Onboard the world's biggest performance ketch

There was a time when a 32m (100ft) yacht was a superyacht. While technically it probably still is, over two decades the bar has been raised much, much higher, as have the masts. The huge growth in rig sizes has been possible thanks to carbon fibre and there are some spectacular examples out there. At 86m (282ft) long Aquijo is the biggest performance sailing ketch in the world and her Southern Spar carbon masts are a staggering 91m (300ft) tall each! And while this makes for quite some spectacle, the even bigger question is how on earth do you step, maintain and handle such huge structures? PlanetSail went to Auckland to find out. While we were there we also looked at a fascinating project at the opposite end of the offshore scale and discovered how a re-rig for the Gunboat 66 performance cruising cat Slim transformed the boat's performance and handling and simplified the sail wardrobe too. CHAPTERS & LINKS 00:00 Intro 00:34 Why size matters 01:47 Aquijo’s captain explains 02:21 Southern Spars’ Mark Hauser provides perspective 03:13 Trimming Aquijo’s sail plan 09:06 Stepping a 91m mast 12:22 Gunboat 66 ‘Slim’ case study 18:58 The Future Facebook - @planetsail.org Website - www.planetsail.co.uk Linkedin - www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-sheahan Instagram - matthewsheahan