handicap result - is a dream that many yachtsmen have shared over the years, inspired by the sheer size of these colossal vessels and their ability to outrun most other sailing craft.

Being the biggest sailing yachts afloat, Maxis have always had the best chance of finishing first. The originals first sailed in the 1970s, when they were the largest boats allowed under international rules. They were sufficiently fast and seaworthy to cross oceans and became the craft of choice of pioneers of the Whitbread Round the World Race.

The racing giants in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2005 are the modern descendants of those early aquatic thoroughbreds. The rules governing the Maxi’s eligibility to race have since been relaxed and new technologies have been allowed to advance the speed and agility of these great behemoths.

" The world’s most technologically advanced monohull race yacht, Maximus is the first Super Maxi and one of very few monohulls to feature a rotating wing mast - more commonly found on highperformance catamarans "

Such technologies include the use of new, lighter materials, such as carbon fiber and epoxy resins, and the introduction of innovations such as asymmetric spinnakers, water ballast and swing keels.

It was the lack of restrictions that encouraged the New Zealanders Charles St. Clair Brown, a businessman and self-made millionaire, and his co-owner, Bill Buckley, an engineer, to build the record-breaking Maximus. They designed the craft specifically to win line honors, with just a single constraint of keeping the length to 30 meters (98 feet).

“I liked the idea of building a boat for Maxi regattas,” says St. Clair Brown. “I thought the world of yacht design had become too focused on designing around class rules and parameters, with the sole aim to beat the rules or over-performing within the rules.”

St. Clair Brown and Buckley wanted more than a regatta boat; they wanted an all-around vessel - an ocean racer, too. And they were prepared to spend $8 million and a lot of time in the University of Auckland wind tunnel in pursuit of their dream.

What resulted was the most technologically advanced monohull race yacht in the world today. Maximus is the first Super Maxi and one of the few monohulls to feature a rotating wing mast -more commonly found on high-performance catamarans. “It significantly lowers our rig drag,” says St. Clair Brown, “and that translates directly into improved boat speed.”

As well as sporting 800 square meters (8,611 square feet) of sail downwind, Maximus is equipped with a unique retractable keel, conceived and designed by fellow owner Buckley.

When raised, it can reduce her draft from 6 meters to 4 meters - especially useful when entering a harbor - and is capable of being canted 50 degrees off center, swinging from side to side in just 20 seconds, to keep the boat at the best angle when heeling over in the wind.

“We wanted a yacht with the maximum righting moment and a very high power-toweight ratio, and a boat that is fully powered at a low wind speed,” explains St. Clair Brown.

Since being launched in February, Maximus has performed in line with the New Zealanders’ expectations - and their computer predictions. The Super Maxi won line honors for the Auckland to Tauranga Race in its very first outing, and then won the prestigious Rolex Transatlantic Challenge in only its second race, completing the run from New York to the Lizard in nine days, 19 hours and eight minutes, and smashing the century-old record by 57 hours.

Unfortunately for the 20-strong crew, although they won the race on handicap, they arrived just three hours behind Mari-Cha IV, a modern 43-meter (140-foot) schooner with twice the sail area of Maximus.

"We wanted to beat Mari-Cha IV on the water," Mike Quilter, Maximus's ex-America's Cup and Whitbread Round the World Race navigator, admitted later. "I suppose that's human nature. You like to think you try hard, but in an arm wrestle, she [Mari-Cha IV] has too much muscle."

St. Clair Brown fully expects Maximus to handle even better for the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup. “We’re very happy with the way she’s performing,’’ he says. ‘‘She’s sailing upwind at 10 knots and not many other yachts can do that. And we should go on improving her performance as we sail her.”

And he will be hoping for nothing less than line honors in each race at the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup 2005 in Sardinia.

Media Room Archives ...

[ 20 / 10 / 2006 ]	Thuraya Maximus Sights Set on Rolex Middle Sea ...........................................................................................................	[ read article ]
[ 10 / 10 / 2006 ]	Le Frustrazione della Trieste! ............................................................................................................................................	[ read article ]
[ 21 / 09 / 2006 ]	Paul Cayard Joins Maximus ..............................................................................................................................................	[ read article ]
[ 09 / 09 / 2006 ]	Blow Out The Cobwebs Not Batten Down The Hatches .................................................................................................	[ read article ]
[ 08 / 09 / 2006 ]	Spreading your Wild Oats .................................................................................................................................................	[ read article ]
[ 06 / 09 / 2006 ]	Maxi Worlds, Minimum Wind ..............................................................................................................................................	[ read article ]
[ 05 / 09 / 2006 ]	More Light Conditions For Day Two ..................................................................................................................................	[ read article ]
[ 04 / 09 / 2006 ]	Light Winds Make Heavy Work For Maximus ....................................................................................................................	[ read article ]
[ 03 / 09 / 2006 ]	The Worlds Best Gather In Sardinia ..................................................................................................................................	[ read article ]
[ 04 / 08 / 2006 ]	An Interview With The Maximus Record-Breakers ...........................................................................................................	[ read article ]

[ more archived news ]