Protector designed for new America's Cup era

The new 10m Centre Console Protector is proving to be the ideal support boat for new Challenger of Record, Artemis Racing. Photo / Supplied

When Larry Ellison and his team announced that the next America's Cup would be held in large super-fast wingsailed catamarans, a number of eyebrows were raised.

"Sounds exciting, but who will be able to keep up?" was a common comment.

Audiences on both the water and the couch had become accustomed to watching the action reasonably close up, either from their own vessels or, far more widely, from the flotilla of camera, patrol and support boats that shadowed the old, now incredibly slow, monohulls.

One of those suddenly doing a lot of thinking is Kiwi boatmaker Tony Hembrow, chief executive of Mt Wellington-based Rayglass Boats.

Since the 2000 America's Cup regatta in Auckland, Rayglass' Protector RIBs have played a dominant role in the smooth running of the various America's Cup regattas and pre-regattas around the world.

They have been the support vessels of choice for both challenging and defending syndicates (where they have been used as both tow boats and supporting tenders) and have been used as umpire, first-aid and patrol boats.

Indeed, at the last "proper" America's Cup regatta in Valencia, Spain in 2007, there were more than 100 of the New Zealand-designed and -built Protectors on the water, many of them also being used as tenders and support boats for the large spectator fleet of superyachts.

Hembrow and his team have now responded to the change of era for the world's oldest sporting trophy. They recently released a new 10m Centre Console Protector, an RIB that Hembrow says has been designed as a support boat for the new America's Cup fast wingsail catamarans.

The new RIB boasts a number of features designed to enable it to keep pace with the fast new America's Cup yachts. Using technology perfected in the challenging world of offshore powerboat racing, the new Protectors combine a 23-degree deep-vee hull, big horsepower (600hp or more) on the transom and a large water ballast tank forward.

According to Hembrow, this combination keeps the RIBs well balanced and enables them to cope comfortably with even heavy weather conditions while maintaining a healthy 30-knot cruising speed.

"Creating a suitable support boat for the new high-performance America's Cup-class catamarans has been an interesting exercise," he says.

"Because the new America's Cup cats have such incredible acceleration and can reach such high speeds, we needed a Protector that could cruise at 30 knots and reach more than 50 knots when required.

"Because the new AC45s will also be competing in regattas all over the world, we also needed a Protector that could easily maintain those speeds in all the conditions they were likely to encounter."

Hembrow says that the Protector can fit in a standard container for ease of shipping. This has obviously limited both the waterline length and the RIB's LOA, and created new challenges for the Rayglass team which appear to have been met well.

The first of the new 10m Centre Console Protectors was delivered in April to the America's Cup new Challenger of Record, Artemis Racing. The new RIB has been thoroughly tested and put through its paces in a variety of conditions on the Waitemata Harbour and Hauraki Gulf.

According to Artemis Racing's David Brooke, the new America's Cup Protector has exceeded the syndicate's expectations in both handling and performance.

"It is a seaworthy, well-built boat, can cruise all day at 30 knots and, with a pair of new 300hp V6 outboards, has a top speed of 55 knots. We believe it is a great boat for the new AC45 catamaran and for the Artemis Racing America's Cup team."

Given their previous levels of success in this event, Hembrow and the Rayglass team will no doubt be hoping that other syndicates, organisers of AC34 regattas and superyacht captains are paying attention.