Cape Town shipyard Southern Wind has delivered its new 90-foot performance cruiser sailing yacht to her experienced owner. The yacht has departed South Africa and will now sail from the top of the African continent to reach the Mediterranean ahead of the summer season.
The yacht was launched in November last year and Southern Wind, together with the yacht’s crew and Reichel/Pugh (responsible for the naval architecture) representatives tested her in the waters off Cape Town under light and strong wind conditions. The yacht proved to handle extremely well and lives up to her performance credentials and comfort levels as an blue water cruiser.
SWS General Manager and Technical Director, Marco Alberti, was was onboard during the sea trials: “We used cruising sails during the sea trials and still effortlessly recorded speed in excess of 18 knots. The owner and captain were really pleased with the performance, as were we."
The performance of the yacht has much to do with her construction method and materials used, as Alberti explains: “The racing soul of the SW-RP90 forced us to push our weight saving approach without compromising on comfort and safety. The main innovations applied to the build are the use of Prepreg and Nomex for the deck and structures. The hull was infused on a single female mould with carbon fibre and epoxy resin skins over a Corecell foam core.”
The interior too was designed around the cruising requirements set by the owner. Nauta Design is behind her guest areas and functionality onboard. “Our challenge was to design interiors that were intriguing and innovative but with ergonomics that could function within the structural and dimensional constraints that the performance aspects of the yacht’s design imposed,” state Massimo Gino and Mario Pedol, founders and co-heads of Nauta Design. “These constraints led us to show, and not hide, the yacht’s shapes and its main structural elements.”