Official launch for two Global Ocean Race entries, Caterham Challenge and Concise 8

As part of the Global Ocean Race presence at the 2013 PSP Southampton Boat Show, two brand new Class40s and GOR entries were officially launched at their berths on the show’s pontoons at 14:00 on Friday 13 September.  Mike Gascoyne’s Akilaria RC3 Class40 Caterham Challenge and the Forty (1) Design Class40 of Team Concise were christened together with crews, team principals, press and visitors to the boat show joining the celebrations.  Mike Gascoyne, famous for his work with several Formula One teams and now CEO of Caterham Composites and Caterham Technology, has already been test sailing his new Akilaria RC3 Caterham Challenge from the sailing team’s training base at Halsar Marina, Gosport. Gascoyne’s 79-year-old father, Anthony, poured champagne over the Class40’s foredeck christening the boat Silvi Belle II:  “I got my love of sailing, engineering and craftwork from my dad and it’s great that he's here today to name the boat and I will continue to follow the dream that both my parents inspired me with,” said Mike Gascoyne who grew up sailing Wayfarer dinghies with his father on the Norfolk Broads. “The boat is named after my partner Silvi who since we have been together has been the support for aspiring to that dream,” he added.

Since the first Forty (1) Design Class40 arrived from McConaghy Boats in China in mid-August, Ned Collier-Wakefield and Team Concise have been working long days to commission and test their boat: “It’s great to be at the boat show as part of the Global Ocean Race,” said Collier-Wakefield. “Being at the show today marks the culmination of two years of very hard work.” Reaction to the latest Class40 design has been impressive: “The boat looks so different and we’ve pushed the boundaries really hard and people are intrigued and really want to see what she’s all about,” he says of the Forty (1) Design from Ker Design. The first Competitive outing for Concise 8 will be the Transat Jacques Vabre. “We’ve got exactly 50 days to go until the start,” comments Collier-Wakefield, “so it’s a case of really getting our heads down and spending as much time as possible out on the water,” he adds.

Team Principal of Team Concise, Tony Lawson, handed out Caipirinha cocktails to the press and spectators on the pontoons prior to the launching: “This is our third Class40 and, hopefully, this one is going to be the fastest yet,” said Lawson. “Ker have put a huge amount of work into the boat and we have high-hopes for Concise 8. We’ve got a lot of races lined-up, so we’re going to be busy and we’ll be relying on the boat and our support team to get us to the start line of each event.”

Josh Hall, Race Director of the Global Ocean Race, was present for both boat-naming ceremonies: “With one year to go to the start of the GOR it is truly exciting to see two of our entries on display at this year’s show. Caterham Challenge and Concise 8 are brand new boats which have shown exceptional performance in their testing phase and it is great to see these British projects for the GOR so well organised and advanced in their GOR preparations.”

The two boats will meet on the start line of the GOR 2014-15 in one year on Sunday 21 September at the 2014 PSP Southampton Boat Show, but the first competitive meeting of the two boats will be the transatlantic Transat Jacques Vabre this November when Gascoyne will be sailing double-handed with British offshore veteran Brian Thompson on Caterham Challenge and Concise 8 skipper, Ned Collier-Wakefield, will be paired with the rising British Figaro sailor Sam Goodchild.