Racing News

Leopard 3 Takes Round The Island Line Honours

First Monohull home

 

Mike Slade's new supermaxi yacht, Leopard 3, took monohull line honours, in the 2007 edition of the JP Morgan Round the Island race this weekend. With a full inventory of Lewmar hydraulic powered carbon winches, the new Leopard 3 completed the 55 mile course in just 4 hours 23 minutes and 5 seconds. She was only a matter of minutes from breaking the Round the Island Race record, held by Slade's previous boat, Leopard of London in 2001.

Utilising the 4-speed capability of the Lewmar's 120 primary and mainsheet winches, Leopard 3 has followed the trend of other successful maxi sleds, such as Wild Oats X1, by installing Lewmar's hydraulically operated 4-Speed winches.

Owner Mike Slade commented: "We are absolutely thrilled the with the new Leopard 3. She feels fantastic, really well balanced, and for a brand new boat straight out of the box, she performed absolutely superbly today."

Having recently arrived in the UK after being built at McConaghy Boats, Australia, the new Leopard 3 is 24 ft. wide, 100 ft. long, has an 18'6 ft canting keel, a 15 ft. fixed bowsprit and a 154 ft. mast. Weighing in at a targeted 36.5 tonnes, a lightweight winch package was crucial.

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