Mean Machine is the name of the

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

s and the sailing team owned by Dutch Businessman

Peter de Ridder Peter de Ridder is a Dutch businessman and sailor. Born in The Hague on May 18, 1946, this amateur sailor has beaten the world's best sailors, such as New Zealand's Dean Barker or Russell Coutts. Among the international titles Peter de Ridder ha ...

. The team has a core of crewmembers who’ve been with the team for the last 15 years. Alongside de Ridder, at the heart of the Mean Machine team are internationally renowned sailors who also sail in classes such as the

America’s Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one fr ...

or 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 ...

;

Tom Dodson Thomas Ward Dodson (born 17 May 1957) is a sailor from Hastings, New Zealand, who represented his country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States as helmsman in the Soling. With crew members Simon Daubney and Aran Hansen they ...

and

Ray Davies Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter for the rock band the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother Dave on lead guitar and backing voca ...

from New Zealand, and Briton Jules Salter.

History

The Mean Machine team starts sailing in 1985 with the Mean Machine one-tonner. Peter de Ridder and an almost entirely amateur team sail into sixth place in the World Championships of the class in the Spanish Island of

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

. Since then, with 22 years of sailing history behind them, Mean Machine have notched up some of the most prestigious World and Continental titles, placing them near the top of the world rankings in the sport.

Achievements

Some of their achievements include: 2006 Winners of the Breitling MedCup Circuit (pro and amateur categories); third place in the TP 52 Global Championships, celebrated on the Italian island of

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

in September 2007. In Autumn 2007, the team finished building her newest addition - a

Farr 40 The Farr 40 is a 40-foot one-design sailboat designed by Farr Yacht Design in 1996 following after the Mumm 30. It was originally designed as a one design class but had some compromises in design to rate under the International Measurement System ...

One-Design, number 21 in the series of Mean Machine competition sailing boats. Winter 2007/08 will see the launch of an even newer Mean Machine, a TP 52 to replace the one that Peter de Ridder and crew sailed to victory on in the 2006 MedCup circuit.

2007

*Hyéres Trophy - 6th *2007 Breitling MedCup - 5th *TP52 Rolex Global Championship - 3rd *Trofeo Portugal - 1st on the Overall Classification and also 1st on the Corinthian *Regatta Breitling - 9th *Copa del Rey Trophy - 9th *Trofeo Alicante - 1st in Corinthian and 2nd on the overall classification *North Sea Regatta - Winner & Record Breaker VO70 *Key West Race Week - 2nd Mumm 30 Class *Acura Miami Race Week - Winners Mumm 30 Class *Hublot Palmavela - Winners TP 52 Class

2006

*Winner Miami Race Week Mumm30 *Punta Ala Trophy 2nd TP52 class *Trofeo Castellon 3rd TP52 class *Winner Breitling Trophy TP52 class *Copa del Rey 5th TP52 class *Winner Athens Trophy TP52 class *Winner Trofeo Ibiza TP52 Class *Overall Winner of TP52 Breitling MedCup Circuit *Mumm30 Worlds 4th overall For further results see team websit
Mean Machine

Boats

The team is well known for its trademark characteristics: over the last few years the boats have all had black hulls, with pink flames rising up the bow.

References

*Yachting World (Spain): Oct 2007 - p. 24 "Mean Machine prepara su asalto a la clase Farr 40" *ABC Newspaper (Spain): 28/11/07 - Interview with Peter de Ridder "Cuanto más dura es la competición más dulce es la victoria" *Levante Mercantil Valenciano Newspaper (Spain): 28/04/07 "Palma disfruta la Hublot)

External links

MedCup results 2007MedCup results 2006ISAF: International Sailing Federation article
Sailing teams {{race-sports-stub