Price Reduction – 2009 Akilaria RC1 Class 40

Grabau International is delighted to announce the price reduction of the 2009 Akilaria RC1 Class 40 ‘MUEYA’.

From the board of Marc Lombard and uild by MC-TEC, this 2009 Akilarai RC1 Class 40 is a very rapid water ballast race boat with carbon rig, bowsprit, 3m T-shaped keel plus twin rudders. Fully spec’d and ready to go.

FURTHER BROKER’S COMMENTS:

MUEYU has been well maintained and provides a fantastic opportunity for those seeking some adrenalin fuelled racing or with the addition of a few creature comforts added, some equally exciting cruising. She’s designed to be easily short-handed with her water ballast and an asymmetrical kite flown from the carbon bowsprit and which would her ideal for either a quick blast around the cans or for the more adventurous, some serious off-shore high speed sailing. Class rules forbid the use of canting keels or “exotic” materials in the construction, which serves to keep the cost down whilst maintaining the excitement. Having been designed by the renowned Marc Lombard Yacht Design Group, being known for his Open 60’s “Sill” and “Bouduelle,” there has clearly been no shortage experience and expertise in the creation of these boats. The boat was built by MC-TEC, a company of builders formerly with maxi-boat builder Wally Yachts. In a purpose-built, high-tech factory on the coast of Tunisia, Akilarias are built using industrial female moulds and the SCRIMP vinylester resin infusion moulded sandwich construction technique.

Her specification highlights include:
• Full sail wardrobe of race sails
• Carbon mast, with aluminium spreaders
• Matching carbon boom and bowsprit
• Vacuum bagged epoxy E-Glass foam/balsa sandwich construction
• Water ballast tanks
• T-shaped 3m fin keel with a lead bulb
• Twin rudders with twin tiller steering
• Watt & Sea hydro generator
• Furuno radar
• Furuno GPS
• 2x autopilots
• Replacement batteries
• Nanni N3.30 29hp Diesel engine with folding propeller
• Roller furler headsail
• NKE True Wind indicator
• VHF Radio with DSC
• Computer
• NKE AIS system with radio receiver and 2x crew transmitters
• Gas burner stove
• Sink with mixer tap
• 2x single berths each with a lee-cloth
• 1x manual flush marine toilet
• Kenwood radio/CD stereo with cabin a cockpit speakers
• Balmar Max Charge alternator regulator

MANUFACTURER’S COMMENTS:

The “Class 40” has exploded in Europe and is rapidly gaining attention here in North America. SAIL Magazine named the Akilaria Class 40 one of its “Best Boats 2008” with an award for “Innovation in a Performance Boat”. It’s a fast, easy-to-sail boat -available with a full cruising interior or as a minimalist racer- with a fixed keel, twin rudders, water ballast, open cockpit, carbon rig and retractable carbon pole for asymmetrical kites. Class rules forbid the use of canting keels or “exotic” materials in construction, which serves to keep the cost down and provide maximum “bang for the buck” to sailors.

PRESS REVIEWS:
“Here is another Class 40 design. This time the designer is Marc Lombard. The Akilaria is built as a stock, production boat and available in both “standard” and “race” versions. I assume that there is a difference in the two versions in the interior accommodation, but I do not have interior drawings for the standard version. From the specs the race version has a more exotic deck layout, more complex electronics package and a carbon boom.

We have already discussed the why of chines in the Antrim review. The Lombard design also has chines aft but I see no indication of a forward chine below the DWL. The sectional shape at the transom is very similar to that of the Antrim boat but not quite so slack in the bilge. The design is also at the class limit for beam at 14 feet, 8 inches, and the transom beam is 93 percent of beam max. These boats are bizarre looking in plan view. They are so beamy and so broad aft, but there is a distinct difference between the two 40s in plan view. If you look at the deck plan of both boats, you will see the Antrim boat is much finer forward. At the deck, the half angle of “entry” for the Antrim boat is 20.5 degrees, while the Lombard boat is fuller at 26.5 degrees. One thing I noticed about both designs is that they both have rather attractive sheers for all-out racing boats. Most rules dictate minimum freeboards at certain locations, so sheers tend to be functions of the rule. The Class 40 rule is different. It gives an average freeboard of 1.1 meters. It’s up to the designer to determine how he is going to get that average. The Akilaria has a very handsome sheer spring.

Note that in both designs the mast is quite far aft. The rule dictates the max upwind sail area, mast height and prod length, but does not limit downwind sail area. So, it pays to have as big a foretriangle as possible so your spinnakers can be bigger. The Akilaria’s asymmetrical chute is 2,052 square feet, while the Antrim has an asymmetric area of 1,889 square feet. By using the fat-head main shape the mainsail can be a more effective off-the-wind sail. If you took the fat head off the mainsail and added area to the jib you would be reducing the downwind sail area. The chain plates are right at the sheer and, in fact, are external.

These designs are not about accommodations, they are about huge rigs and very carefully thought-out deck plans. The cross-linked twin rudders are small so they don’t require long tillers. With the rudders well outboard the two tillers are also well outboard, making it easy for the driver to sit high on the weather side. The Antrim 40 has a single, centreline tiller. On centreline aft, between the two tillers, is a tall console where the mainsheet and traveller controls are located. Primary and secondary winches are located very close to the helmsman. Halyard winches flank the companionway hatch. I really like the jib sheeting arrangement on this design. It comes from the Volvo 60s. It uses three widely spaced pad eyes with blocks arranged in a triangle: two on the deck and one on the housetop. Control lines lead from these pad eyes to a titanium rig that the jib sheet passes through. This way you have total freedom of positioning the clew on the jib without any track at all. It’s effective and it’s very light.

The Akilaria is built on the coast of Tunisia by MC-TEC. The hull, as per Class 40 rules, is low-tech with a balsa core and laid-up with the infusion method. The deck is PVC foam cored with hardwood inserts in high-load areas. Vinylester resin is used throughout. The keel fin is steel. Again, in keeping with the “no exotic materials” part of the rule, the rudders have solid stainless-steel stocks.

Sailing Magazine review by Robert H Perry 1st March 2009

DESIGNER’S COMMENTS:

Developed by ML naval architecture at the end of 2005, class 40 “Akilaria 40 ” is the result of a thorough analysis of the potential for performance and constructive possibilities. The enormous database linked to the development of the 60 ‘open (viscous numerical simulation of the hulls) has allowed a hull shape that is a generation ahead. Constructed entirely in PVC and Balsa vinylester sandwich, the solidity / weight optimization is pushed to the maximum. The keel is made of steel “Weldox” and the lead bulb guarantee a maximum torque of the gauge for a boat weight close to the mini of the gauge. The 2006 / early 2007 season proved the perfect reliability of the construction and the enormous potential of the boat.

Akilaria RC1 Class 40 – Mueyu – now just Euro 130,000 VAT paid – full details here

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