The world's newest super maxi yacht, New Zealander Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo, has made a stunning race debut in equally stunning sailing conditions - the opening race of the Hahn Premium Race Week at Hamilton Island in the tropical Whitsunday Islands of Far North Queensland.

New Zealand super maxi Alfa Romeo, launched in Sydney only four weeks ago, swept away from the fleet which included several smaller, but proven grand prix racing yachts. To the surprise of owner/skipper Crichton, she was also declared handicap winner of the IRC division. Hoisting her massive 805 square metre spinnaker the 98-footer accelerated away from the fleet, akin to what motoring enthusiasts would expect from a land-born Alfa Romeo, quickly hitting 15.5 knots in the 13 knot sea breeze. At the same time, her nearest opposition, the already internationally proven 66-footer Wild Oats was dropping astern, along with the rest of the 28 boat fleet.  

Alfa Romeo is a Reichel/Pugh design, built totally of carbon fibre in Sydney by McConaghy Boats, featuring a canting keel and twin rudders fore and aft of the keel. Jim Pugh from the US design office was aboard the yacht for today's 30 nautical mile Lindeman Island Race. "It was a fantastic way to start our campaign by taking out the double," a delighted Crichton told a press conference back at Hamilton Island Harbour. "We have had little time to optimize the boat to its rating, so it was quite a surprise to hear that we have also won on handicap."

Crichton steered Alfa Romeo around the 30 mile course in just under two hours and on corrected time won convincingly from three other Reichel/Pugh designs - Stephen Ainsworth's newly launched 66-footer Loki, Steven David's 60-footer Wild Joe and Bob Oatley's 66-footer Wild Oats.

Around the course, the silver-hulled 30-metre super maxi beat Wild Oats by 18 minutes, quickly taking the lead in the 10-13 knot breeze after a conservative start to her maiden race. "We are really using this regatta as a training event, getting used to complex systems and trying out various configurations," Crichton added, referring to the canting keel, hydraulic winch systems and twin rudders. "We did have a few problems with the computer systems, but that was after
the race but otherwise everything went extremely well. Upwind we logged up to 11.7 knots in the 10-13 knot breeze and flat water and reached 15.5 knots off the winds.
 

"We were certainly sailing right up to the numbers and pointing higher than Wild Oats which she was in line astern but clear of our wind and she is a proven boat with an excellent crew," Crichton added. "The new boat is good but we still be learning to sail her at her best two months hence."

Good although Alfa Romeo is, Crichton does not believe this makes her the natural favourite for this year's Rolex Sydney to Hobart Race in December, with the new Wild Oats, a 30-metre Reichel/Pugh design currently being built in Sydney for Bob Oatley, the owner of Hamilton Island Resort. "I don't think we really know how good she is really is until we line up against Bob Oatley's new Wild Oats in December in the lead-up to the Rolex Sydney Hobart Race," Crichton concluded.