Superyachting—Annapolis—not usually words you hear together, but this was a special week, as the 150-foot yacht Christopher came to town and stayed to lord over the last Annapolis Yacht Club Wednesday night race of the season. A few members of Team SpinSheet were invited onboard to take a little tour and ask a few questions.
The first thing you should know is that we were invited by the captain, not the owner, so there was no champagne or caviar awaiting us when we boarded. Really, there was no one there at all except for the captain and the one crewmember we met. Perhaps someone else was there taking a nap, but we couldn’t be sure.
Also, because the owner was not there, the boat was “decommissioned” luxury-wise, meaning the furniture was covered, things not quite as fancy looking down below as the brochure would indicate—and really there is no brochure as this is a privately owned boat. (Sorry, guys, no charters for you.) The only thing we took photos of down below was the engine room, which was pretty impressive and immaculately clean. The nav station—“my office” Capt. Aaron O’Grady called it—was cool, too, as were the panels to control anything you could think of on the boat from a touch screen along the wall.
About Christopher
At the end of 2008 Pendennis announced the partnership with Ron Holland Design and Palm Beach Yachts International to build a new 46m (150 foot) performance cruising ketch. Three staterooms and a study provide the owners and their guests with accommodation for up to 12, with a further four cabins forward sleeping eight crew. Christopher is the largest ketch built by Pendennis to date, and was delivered spring 2011 in time to compete in the St Barth’s Bucket Regatta.
BUILDER Pendennis
YEAR OF BUILD 2011
TYPE Sailing Yacht – Ketch
NAVAL ARCHITECT & EXTERIOR DESIGN Ron Holland Design
INTERIOR DESIGN Ron Holland Design, Courtney & Co, Pendennis
CONSTRUCTION Aluminium
LOA 46m (150.11ft)
BEAM 9.5m (31.2ft)
DRAFT 3.8m (12.5ft keel up), 9.4m (31ft keel down)
MAX SPEED 13.5 knots
DISPLACEMENT 285 tons
The vessel celebrates classic traditions yet embraces new sailing technologies performing equally well as a beautiful family ‘home from home’ and a performance sailing cruiser… innovative technology included twin rudders, a pivoting keel and powerful rig, and carbon rigging that provided performance as well as a shallow draft, and infra-red shielding in all windows reducing heat transfer into the accommodation thereby minimizing air con requirements. Her twin balanced rudders are an obvious departure for a large cruising yacht and have been incorporated to maximise sailing performance in strong wind conditions and to allow space for a large Williams Turbojet 505D tender in the lazarette.
The retractable centre board was manufactured using precise CNC systems and when lowered, ‘bomb bay’ closing doors are deployed to reduce turbulence along the keel bottom.
This is also the first Ron Holland Design Yacht to incorporate all carbon fibre rigging. Another first is the deletion of any mizzen mast jumper strut and stays. This detailing has set a benchmark for improving the sailing performance of large cruising yachts.
Since her launch experts at Pendennis have been available to support her wherever she cruises throughout the world. Engineers visited the yacht in Costa Rica whilst Pendennis Pacific has been on hand with logistics and parts supply whilst Christopher cruised through Bali.
The yacht returned to Falmouth in the Autumn of 2013 for a winter refit, which was completed before competing in the 2014 Pendennis Cup. Works included a Lloyd’s annual survey; rejuvenating teak cladding and deck; hydraulic system checks and minor interior adjustments.
