(Source: SailWorld.com)

The first ever race yacht built in South Korea, was launched in mid-April.

The 11m yacht is the first of the fleet of eight yachts being built to the Bakewell-White design for the new Korean Match Cup round of the World Match Tour to be held in early June.

Part of a GyeongGi Provincial Government initiative the boats are being built by local yard, Advanced Marine Technology Ltd, in conjunction with manufacturers and suppliers from New Zealand.

Following an enjoyable and very different traditional Korean launching ceremony the yacht was craned into the water and minutes later was sailing with a mixed crew of Kiwi suppliers, Designer, Client, and representatives from the World Match Tour. Sailing in a rather chilly 5-10 knot breeze the yacht immediately impressed with nimble handling and its clean open cockpit.

One of the unique features of the design is the inclusion of a cameraman position in the centre of the boat which should provide some dramatic close up action shots. The other is that this yacht is a ¢®£¿sprit boat¢®£¿ – with no spinnaker pole these boats will pose a different set of issues for the match race crews when it comes to the best way to get downwind – new tactics, new boat handling issues.

The team at AMTEC have done a great job producing a yacht in a short period of time, especially when you consider that most of the builders have never seen a yacht before. The yard has impressive facilities with the latest computer and CNC technology, previously used for producing several hundred racing hydroplanes per year for the very popular Korean circuit.

Once the eight Match Racing yachts have been completed the yard will be starting production of an IRC racer/cruiser version, with the aim of selling them both in Korea and worldwide.

Bakewell-White Yacht Design is based in Westhaven, Auckland, New Zealand

For futher information on Bakewell-White Yacht Design see www.bakewell-white.com

by Brett Bakewell-White and Sail-World

http://www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?SEID=0&Nid=43703&SRCID=0&ntid=0&tickeruid=0&tickerCID=0