''Alfa Romeo II'' (rechristened ''Black Jack IV'') is a

maxi yacht A maxi yacht usually refers to a racing yacht of at least in length. Origin The term ''maxi'' originated with the International Offshore Rule (IOR) rating system, which in the 1970s and 1980s measured offshore racing yachts and applied a single ...

designed in 2005 by

Reichel/Pugh Reichel/Pugh is a yacht design company based in San Diego, California, United States. It is led by John Reichel and Jim Pugh. Since the late 1990s, Reichel/Pugh-designed yachts have successfully competed in many major races, including the Ame ...

for yachtsman

Neville Crichton Neville Alexander Crichton is a New Zealand businessman who was also a competitor in Australasian motor and yacht racing. Biography Born in New Zealand in 1945, Crichton left school aged 14 and entered the automotive industry. In 1972, he open ...

. First-to-finish in the 2009

Transpacific Yacht Race The Transpacific Yacht Race (Transpac) is a biennial offshore yacht race held in odd-numbered years starting off the Pt. Fermin buoy in San Pedro, California and ending off Diamond Head in Hawaii, a distance of around . In even-numbered years the P ...

("the Transpac"), she also set a new elapsed-time Transpac race record This reference clearly points out that it is the boat which raced in the 2009 Transpac. The boat is actually long; its design is called a "Reichel/Pugh 100." For reference to the boat consummating the new record, se
Transpac race news
. Scroll to page bottom; shows ''Alfa Romeo II'' major victories, including 2009 Transpac finish. for

monohull image:monohull.svg, right A monohull is a type of boat having only one hull (watercraft), hull, unlike multihulled boats which can have two or more individual hulls connected to one another. Fundamental concept Among the earliest hulls were simple ...

s. ''Alfa Romeo II'' is a "Reichel/Pugh 100" design measuring overall. She features a carbon fibre mast built by Southern Spars,

water ballast Ballast is used in ships to provide moment to resist the lateral forces on the hull. Insufficiently ballasted boats tend to tip or heel excessively in high winds. Too much heel may result in the vessel capsizing. If a sailing vessel needs to vo ...

, and a

canting keel A canting keel is a form of sailing ballast, suspended from a rigid canting strut beneath the boat, which can be swung to windward of a boat under sail, in order to counteract the heeling force of the sail. The canting keel must be able to pivot to ...

. She is thought to be capable of downwind in a fresh breeze. Some of the boat's systems are operated via PLCs, automatically stepping up engine speed as power is required to operate the

hydraulic ram A hydraulic ram, or hydram, is a cyclic water pump powered by hydropower. It takes in water at one "hydraulic head" (pressure) and flow rate, and outputs water at a higher hydraulic head and lower flow rate. The device uses the water hammer ef ...

actuating the canting keel, or disengaging the

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

when it is retracted into the hull to reduce drag.

History

2009 Transpac Race

Total crew of about seventeen sailors included Stanley Honey, navigator; Olympian

Ben Ainslie Sir Charles Benedict Ainslie (born 5 February 1977) is a British competitive sailor. Ainslie is the most successful sailor in Olympic history. He won medals at five consecutive Olympics from 1996 onwards, including gold at the four consecutiv ...

, English Gold Medalist Finn sailor of the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

; and members of the Ericcson 4 crew, recently victorious in the

Volvo Ocean Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...

. According to the 7 July 2009 morning report, ''Alfa Romeo II'' broke the Transpac race record for most miles covered in one day, set in the 2005 race by ''Morning Glory,'' by sailing in 24 hours. She improved that on both following days; on 8 July 2009, ''Alfa Romeo II'' reported ; on 9 July 2009, she reported . She was first to finish the 2009 Transpac race, in which she set a new elapsed-time record of 5 days, 14 hours, 36 minutes, 20 seconds. Alfa Romeo II is a monohull and set a new monohull elapsed time record. She came within about five hours of breaking the

multihull A multihull is a boat or ship with more than one hull, whereas a vessel with a single hull is a monohull. The most common multihulls are catamarans (with two hulls), and trimarans (with three hulls). There are other types, with four or more h ...

elapsed time record 5d, 9h, 18m set in 1997 by Bruno Peyron with his ''Commodore Explorer.'' She has been first to finish in at least 140 races. This reference cites 139 1st-to-finish races; the 2009 Transpac marks #140.

2009 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

In 2009, she was the first to finish the

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately . The race is run i ...

Sponsorship

The ''Alfa Romeo'' yachts owned by

are sponsored by Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. of Turin, Italy. They own the ''Alfa Romeo'' name and other intellectual properties such as logos, emblems (used on ''Alfa Romeo III''), and manner of depicting the name as shown on the

mainsail A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast of a sailing vessel. * On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast. * On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the sail rigged aft of the main mast. The sail's foot ...

of ''Alfa Romeo II'' in the infobox. In 2006 the team is also sponsored by

SLAM Slam, SLAM or SLAMS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional elements * S.L.A.M. (Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine), a fictional weapon in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe * SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield), a fictional anti-ball ...

, an Italian company producer of technical sailing sportswear, that provides the team of technical clothing.

References

External links

Alfa Romeo Yacht Racing Team
site
Alfa Romeo Yacht Racing Team news releasesAlfa Romeo II build details2009 Transpac race crew listMaxi Yacht Rolex Cup
Victory in Sardinia
Giraglia Rolex Cup
promotional information
Alfa Romeo II demonstrating speed
at Malta Rolex Middle Sea Race 2006

of Alfa Romeo II {{Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race winning yachts (line honours) Ships built in New South Wales Individual sailing vessels 2000s sailing yachts Alfa Romeo Sailing yachts designed by Reichel/Pugh Sailing yachts built in Australia Maxi yachts Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race yachts