EBS Yachting - New Zealand Supermaxi Race Yacht

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 .


	Maximus, a 30 metre Greg Elliott designed supermaxi launched February 14th at the Auckland Viaduct Harbour, is the most technologically advanced monohull race yacht in the world. She features: – Light displacement carbon fiber construction – Carbon fibre rotating wing mast – Retractable canting keel – Maximum power to weight ratio – 500 Square Meter upwind sail area – 800 Square Meter downwind sail area ‘Velocity Prediction analysis’ indicates that Maximus will be a race winner and record breaker! “We wanted a yacht with the maximum righting moment and a very high power to weight ratio, and a boat that is fully powered at a low wind speed”, explains co-owner Charles St Clair Brown. “We wouldn’t have built the boat unless we hadn’t been very happy with the VPP’s (Velocity Predictions). We did a huge amount of VPP analysis with Clay Oliver, and also ran various scenarios including water ballasting and canting. Plus the various hull forms – beamier and narrower at the waterline. And have all been analysed as best as we can with the computer. “With these boats you don’t have the time to go off and tank test, so you have to use known information about hull forms and the like. “This boat is designed for all-round offshore racing. “

Retractable Canting Keel Canting keels are a natural progression of development in yacht design. There have been cases where the mechanisms have failed but like so many advances in technology this is all part of the learning curve. Typically failures have occurred as a result of a lack of backup systems and safety devices combined with under engineered systems and structure. Maximus’ keel is retractable which reduces her draft to 4 metres, and extends to 6 metres and is capable of being canted 50 degrees off centre to provide a massive righting moment. The idea comes from co-owner Bill Buckley whose company developed the engineering necessary to both raise and extend the keel into the “centrecase” or hollow keel strut. Buckley Systems Limited also designed and engineered the keel canting mechanism which features a number of failsafe systems. A special feature of the canting mechanism is that it has been designed to be housed below the saloon floor, and doesn’t intrude into the working area below decks. Carbon Fibre Rotating Wing Mast Maximus is the first supermaxi and one of the few monohulls to feature a rotating wingmast – more commonly found on high performance catamarans. As a former Tornado catamaran sailor, St Clair Brown isn’t fazed with the concept. “It significantly lowers our rig drag” he says “and that translates directly into improved boat-speed”. The rotating mast was designed by Chris Mitchell and Southern Spars, who built a similar rig for Ellen MacArthur in her recent record-breaking around the world run. Carbon fibre with about a 650mil (3ft wide) chord, stayed with Future Fibres PBO rigging which is very light, strong and low drag. The spar is also notable for having only two sets of spreaders instead of the usual four, plus a set of smaller diamond spreaders lower in the rig. All this adds up to reduced drag and more speed. Advantages are: Aerofoil shape produces much lower drag Wind attaches to the front of the mast and therefore increases sail area They allow lower aspect rigs for the proportionally higher sail area than a conventional rig because their shape allows you to carry large, high roach top mainsails.